Ontogenic patterns of scent marking in red foxes, <i>Vulpes vulpes</i> (Carnivora: Canidae)

Soulsbury, Carl D.; Fawcett, John K.

doi:10.25225/fozo.v64.i1.a5.2015

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Gaining information about the when and where of scent marking of wild animals is a non-trivial methodological issue. Camera traps provide a means to study free-living animals and have provided valuable insights for wild canids 24,25 . However, these animals are prompted to scent-mark by a stimulus placed by the researcher, and so do not offer insight into the typical spatial distribution of scent marks or the nuances of their use in intra-species communication.…”

Section: Limited Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring canid scent marking in space and time using a biologging and machine learning approach

Bidder

Virgilio

Hunter

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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for canid species, scent marking plays a critical role in territoriality, social dynamics, and reproduction. However, due in part to human dependence on vision as our primary sensory modality, research on olfactory communication is hampered by a lack of tractable methods. in this study, we leverage a powerful biologging approach, using accelerometers in concert with GpS loggers to monitor and describe scent-marking events in time and space. We performed a validation experiment with domestic dogs, monitoring them by video concurrently with the novel biologging approach. We attached an accelerometer to the pelvis of 31 dogs (19 males and 12 females), detecting raised-leg and squat posture urinations by monitoring the change in device orientation. We then deployed this technique to describe the scent marking activity of 3 guardian dogs as they defend livestock from coyote depredation in California, providing an example use-case for the technique. During validation, the algorithm correctly classified 92% of accelerometer readings. High performance was partly due to the conspicuous signatures of archetypal raised-leg postures in the accelerometer data. Accuracy did not vary with the weight, age, and sex of the dogs, resulting in a method that is broadly applicable across canid species' morphologies. We also used models trained on each individual to detect scent marking of others to emulate the use of captive surrogates for model training. We observed no relationship between the similarity in body weight between the dog pairs and the overall accuracy of predictions, although models performed best when trained and tested on the same individual. We discuss how existing methods in the field of movement ecology can be extended to use this exciting new data type. This paper represents an important first step in opening new avenues of research by leveraging the power of modern-technologies and machine-learning to this field. Scent marking is a critically important form of olfactory communication, shaping affiliative and agonistic interactions within and across species. The use of scent marks provides animals a means to defend resources 1,2 , advertise availability to mates 3-5 , and communicate with conspecifics 6,7. It also serves to minimise the risk of injuries from agonistic encounters with potential competitors 2. Prey species are also known to 'eavesdrop' on these communications to avoid contact with their predators 8. Thus, scent marking is a critical communication system, the nuances of which dictate where animals occur on the landscape, with implications for individual fitness and, ultimately, population dynamics. Despite its importance, research on this and other forms of olfactory communication in the wild is hampered by a lack of tractable methods. This is due in part to human dependence on vision as our primary sensory modality. If new methods could be developed that address the deficiencies in our olfactory senses using modern technology, this could open up numerous avenues for future research on this significa...

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Section: Limited Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring canid scent marking in space and time using a biologging and machine learning approach

Bidder

Virgilio

Hunter

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…So, in this study, we used a long-term series of video footages in a residential UK garden to test how individual patterns of attendance varied with season and sex, and 4 between resident and trespassing foxes. Long-term monitoring permits individual identification and previous work has examined patterns of urine marking in adults and cubs (Fawcett et al 2013;Soulsbury & Fawcett 2015). Here we report patterns of individual feeding site attendance and how these varied with sex, season and whether the individuals were seen relatively frequently and likely to be residents, or less frequently and likely to be non-residents.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal and Sex-Specific Differences in Feeding Site Attendance by Red Foxes Vulpes vulpes

Fawcett

Soulsbury

2017

Mammal Study

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Food provided by householders represents a key resource for urban red foxes Vulpes vulpes.Using long-term video footage, we examined how patterns of feeding site attendance varied with season, sex and likely residence status. For foxes attending frequently (>15%) we found feeding site attendance highest for females in spring, probably because of feeding dependent young, and lowest for both sexes in autumn because of changes in seasonal food abundance or in time spent in other activities. For infrequent attenders (<15%), females attended most often in autumn and winter, coinciding with the dispersal period. Male attendance was not higher during the breeding season. Our combined results show how feeding site attendance changes throughout the year relative to potential intrinsic and extrinsic factors.

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Communication by Chemical Signals: Physiological Mechanisms, Ontogeny and Learning, Function, Evolution, and Cognition

Ferkin

delBarco‐Trillo²,

Petrulis³

2017

Hormones, Brain and Behavior

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Ontogenic patterns of scent marking in red foxes, Vulpes vulpes (Carnivora: Canidae)

Cited by 4 publications

References 29 publications

Monitoring canid scent marking in space and time using a biologging and machine learning approach

Monitoring canid scent marking in space and time using a biologging and machine learning approach

Seasonal and Sex-Specific Differences in Feeding Site Attendance by Red Foxes Vulpes vulpes

Communication by Chemical Signals: Physiological Mechanisms, Ontogeny and Learning, Function, Evolution, and Cognition

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