Discrimination of oestrous status in giant pandas (<i>Ailuropoda melanoleuca</i>) via chemical cues in urine

Swaisgood, Ronald R.; Lindburg, Donald G.; Zhang, H.

doi:10.1017/s0952836902000985

Cited by 99 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Female owl monkeys urinate frequently and their mates drink their urine. Urine-drinking may allow the males to detect female reproductive state including the time of ovulation, as in other mammals: antelope (Hart and Hart 1987), elephants (Elephas maximus, Rasumussen et al 1996), and pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca, Swaisgood et al 2002). Further support for the hypothesis comes from the fact that males investigated the anogenital region of their mates more often than females did and there was an increased amount of anogenital inspection during observation periods with mounting.…”

Section: Chemical Communicationmentioning

confidence: 98%

Sociosexual Behavior and Chemical Communication of Aotus nancymaae

Wolovich

Evans²

2007

Int J Primatol

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Owl monkeys (Aotus spp.) are unique because they are the only nocturnal anthropoids. Though medical researchers have used them extensively, thorough descriptions of their social behavior are sparse. We examined in detail the social behavior of 12 male-female captive pairs of Aotus nancymaae over an entire year. We compared data from males and females to determine if there are sexual differences in scent-marking, allogrooming, and other sociosexual behavior. We compared observation periods with and without mounting to determine if any behavior is associated with mounting. We present previously unreported behaviors for Aotus including urine-drinking and a suite of behaviors that we consider to function in olfactory communication. Males and females differed in their rates of several sociosexual behaviors; males anogenitally sniffed, drank urine, touched, and marked their mates more frequently than females did. We confirm earlier suggestions that allogrooming is rare in Aotus and is associated with mounting. Pairs of owl monkeys did not regularly exhibit behaviors that are typical for most monogamous primates but instead displayed a unique suite of behaviors adapted for their nocturnal lifestyle.

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Section: Chemical Communicationmentioning

confidence: 98%

Sociosexual Behavior and Chemical Communication of Aotus nancymaae

Wolovich

Evans²

2007

Int J Primatol

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“…Despite the clear role for intrasexual male competition, it is possible that female pandas exercise indirect choice (sensu Wiley and Poston 1996), where female behavior sets the stage for male-male competition. Female pandas advertise reproductive condition through scent beginning up to several weeks before the fertile period (Swaisgood et al 2000(Swaisgood et al , 2002(Swaisgood et al , 2004 and vocal signals (Charlton et al 2010), which may recruit males and incite competition, ensuring that the female mates with the best available male (Cox and Le Boeuf 1977).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reproductive competition and fecal testosterone in wild male giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

Nie

Swaisgood

Zhang

et al. 2012

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is notoriously difficult to study in the wild, but its interesting reproductive ecology makes the effort worthwhile. Perhaps more than most species, the panda is energy-limited, which alters the cost/benefit analysis of its reproductive ecology. Using global positioning system/very high frequency radiocollars to locate mating aggregations, we used behavioral observations and fecal testosterone assays to gain insight into male panda reproductive effort and strategies, and test theories relating to reproductive competition. Male pandas initially competed fiercely for access to females that were about to be fertile, but once male competitive status was determined, aggression rates declined. Contact aggression was only observed during the first 2 days of mating aggregations; thereafter, it was replaced with noncontact aggression and avoidance. Agonistic interactions were highly asymmetrical, with contest losers (subordinates) showing less aggression and more avoidance than contest winners (dominants), both before and after contest outcome was established. The competitively superior male displayed mate-guarding tactics and secured all observed copulations. Contrary to theoretical predictions, testosterone levels did not predict aggression levels or contest winners and also were not affected by winning or losing a contest. Body size appeared to be the primary determinant of contest outcome. We discuss our findings in light of theoretical predictions, such as those arising from the "challenge hypothesis," in the context of the giant panda's foraging and nutritional ecology.

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“…Giant panda male and female urine and male anogenital gland secretions contain information that allow individuals to discriminate age, gender and social status [34,[37][38][39][40][41]. We have a basic understanding of chemical signaling in giant pandas [37,38], and recent work on their vocal communications has raised the profile of this aspect of their sociality [23,25].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross-modal signaling in giant pandas

Wang

Liu

et al. 2012

Chin. Sci. Bull.

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For solitary species that aggregate to breed, signals, such as sound or odor, transmitted across the landscape can play an important role in mate choice and coordinating breeding activity. Recent work on vocalizations of the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), bleats and chirps that are emitted during periods of reproductive activity, has revealed that auditory communication in this species is more complicated and developed than once believed. However, playback experiments using these calls have recorded only a few behaviors over short observation times and the influence of these calls on the signaling behavior of receivers remains unknown. Here, we present results from a pilot study in which we played the bleats of male and female giant pandas in estrus to captive animals and measured vocal and chemical signaling response behavior. We found an increase in scent marking behavior, but not vocalizations, in males and females following the playback of calls made by members of the opposite sex in estrus. To our knowledge, this is the first study to detect a chemical communication response, which was marking, to an auditory signal in giant pandas. Our findings reveal a previously unknown relationship between acoustic and chemical signals in this high profile species and suggest that these two forms of signaling may be interdependent in the social lives of giant pandas. Ailuropoda melanoleuca, auditory communication, chemical communication, multiple modality, giant panda Citation: Xu M, Wang Z P, Liu D Z, et al. Cross-modal signaling in giant pandas.

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Discrimination of oestrous status in giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) via chemical cues in urine

Cited by 99 publications

References 32 publications

Sociosexual Behavior and Chemical Communication of Aotus nancymaae

Sociosexual Behavior and Chemical Communication of Aotus nancymaae

Reproductive competition and fecal testosterone in wild male giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

Cross-modal signaling in giant pandas

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