Flehmen

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈfleɪmÉ™n/
• Rhymes: -eɪmÉ™n
• Homophones: flamen

Origin

German

Full definition of flehmen

Verb

1. To exhibit flaring of the lip in mammals, associated with intensive smelling.
• 1994, Lee Boyd, Katherine Albro Houpt, Przewalski's Horse: The History and Biology of an Endangered Species, Page 246One can observe mucus dripping from the nostrils of stallions after they flehmen.

Noun

1. Flaring of the lip in mammals, associated with intensive smelling.
• 2009, Barbara Triggs, Wombats, Page 65During the preliminary phase of courtship between captive animals, Matthew Gaughwin observed flehmen on a number of occasions when the male sniffed intensely at areas of ground where the female had previously urinated and once when the male had sniffed the female's cloacal region.
• 2006, Ernst Knobil, Jimmy D. Neill, Knobil and Neill's Physiology of Reproduction, Page 2043Ladewig and Hart showed that when a male goat displayed flehmen after investigating female urine containing a tracer material, the urine was found throughout the vomeronasal organ.
• 2003, IUCN Asian Elephant Specialist Group, The Living Elephants : Evolutionary Ecology, Behaviour, and Conservation, Page 99Behaviors recorded included sniffing, flehmen, blowing, avoidance, and penile erections.