Infrared Receptors in the Facial Pits of the Australian Python Morelia spilotes
- 26 January 1968
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 159 (3813) , 439-441
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.159.3813.439
Abstract
There is a series of pits in the scales of the rostrum and posterior portion of the lower lips in some pythons and boas. In the Australian python Morelia spilotes, these pits are innervated by the maxillary and mandibular branches of the trigeminal nerve. Structural and neurophysiological evidence indicate that in the pits there are receptors that function as detectors of radiant heat flux.Keywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
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- Some properties of avian skeletal muscle fibres with multiple neuromuscular junctionsThe Journal of Physiology, 1960
- Properties of an infra‐red receptorThe Journal of Physiology, 1956