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Senses of Animals
Name: saravanan
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
I read that fishes can figure out taste through their fins and tail,so
are insects through their legs, how does this happen ?
Replies:
Taste involves special cells in the mouth, throat and on the body of fish;
and nerves to carry messages from these cells to the brain. Taste cells
can bind with "taste" molecules, which are chemicals dissolved in the water
(or saliva). There are 4 basic kinds of tastes: salt, sour, sweet and
bitter. At the base of each taste cell, is a tiny nerve which runs to
different parts of the brain which interpret smells. In mammals, most
taste cells are grouped into taste buds in the mouth, especially on the
tongue. In fish, taste cells are in the mouth, but also on the body,
especially in their heads and on the feelers of fish like catfish.
Amphibians have taste cells in their mouth and on their skin, but they work
the same way. Reptiles and birds are reported to have relatively poor
senses of taste. I can't tell you much about taste in insects, except that
it is the same principle of special cells with bind with chemicals and send
messges about the nature of those chemicals to the brain.
Laura Hungerford
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Update: June 2012
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