| Title: | Male gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) concentration-dependent social responses to diluted mental gland pheromones |
| Author(s): | Kelley MD; Finger JW; Mendonca MT; |
| Address: | "331 Funchess Hall, Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, United States; Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, United States. Electronic address: meghankelley517@gmail.com. 331 Funchess Hall, Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, United States; Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, United States. 331 Funchess Hall, Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, United States" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104729 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1872-8308 (Electronic) 0376-6357 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "In complex terrestrial environments, chemical signals can be the most important sensory modality for locating conspecifics for potential mating opportunities, especially in spatially segregated populations or habitats. Organisms must evolve chemical signals to maximize the efficacy of conveying information, particularly in creating trails or mate-choice cues. Long-distance transmission of chemical signals may be an increasingly important management concern for small and fractured populations or potentially threatened species, such as gopher tortoises in the southeastern U.S. Mental gland secretions have been shown to have pheromonal function in gopher tortoises, suggesting a potential role as trail or marking pheromones, allowing males to track females or other males to find females. In this study, male gopher tortoises were given paired presentations of a negative control (distilled water) with serial dilutions (1:4, 1:20, 1:100, and 1:500) of male mental gland secretions. Male tortoises were able to discern treatment differences up to 1:20 diluted secretions, responding with an array of social behaviors (e.g. for the 1:20 dilution trial, carapace alignment and head bobbing occurred more frequently for the mental gland secretion relative to the control; p < 0.01). Multivariate principal components analysis yielded PC1 (including, approach, carapace alignment, head bobbing, tasting air, sniffing, and doubleback) that differed by treatment (p = 0.0007) and also was higher for the 1:20 diluted presentation relative to the 1:500 diluted presentation (p = 0.04). This study provides insight into gopher tortoise ecology, mate-choice, and the utility of environmentally diluted mental gland secretions in the external environment when seeking mating opportunities" |
| Keywords: | Animals Ecosystem Endangered Species Female *Gophers Male Pheromones/pharmacology *Turtles/physiology Chemical signaling Gopher tortoise Intraspecific communication Mental gland (MG) Pheromones Trailing; |
| Notes: | "MedlineKelley, Meghan D Finger, John W Jr Mendonca, Mary T eng Netherlands 2022/08/08 Behav Processes. 2022 Sep; 201:104729. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2022.104729. Epub 2022 Aug 4" |
