Flehmen in the Ring-Tailed Lemur (Lemur Catta)

Bailey, Keith

doi:10.1163/156853978x00666

Cited by 44 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Consistent with the anatomical evidence, to our knowledge, flehmen behavior has not been previously reported in any Old World primate. Although flehmen and other associated behavior (such as lip smacking or tongue protrusion) are recognized in strepsirrhines and New World monkeys, and may serve a comparable function [Epple, 1974;Jolly, 1966;Wolowich & Evans, 2007], the complete behavioral sequence of the flehmen response has been reported only for the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) [Bailey, 1978]. Contrary to prior studies [Dugmore et al, 1984], however, we have not seen any evidence of flehmen in our own olfactory studies of L. catta, despite having observed frequent licking of conspecific odorants [Charpentier et al, 2010;Crawford et al, 2011;.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nasopalatine Ducts and Flehmen Behavior in the Mandrill: Reevaluating Olfactory Communication in Old World Primates

Charpentier

Mboumba

Ditsoga

et al. 2013

American J Primatol

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Compared to other modes of communication, chemical signaling between conspecifics generally has been overlooked in Old World primates, despite the presence in this group of secretory glands and scent-marking behavior, as well as the confirmed production and perception of olfactory signals. In other mammalian species, flehmen is a behavior thought to transport primarily nonvolatile, aqueous-soluble odorants via specialized ducts to the vomeronasal organ (VNO). By contrast, Old World primates are traditionally thought to lack a functional VNO, relying instead on the main olfactory system to process volatile odorants from their environment. Here, in the mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx), we document unusual morphological and behavioral traits that typically are associated with the uptake of conspecific chemical cues for processing by an accessory olfactory system. Notably, we confirmed that both sexes possess open nasopalatine ducts and, in response to the presentation of conspecific odorants, we found that both sexes showed stereotyped behavior consistent with the flehmen response. If, as in other species, flehmen in the mandrill serves to mediate social or reproductive information, we expected its occurrence to vary with characteristics of either the signaler or receiver. Flehmen, particularly in a given male, occurred most often in response to odorants derived from male, as opposed to female, conspecifics. Moreover, odorants derived during the breeding season elicited more flehmen responses than did odorants collected during the birthing season. Lastly, odorants from reproductively cycling females also elicited more responses than did odorants from contracepted females. Although confirming a link between the nasopalatine ducts, flehmen behavior, and olfactory processing in mandrills would require further study, our observations provide new information to suggest anatomical variability within Old World primates, calling further attention to the underappreciated role of chemical communication in this lineage.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nasopalatine Ducts and Flehmen Behavior in the Mandrill: Reevaluating Olfactory Communication in Old World Primates

Charpentier

Mboumba

Ditsoga

et al. 2013

American J Primatol

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“…Because males show a flehmen response after sniffing a female genital mark (Fig. 1), the vomeronasal organ may be used to sense nonvolatile substances in the secretion [Bailey, 1978;Evans, 1980] (Evans, this volume).…”

Section: Ring-tailed Lemur Scent Markingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scent marking as resource defense by female Lemur catta

Mertl-Míllhollen

2006

American J Primatol

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Because ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) are a female-dominant, female-philopatric species in which the females provide the majority of parental care and troop defense, resource defense is a possible function of female lemur scent marking. To test this hypothesis, I conducted three studies. First, I presented captive, individually housed females with a series of samples of female scent, each from a different female, to determine whether they would respond to those samples and discriminate between them. Second, I reanalyzed data from a focal animal study of four females in two adjacent troops in Berenty Reserve, Madagascar, to determine female marking rates before, during, and after the mating season, and to clarify the relationship among positions of feeding, intertroop defense, and scent marking. The third study was based on ad libitum observations of the sniffing and marking behavior of a troop in Berenty Reserve during a year when they traveled far out of their home range. The females in study 1 investigated female scent samples but provided no evidence that they discriminated between them. In study 2 the wild females marked throughout the study and did not limit their marking to the mating season. They deposited significantly more of their marks in a zone of confrontation with adjacent troops, where they also did the majority of their feeding, and they increased their rate of marking during agonistic intertroop confrontations. The females determined the positions of their scent marks and deposited the first mark in the majority of countermarking sequences. When the females traveled out of their defended range in study 3, they significantly decreased their rate of marking and increased their rate of sniffing spots but not marking them. All evidence gathered so far supports the hypothesis that one function of female ring-tailed lemur scent marking is to provide intergroup information that is then used to reinforce the border of the defended resource.

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“…Its histology soon showed it to be an accessory olfactory sense organ (Balogh 1891) while its biological function is still discussed frequently and controversely (Prescott 1977, Bailey 1978, O'Brien 1982, Hart 1987.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional anatomy of the vomeronasal complex in the embryonic development of the pig ( Sus scrofa dom. )

Wöhrmann-Repenning¹,

Barth-Müller²

1994

Acta Theriol.

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The vomeronasal complex of 5 different aged pig embryos Sus scrofa dom. Linnaeus, 1758 with a total length (TL) of 330, 180, 75, 50 and 45 mm respectively were studied. In all cases the nasopalatal part surrounding Jacobson's organ was generally established. During the studied period of development the completion of details within the cartilaginous supporting structures were of primary interest. In the youngest embryo studied, ducts and furrows of the vomeronasal complex were blocked by fused epitheliums. Their dissolvement was completed in an embryo of 57 mm (TL). The elaborated vomeronasal complex of the oldest embryo allowed some further analyses. So it proved that all morphological peculiarities of the supporting structures, the nasopalatine ducts and the papilla palatina in pigs are an indication of their importance to a properly functioning vomeronasal complex. As pigs have no rhinarium or cleft snout of the kind found in most mammals, no philtrum communicates with the sulcus papillae palatinae and the nasopalatine ducts where Jacobson's organs merge into. Their flat snout is however provided with a dinstict ventral groove which is obviously a substitute for the missing philtrum. Generally it was possible to classify the vomeronasal complex in S. scrofa from a phylogenetic point of view. As this anatomical system in placental mammals fundamentally reveals two differing construction types, classified as either primitive or progressive S. scrofa possesses a progressively developed vomeronasal complex.

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Flehmen in the Ring-Tailed Lemur (Lemur Catta)

Cited by 44 publications

References 16 publications

Nasopalatine Ducts and Flehmen Behavior in the Mandrill: Reevaluating Olfactory Communication in Old World Primates

Nasopalatine Ducts and Flehmen Behavior in the Mandrill: Reevaluating Olfactory Communication in Old World Primates

Scent marking as resource defense by female Lemur catta

Functional anatomy of the vomeronasal complex in the embryonic development of the pig ( Sus scrofa dom. )

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