Photo of the Day #149: Flehmen Response

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In the above photograph a female Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) named Taurus displays a flehmen response; she was sniffing the scat of another tiger in the enclosure and repeatedly made this face. As silly as it looks, this type of grimace helps pheromones and other natural chemicals come in contact with the vomeronasal (or Jacobson's) organ, and it allows animals like tigers to ascertain whether another animal is in estrus, what their physical condition is, how long ago they passed by, etc.

Unfortunately I was unable to get a good shot of the display; the little branch in front of the tiger made it difficult to focus and I did not have a powerful enough lens to zoom in closer. Maybe next time.

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I doubt this is an official term, but I've heard "making a flehmen response" summarized as "fleering". It does need a verb, and I don't what the German would be.

By Tina Rhea (not verified) on 05 Mar 2008 #permalink

Nice picture! I have studied the anatomy of the cat vomeronasal organ but I has never found information regarding the tiger's organ. Nice to know that it should be functional.

By Pablo Sanchez … (not verified) on 06 Mar 2008 #permalink