
Wild Dogs Sneeze When They Are Ready to Hunt - kompressor
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/science/wild-dogs-sneeze-hunt.html
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banku_brougham
Clear out the sinuses to make ready for tracking game. Makes sense.

I sneeze when the sun gets in my eyes. This may be one of those useless
mutations though.

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malux85
This is quite common - and variations on that too; I have a friend who sneezes
when she eats, and another friend who sneezes when he becomes aroused, I'd say
these mutations are more useless :)

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breakingcups
Sorry for going slightly off-topic, but that's a hilarious mental image.

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maxxxxx
My dogs sneeze a lot when they are really excited or ready to play. I wonder
if that's a related behavior.

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Ankaios
Same here. The snorting and rallying behavior in the article sounds identical
to what our dogs do. (I initially confused it with sneezing, too, but they are
clearly snorting sharply.)

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pavement
It's probably glandular.

Horomones can stimulate reflexes, and conditioned responses to the premise of
hunting likely provoke not only an adrenaline response, but other secretions,
as part of coordinated psychological and emotional activity at the begining of
the fight-or-flight routine.

Sneezing is a reflex, and there's probably some hereditary cross-over in the
genetic mix that provides for the complex of neurological signaling.

If there's some interplay with group activity, maybe it's demonstrative of a
pattern of emergent evolution for a brand of pheremone to jump the air gap
between peers, reinforcing a pattern of hunting success as part of a feedback
loop, when combined with the canine sense of smell?

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sml156
If I was to make a guess I would say they sneeze to clear any odors that may
be trapped in their nasal passages, Or to make sure that their passages are
clear to sense prey better.

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eridius
> _No other social animal has been reported to cast a vote, of sorts, by
> sneezing, although in humans sneezing may once have expressed a negative
> opinion, as in, “nothing to sneeze at.”_

Does the author really think humans used to sneeze on demand?

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damnfine
I can sneeze almost on demand by thinking of specific things. But I agree,
even with my 'ability' it is unsuited for communication. Even a grunt would be
easier and more nuanced.

Edit: made myself sneeze, took about 7 seconds.

