Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Humanities, Graduate Program in Science Writing, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 26-27). / This thesis is an investigation of the vomeronasal organ, which senses pheromones. It traces the use of the organ in land-dwelling vertebrates, and suggests evidence that the organ is vestigial in humans and Old World monkeys. Possible explanations for the loss of the vomeronasal organ in these groups are described and evaluated. Notably, the development of tri-color vision may have replaced pheromones for sexual selection in these lineages. This may explain the human proclivity for visual information over pheromonal cues. / by Siri Lefren Steiner. / S.M.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:MIT/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/39441 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | Steiner, Siri Lefren |
| Contributors | Thomas Levenson., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Graduate Program in Science Writing., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Graduate Program in Science Writing, MIT Program in Writing & Humanistic Studies |
| Publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Source Sets | M.I.T. Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 27 leaves, application/pdf |
| Rights | M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission., http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 |
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