Sensitivity to biologically relevant odours may exceed the sum of component thresholds

Summary In four fruit-eating bats sniff-rate analysis revealed the threshold value for natural banana odour to be 1 × 10^–4 vol% of head-space while the threshold values for its major components were found to be 3–6 orders of magnitude higher; even the total of molecules present at the threshold dilution of banana odour was 2 orders of magnitude below the lowest threshold values obtained for single components. Thus, the responsiveness of the bats to threshold concentration of natural banana odour is discussed as an example of synergism of stimuli.     

Responses of three mouse species to deterrent chemicals in the monarch butterfly. II. Taste tests using intact monarchs

Summary Peromyscus melanotis is the only one of three mouse species that eats monarch butterflies at their overwintering sites in Mexico. I tested two hypotheses: 1)P. aztecus avoids monarchs because of a bitter taste aversion to cardiac glycosides (CGs) and an inability to reject CG-rich body parts; 2)Reithrodontomys sumichrasti avoids monarchs principally because of a bitter taste aversion to the CGs. None of the species are sensitive to the toxic effects of ingested CGs. Feeding responses of laboratory-reared mice of each species to monarchs with low, medium and high CG concentrations were compared. BothP. aztecus andR. sumichrasti ate significantly fewer of all three types of monarchs thanP. melanotis. ForP. aztecus andR. sumichrasti, the number of monarchs eaten decreased with increasing CG concentration, whereas forP. melanotis, the number remained constant.Peromyscus melanotis andR. sumichrasti developed a feeding technique for rejecting the CG-laden cuticular material, which reduced the bitterness of ingested monarch material. However,R. sumichrasti displayed the technique significantly less often thanP. melanotis; andP. aztecus never developed it. I conclude that high taste sensitivity to CGs and less versatile food handling preventP. aztecus andR. sumichrasti from overcoming the monarch's chemical defenses.     

High bat (Chiroptera) diversity in the Early Eocene of India

The geographic origin of bats is still unknown, and fossils of earliest bats are rare and poorly diversified, with, maybe, the exception of Europe. The earliest bats are recorded from the Early Eocene of North America, Europe, North Africa and Australia where they seem to appear suddenly and simultaneously. Until now, the oldest record in Asia was from the Middle Eocene. In this paper, we report the discovery of the oldest bat fauna of Asia dating from the Early Eocene of the Cambay Formation at Vastan Lignite Mine in Western India. The fossil taxa are described on the basis of well-preserved fragments of dentaries and lower teeth. The fauna is highly diversified and is represented by seven species belonging to seven genera and at least four families. Two genera and five species are new. Three species exhibit very primitive dental characters, whereas four others indicate more advanced states. Unexpectedly, this fauna presents strong affinities with the European faunas from the French Paris Basin and the German Messel locality. This could result from the limited fossil record of bats in Asia, but could also suggest new palaeobiogeographic scenarios involving the relative position of India during the Early Eocene.     

Non-invasive measurement of the physiological stress response of wild rabbits to the odour of a predator

Summary. Stress has been widely studied in different mammals, but the physiological stress reaction that the odour of a predator could induce in preys has not received much attention. Besides, not all the animals would respond to the same extent to a known stressor. We developed an experimental procedure with eleven na?ve European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in order to determine the individual physiological response to the olfactory detection of a potential predator. The rabbits were housed singly in small enclosures with a concrete burrow system and food and water were available ad libitum. The animals followed a control trial, without odour, and an experimental trial where we confronted the rabbits with fox (Vulpes vulpes) odour. Furthermore, another sample of eleven rabbits followed a control procedure subjected to the same housing and handling procedures but without facing the predator odour. In order to assess the physiological response we analysed the concentration of glucocorticoid metabolites in the faeces of the rabbits. Therefore, everyday faecal samples were collected and analysed with an enzyme immunoassay in order to measure the corticosterone metabolites (CM), particularly, those metabolites with a 5α-3β, 11β-diol structure. After validating the assay for wild rabbits, we found that the simulated presence of a predator (fox odour) in the enclosure resulted in an increase in faecal CM concentrations. However, the stressor did not affect all the animals in the same way. We found a general increase in the individual differences. In particular, males experienced a higher increase than females, though the overall response was similar for both sexes. To our knowledge this is one of the first attempts to analyse the assessment of the risk of predation by means of non-invasive methods.     

