Home Area Recognition via Olfactory Cues in the Tropical Poison Frog Dendrobates auratus

The ability of the poison frog Dendrobates auratus to recognize and associate, via olfactory cues, its home area, a conspecific’s home area, and the sex of the conspecific was examined in laboratory studies. The results showed that test individuals do not display recognition or preference for their home area, or for other conspecific home areas, but did show preference for the home area of conspecifics of the opposite sex. Comparison of these results to results from another closely related species, and other species capable of gender recognition is presented.