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Naturwissenschaften

Title:		Relatedness communicated in lemur scent
Author(s):		Morelli TL; Hayes RA; Nahrung HF; Goodwin TE; Harelimana IH; Macdonald LJ; Wright PC;
Address:		"Northeast Climate Science Center, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. morelli@umass.edu"
Journal Title:		Naturwissenschaften
Year:		2013
Volume:		20130702
Issue:		8
Page Number:		769 - 777
DOI:		10.1007/s00114-013-1074-x
ISSN/ISBN:		1432-1904 (Electronic) 0028-1042 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Lemurs are the most olfactory-oriented of primates, yet there is still only a basic level of understanding of what their scent marks communicate. We analyzed scent secretions from Milne-Edwards' sifakas (Propithecus edwardsi) collected in their natural habitat of Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. We sought to test whether the scent mark could signal genetic relatedness in addition to species, sex, season, and individuality. We not only found correlations (r (2) = 0.38, P = 0.017) between the total olfactory fingerprint and genetic relatedness but also between relatedness and specific components of the odor, despite the complex environmental signals from differences in diet and behavior in a natural setting. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of an association between genetic relatedness and chemical communication in a wild primate population. Furthermore, we found a variety of compounds that were specific to each sex and each sampling period. This research shows that scent marks could act as a remote signal to avoid inbreeding, optimize mating opportunities, and potentially aid kin selection"
Keywords:		*Animal Communication Animals Female Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Lemur/genetics/*physiology Madagascar Male Multivariate Analysis Pheromones/*chemistry/genetics Scent Glands/chemistry;
Notes:		"MedlineMorelli, Toni Lyn Hayes, R Andrew Nahrung, Helen F Goodwin, Thomas E Harelimana, Innocent H Macdonald, Laura J Wright, Patricia C eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. Germany 2013/07/03 Naturwissenschaften. 2013 Aug; 100(8):769-77. doi: 10.1007/s00114-013-1074-x. Epub 2013 Jul 2"