• TranscendentalEmpire@lemmy.today
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    3 hours ago

    You don’t need a specific organ to have a reaction to chemical signals.

    Yes… you do? That would be like saying you don’t need a nose to smell, or taste buds to taste.

    pheromone is just a chemical the body creates, and an external body responds to

    No. Pheromones are chemical messages that trigger specific behaviour or developmental changes in an external body.

    That response can be due to smell, taste or even touch. No special organ is needed for any of those.

    Smells and associations attached to smell are not the same thing as pheromones. In certain mammals and reptiles pheromones are received by the vomeronasal organ.

    • BJW@lemmus.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      3 hours ago

      You’re trying to make pheromones out to be something not supported by the definition. Pheromones are chemicals created in one body, that have an effect in someone else’s body.

      Dictionary definition:

      a chemical substance that is usually produced by an animal and serves especially as a stimulus to other individuals of the same species for one or more behavioral responses

      • TranscendentalEmpire@lemmy.today
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        2 hours ago

        Lol, the merriam Webster dictionary is not an appropriate source to define the scientific understanding of a word or term.

        The biggest difference between a pheromone and an odorus compound is that pheromones have an Innate purpose and odors have responses learned through association.

        By your understanding of the word pheromone the sulphuric odor in fart could be defined as a pheromone…