Perineal scent gland of wild and domestic cavies: bacterial activity and urine as sources of biologically significant odors.
Perineal scent gland of wild and domestic cavies: bacterial activity and urine as sources of biologically significant odors.
复制标题
野生和家养豚鼠的会阴气味腺：细菌活性和尿液作为具有生物学意义的气味的来源。
DOI：
10.1016/0031-9384(84)90141-0
复制
发表时间：
1984
影响因子：
2.9
通讯作者：
Beauchamp,GK
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Zechman,JM;Martin,IG;Wellington,JL;Beauchamp,GK
Several studies were conducted to evaluate the source of biologically relevant odorous substances in male wild cavy (Cavia aperea) perineal gland secretions. In the first study, using a habituation procedure, male wild cavies distinguished between the urine of two individuals after exposure to the perineal secretions of one of the individuals. However, these animals did not distinguish between the perineal secretions of two individuals after exposure to the urine of one of the individuals. These results suggest that urine is a component of cavy perineal gland secretions as normally found in the perineal sac. Other studies were designed to evaluate the possible role of bacteria in producing biologically relevant odors from cavy perineal gland secretions. Microbiological analyses of secretion that had accumulated in the perineal sacs (“dirty”) or been squeezed directly from the glands (“clean”) of wild and domestic (C. porcellus) cavies indicated large numbers of bacteria inhabited these secretions. In behavioral studies using two-choice preference tests, male wild cavies spent more time investigating conspecific dirty perineal gland secretions than clean secretions. Clean secretions, however, which had been incubated for 48 hr at 37°C were preferred by these cavies over clean secretions which had been frozen at −60°C during the same time period. In a final experiment it was found that wild cavies preferred conspecific clean secretion that had been sterilized and incubated with bacteria over uninoculated sterilized secretion. Together, these results indicate that urine and bacteria are responsible for components of biologically significant odors of cavy perineal scent marks.
