Asian Bull Elephants: Flehmen-Like Responses to Extractable Components in Female Elephant Estrous Urine

Rasmussen, L.E.L.; Schmidt, M. J.; Henneous, R; Groves, Douglas L.; Daves, G. Doyle

doi:10.1126/science.7089549

Cited by 81 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Koikegami and Ozaki (1967, p. 131) noted that the nAcc in elephants has functions associated with olfacto-visceral or olfacto-sexual correlation centers. Our interpretation of this statement, as well as data from the work of Rasmussen and her colleagues (Rasmussen and Hultgren, 1990;Rasmussen et al, 1982, indicate that one of the functions of the nAcc is related to chemical cues and subsequent behavioral repertoire is possibly associated with mating.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Do elephants feel pain and if so, how do we know this?

et al. 2000

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Do elephants feel pain and if so, how do we know this?

et al. 2000

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“…Males are often able to detect chemical cues in female urine and/or feces related to reproductive state (Rasmussen et al 1982; Ghosal et al 2012; Archunan and Rajagopala 2013). Contrary to our predictions, frequency of latrine use in L. leucopus did not increase during the mating season.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maintenance of familiarity and social bonding via communal latrine use in a solitary primate (Lepilemur leucopus)

Dröscher

Kappeler

2014

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Latrine use (i.e., the repeated use of specific defecation/urination sites) has been described for several mammals, including carnivores, ungulates, and primates. However, the functional significance of latrine use in primates has not been studied systematically yet. We, therefore, followed 14 radio-collared individuals of the pair-living white-footed sportive lemur (Lepilemur leucopus) for 1097 hours of continuous focal observations to investigate latrine distribution, seasonality of latrine use, as well as age and sex of users to test various hypotheses related to possible functions of latrine use, including territory demarcation, resource defense, signaling of reproductive state, social bonding, and mate defense. All individuals of a social unit exhibited communal use of latrines located in the core area of their territory, supporting the social boding hypothesis. Latrine use seems to facilitate familiarity and social bonding within social units via olfactory communication in this primate that lives in family units but exhibits low levels of spatial cohesion and direct social interactions. In addition, frequency of latrine visitation was higher during nights of perceived intruder pressure, supporting the mate defense hypothesis. However, animals did not react to experimentally introduced feces from neighboring or strange social units, indicating that urine may be the more important component of latrines than feces in this arboreal species. Based on a survey of latrine use and function in other mammals, we conclude that latrines facilitate communication particularly in nocturnal species with limited habitat visibility and in species where individuals are not permanently cohesive because they constitute predictable areas for information exchange.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00265-014-1810-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…Each species of animal has a characteristic mechanism(s) for transporting substances into the vomeronasal organ. In various species of ungulates (goats: Melese-d'Hospital and Hart 1985;antelope: Hart et al 1988), horses (Stahlbaum and Houpt 1989), cats (Hart and Leedy 1987;Verberne 1976) and elephants (Rasmussen et al 1982) a curling or retraction of the upper lip called the "flehmen response" aids in compounds being drawn into the vomeronasal organ. Opossums "nuzzle" substances with the snout to aid in access to the vomeronasal organ (Poran et al 1993;Poran 1998).…”

Section: Function Of the Naris Musclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The naris muscles in tiger salamander

Wirsig‐Wiechmann

Holliday

2002

Anatomy and Embryology

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The naris constrictor muscle, along with naris dilator and naris accessory muscles, controls the opening and closing of the external naris in tiger salamanders. It has been hypothesized that contraction of the naris constrictor muscle also causes the external nasal gland to secrete its contents inside the lateral wall of the external naris opening. This location is just rostral to vomeronasal organ and thus secretion in this region may be important for access of odorous compounds to vomeronasal organ. Little is known about the innervation of the naris muscles. To elucidate the neural control of these muscles, their innervation was examined using retrograde tract tracing with biocytin. Following application of biocytin to the naris constrictor muscle, labeling was observed in a ventral axonal plexus of the palatine nerve and numerous neuronal cell bodies distributed along this peripheral nerve plexus and within the main portion of the palatine ganglion. If the naris accessory and/or dilator muscles were also exposed to the tracer, the lateral-most branch of the palatine nerve and its associated neural cell bodies were labeled. To confirm the functional innervation of the muscles by the palatine nerve, the nerve was cut and the contraction of the muscles was eliminated. These findings demonstrate that the muscles controlling the external naris are under the control of palatine ganglion neurons. We hypothesize that this innervation of the naris constrictor muscle controls both muscle contraction and glandular secretion that may facilitate access of chemosensory substances to the vomeronasal organ.

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Asian Bull Elephants: Flehmen-Like Responses to Extractable Components in Female Elephant Estrous Urine

Cited by 81 publications

References 32 publications

Do elephants feel pain and if so, how do we know this?

Do elephants feel pain and if so, how do we know this?

Maintenance of familiarity and social bonding via communal latrine use in a solitary primate (Lepilemur leucopus)

The naris muscles in tiger salamander

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