Scent communication by female Columbian ground squirrels, Urocitellus columbianus |
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Authors: | Julien Raynaud and Stephen F Dobson |
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Institution: | (1) Verhaltensbiologie, Institut f?r Evolutionsbiologie und Umweltwissenschaften, Universit?t Z?rich-Irchel, 190 Winterthurerstrasse, 8057 Z?rich, Switzerland;(2) Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1919 route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France;(3) Department of Biological Sciences, 331 Funchess Hall, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA |
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Abstract: | Scent-marking is a frequent behaviour of highly social ground squirrels and might play an important role in their social dynamics.
Female Columbian ground squirrels exhibit considerable scent-marking during the reproductive period. We examined how gestating
and lactating females responded to jugal gland scent-marks of same-sexed and opposite-sexed conspecifics with attention to
genetic relatedness and the geographical location of the territory of individuals. We tested the dear-enemy, threat-level
and kin-discrimination hypotheses to explain patterns of scent-marking. Females sniffed the scent of non-neighbouring males
significantly longer than other types of scent categories and tended to over mark the scent of females more than the scent
of males. Furthermore, females sniffed significantly longer at scents during gestation than during lactation. We concluded
that scent-marking mainly functioned in the defence of female territories and for protection of pups against infanticidal
females (threat-level hypothesis). Our results were also in accordance with the kin-discrimination hypothesis, because greater
attention was paid to the marks of non-kin females. Kin females might not pose an infanticidal threat, perhaps explaining
greater tolerance among related reproductive females. We concluded that scent-marking may be a relatively low-cost means of
territorial defence, as well as a means of communication of aspects of individual identity. |
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