Sensory Mechanisms of Parent-Offspring Recognition in Fishes, Amphibians, and Reptiles.

This article reviews the sensory mechanisms underlying parent-offspring recognition in fishes, amphibians, and reptiles, emphasizing the diversity of recognition strategies across these vertebrate groups. It highlights that recognition can be direct—based on sensory cues such as visual, acoustic, or chemosensory signals—or indirect, relying on contextual information like spatial location, and that these mechanisms vary with ecological factors, parental investment, and offspring mobility. In fishes, chemosensory and visual cues are prominent, with paternal care and alternative reproductive strategies influencing recognition; amphibians often use indirect spatial cues for offspring recognition, especially in poison frogs, while salamanders show some evidence of olfactory-based egg recognition. Reptilian recognition is less studied but includes acoustic communication in crocodilians and chemosensory recognition in some snakes and lizards, often linked to social or territorial behaviors rather than extensive parental care. The review calls for further research into multimodal and developmental shifts in recognition, as well as the neural and endocrine bases of these behaviors, to better understand their evolution and potential responses to environmental changes.