The oldest African fox (Vulpes riffautae n. sp., Canidae, Carnivora) recovered in late Miocene deposits of the Djurab desert, Chad

We report on the oldest fox (Canidae) ever found in Africa. It is dated to 7 Ma based on the degree of evolution of the whole fauna. It belongs to a new species. Its overall size and some morphological characteristics distinguish the Chadian specimen from all the other foxes. The presence of Vulpes and of the genus Eucyon in slightly younger African locality, as well as in southwestern Europe in the late Miocene, may indicate that canids migrated in Europe from Africa through a trans-Mediterranean route.     

Responses of three mouse species to deterrent chemicals in the monarch butterfly. I. Taste and toxicity tests using artificial diets laced with digitoxin or monocrotaline

Summary Of three common mouse species at the Mexican overwintering sites of the monarch butterfly, onlyPeromyscus melanotis eats monarchs. We hypothesized thatP. aztecus andReithrodontomys sumichrasti reject monarchs because they are more sensitive to the bitter taste and/or toxic effects of the cardiac glycosides (CGs) and pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) in the butterflies. Two-choice preference tests revealed no difference in taste avoidance thresholds to free base and N-oxide forms of the PA, monocrotaline, but very different avoidance thresholds to the CG, digitoxin. Avoidance thresholds forR. sumichrasti andP. aztecus were, in respective order, 1020 and 34 times less than that forP. melanotis. We also tested the toxic sensitivity of juvenile mice by chronically feeding diets containing digitoxin or monocrotaline at concentrations similar to those used in the preference tests. No species developed CG toxicity, but bothP. melanotis andP. aztecus developed moderate PA toxicity (R. sumichrasti was not tested for PA toxicity).P. aztecus grew more slowly and manyP. melanotis had hepatic metabolic lesions. Thus, the three mouse species responded very differently to the taste and toxic properties of CGs and PAs at ecologically relevant concentrations: 1) CGs were taste rejected by all species exceptP. melanotis, while PAs were not; and 2) PAs were toxic, while CGs were not.     

Faecal marking behaviour in ringtails (Bassariscus astutus) during the non-breeding period: spatial characteristics of latrines and single faeces

Summary. Scent signals are the main source of information transmission in carnivores, being particularly important for those with nocturnal habits like the ringtail (Bassariscus astutus), a Procyonid widely distributed in Mexico. However, faecal marking behaviour of free-ranging ringtails has not been described previously. The aims of this study were to describe the use of latrines in ringtails and to test if single faeces and latrines have a marking function, based on the spatial characterisation of the defecation places and revisits to these sites. The study was conducted at an urban reserve within Mexico City in 2003, where 80 defecation points were analysed. The results showed that ringtails deposit faeces repeatedly in the same sites (latrines), which contain a variable number of faeces (between 2 and 19). The spatial distribution of latrines was not random, but a selection of substrates and zones that enhanced the effectiveness as faecal marks was observed. Latrines were preferentially placed on objects above ground level and at road margins. Latrines and single faeces that were in inconspicuous zones were generally deposited on conspicuous substrates and latrines and single faeces that were in conspicuous zones were deposited more frequently on inconspicuous substrates.     

Scent-rubbing and status signalling by male mammals

Summary There is no consensus about the function of scent-rubbing, a widespread behaviour in which mammals rub their bodies vigorously in substances, many strong-smelling and some artificial, such as rotting meat, intestinal contents and engine oil. Here we suggest that scent-rubbing is involved in status advertisement and that, as in assessment using scent marks, the mechanism used by competitors to assess potential opponents may be scent-matching. In scent-matching a resource holder is assessed (identified) by comparing its odour with odours on or near the defended resource. In scent marking the odour originates from the resource holder (glandular secretion, urine and faeces); in scent-rubbing the odour originates in the environment.A prerequisite of unambiguous scent-matching is that the odour of scent-marks should be uniquely characteristic of one individual. This may be why marking substances are very complex chemically. Scent-rubbing often occurs with scent-marking and, rather than acting independently of scent-marking, the odours acquired may either (i) add to the complexity of the signal, thus reducing signal ambiguity, or (ii) increase the range of the signal by adding a strong smelling component.Subordinates could potentially cheat by rubbing in the same odours as the resource holder. Resource holders could prevent cheating (i) by checking other status cues and by testing competitors whose scent matches, then escalating contests when the competitor's fighting ability (more formally, Resource Holding Power) proves to be lower than that of a resource holder and (ii) by mixing the substances used for scent-rubbing with the unique substances used in scent-marking.