Gape, Grin and Grimace

Some mammals possess a lesser-known piece of olfactory equipment called the vomeronasal, or Jacobson's (after its discoverer), organ. The organ is a small, pouch-like opening located in the roof of the mouth near the nasal palate of such mammals as felines, ungulates and some canines. After detecting certain scents, a mammal equipped with this organ can block off its normal breathing channels and draw air into the pouch through an odd combination of gape, grin and grimace, known as the flehmen response — almost as if it were actually tasting the air. The flehmen response is typically employed by mammals to analyze the urine of others of their kind, particularly by males seeking to determine the sexual status of females. Domestic-cat owners may well recognize this technique, since cats occasionally flehmen in response to the smells left behind by another cat.

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