Overview

This volume reports the proceedings of the eleventh triennial meeting of the Chemical Signals in Vertebrates International Symposium and thus, is the 30th anniversary of the informal grouping of scientists who convene to discuss their common interests in the ways in which vertebrates use chemical signals. Pre- ous meetings were held in Saratoga Springs, New York; Syracuse, New York; Sarasota, Florida; Laramie, Wyoming; Oxford, England; Philadelphia, Pennsyl- nia; Tubingen, Germany;Ithaca, New York; Krakow , Poland and Corvallis, Oregon. The eleventh meeting was hosted by the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Liverpool, and was held in Chester, England. CSiV 11 was the latest in a well regarded series of meetings, and was attended by about 80 scientists, with nearly120 furtherco-authors, all with a commoninterest in vertebratechemicals- nalling, and its role in vertebrate behaviour. The species range was, as ever, rema- able - from lion to salamander, from mouse to elephant, from salmon to human, a biodiversity matched by the range of the substances used for communication. As might be expected from such diversity, we enjoyed a broad ranging programme that included sessions on olfactory assessment, pheromone delivery, sexual sel- tion (human and animal), urinary proteins, anti-predator responses, scent organs and their function, individual recognition, species recognition, sexual development and sexual communication (the full programme can still be viewed on the CSiV website).