Question

What is a vomeronasal organ? Is it present only in snakes?

Answer 1

The Vomeronasal organ (Jacobson's organ) is an auxiliary olfactory sense organ that is found in many animals.

Explanation:

This organ is mainly used to detect pheromones.

The Jacobson's organs sensory neurons act on a different signalling pathway than that of the main olfactory systems sensory neurons.

It contains sensory neurons that detect chemical stimuli. Stimuli reach the organ in liquid phase via a pumping mechanism. Thus the primary cues for this organ need to be non volatile and require direct physical contact.

A functional Jacobson's organ is found in many animals, including snakes, lizards, mice, elephants, cattle, dogs, goats and pigs.

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