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J Chem Ecol

Title:		"Knowing Me, Knowing You: Anal Gland Secretion of European Badgers (Meles meles) Codes for Individuality, Sex and Social Group Membership"
Author(s):		Noonan MJ; Tinnesand HV; Muller CT; Rosell F; Macdonald DW; Buesching CD;
Address:		"National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, 1500 Remount Rd, Front Royal, VA, 22630, USA. Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA. Faculty of Technology, Natural Sciences and Maritime Sciences, Department of Natural Sciences and Environmental Health, University College of Southeast Norway, 3800, Bo, Telemark, Norway. School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Sir Martin Evans Building, Museum Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3AX, UK. Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, Recanati-Kaplan Centre, University of Oxford, Tubney House, Abingdon Road, Tubney, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX13 5QL, UK. Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, Recanati-Kaplan Centre, University of Oxford, Tubney House, Abingdon Road, Tubney, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX13 5QL, UK. christina.buesching@zoo.ox.ac.uk"
Journal Title:		J Chem Ecol
Year:		2019
Volume:		20191107
Issue:		10
Page Number:		823 - 837
DOI:		10.1007/s10886-019-01113-0
ISSN/ISBN:		1573-1561 (Electronic) 0098-0331 (Linking)
Abstract:		"European badgers, Meles meles, are group-living in the UK, and demarcate their ranges with shared latrines. As carnivores, badgers possess paired anal glands, but olfactory information on the content of badger anal gland secretion (AGS) is largely uninvestigated. Here, we examined the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of AGS samples from 57 free-living badgers using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. AGS was rich in alkanes (C7-C15, 14.3% of identified compounds), aldehydes (C5-C14, 9.7%), phenols (C6-C15, 9.5%), alcohols (C5-C10, 7.3%), aromatic hydrocarbons (C6-C13, 6.8%), ketones (C6-C13, 6.3%) and carboxylic acids (C3-C12, 5.6%) and contained a variety of esters, sulfurous and nitrogenous compounds, and ethers. The number of VOCs per profile ranged from 20 to 111 (mean = 65.4; +/- 22.7 SD), but no compound was unique for any of the biological categories. After normalization of the raw data using Probabilistic Quotient Normalization, we produced a resemblance matrix by calculating the Euclidian distances between all sample pairs. PERMANOVA revealed that AGS composition differs between social groups, and concentration and complexity in terms of number of measurable VOCs varies between seasons and years. AGS VOC profiles encode individual identity, sex and vary with female reproductive state, indicating an important function in intraspecific communication. Because AGS is excreted together with fecal deposits, we conclude that chemical complexity of AGS enables particularly latrine-using species, such as badgers, to advertise more complex individual-specific information than in feces alone"
Keywords:		"Alkanes/chemistry/isolation & purification/pharmacology Anal Canal/*chemistry/metabolism Animal Communication Animals Behavior, Animal/drug effects Female Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Mustelidae/*physiology Pheromones/*chemistry/isolation & purifi;"
Notes:		"MedlineNoonan, Michael J Tinnesand, Helga V Muller, Carsten T Rosell, Frank Macdonald, David W Buesching, Christina D eng NA/People's Trust for Endangered Species/ Scholarly Studies Award/Smithsonian Institution/ 2019/11/09 J Chem Ecol. 2019 Oct; 45(10):823-837. doi: 10.1007/s10886-019-01113-0. Epub 2019 Nov 7"