Sexual Dimorphism in Crowned Lemur Scent-Marking

Elwell, Emily; Walker, David M.; Vaglio, Stefano

doi:10.3390/ani11072091

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…For instance, it has been detected in the scent odour secretions of the giant panda ( 97 ) and in wolf urine ( 99 ), while it is involved in signalling musth among male African elephants ( 98 ). It was also found in the urine of the aye-aye ( 100 , 105 ) and in the female anogenital odour secretions of crowned lemurs ( Eulemur coronatus ) ( 34 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…( 21 – 28 )]. Although little is known about gentle lemurs, it is broadly established that lemurs rely heavily on olfaction [reviewed by ( 29 )], with semiochemicals being important for territorial marking, social communication, kin recognition and mate choice ( 30 – 34 ). Among primates, lemurs show the utmost variability and specialization in chemosignalling, with a great diversity in design, delivery and perception of chemical signals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Anogenital scent-marking signals fertility in a captive female Alaotran gentle lemur

et al. 2022

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The Lake Alaotra gentle lemur (Hapalemur alaotrensis) is one of the 25 most endangered primates in the world and shows low success rate in captive breeding programmes. It is therefore vital to further understand its reproductive biology. We studied a captive troop consisting of five individuals hosted at Jersey Zoo during breeding and non-breeding periods over 1 year. We collected behavioural data (n = 318 h) using all occurrence of some behaviours and ad libitum sampling methods, as well as faecal (n = 54) and anogenital scent (n = 35) samples of the breeding female. We measured sex hormone levels using enzyme immunoassay technique and investigated the volatile component of odour signals using solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. We observed sexual and aggressive behaviours occasionally during the breeding period. Our regression analysis showed that only period significantly predicted rates of female anogenital scent-marking, whereby the female performed anogenital scent-marking more frequently during the breeding rather than the non-breeding period. In contrast, female hormone levels did not significantly explain variation in rates of neither male nor female olfactory, sexual and affiliative behaviours, suggesting that individuals' behaviour alone is not an effective indicator of the ovulation window. The volatile chemical profile of anogenital odour secretions changed over the study, with four compounds distinguishing the fertile window during the breeding period. In conclusion, our findings suggest that anogenital scent-marking may signal the reproductive status of captive female gentle lemurs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anogenital scent-marking signals fertility in a captive female Alaotran gentle lemur

et al. 2022

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“…The anogenital gland secretion microbiota of male and female pandas differs considerably, and this may be related to sex hormones ( Miyazaki et al, 2018 ; Sugianto et al, 2019 ; Elwell et al, 2021 ; Poirier et al, 2021 ). It is well established that steroid hormones are present in mammalian sebaceous and apocrine glands and that they affect gland morphology, production, and chemistry ( Comizzoli et al, 2021 ; Carlitz et al, 2022 ; Jiang et al, 2022 ; Peckre et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Symbiotic microbiota and odor ensure mating in time for giant pandas

Zheng²,

Guo

et al. 2022

Front. Microbiol.

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To achieve reproduction, male solitary mammals need to locate females using chemical communication with high levels of precision. In the case of giant pandas, the total estrus period of females was usually 15 days each year, however, successful mating activity is finished within 3 days from respective home range. The mating pattern of giant pandas, where multiple males compete for each female requires females employ efficient systems to communicate their estrus phases. To verifying whether the scent secretions of giant pandas changes by gender and estrus progression, the microbiota and compounds in 29 anogenital gland samples from 14 individuals during estrus were analyzed by 16S rRNA sequencing and GC-MS. We show that the microbiota communities covary by gender with 4 particular compounds of scent secretions. Among 597 genera, 34 were identified as biomarkers that could be used to distinguish between different estrus phases. By bacterial-compounds co-analysis, 3 fatty ester acids and squalene compounds covaried with the development of estrus in the bacterial communities of female giant pandas. This study helps clarify how a large, solitary mammal expresses accurate information to improve the likelihood of successful reproduction by changing the composition of microbiota and odor compounds of anogenital glands during estrus.

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“…100 Moreover, common monoterpene hydrocarbons and alcohols were detected in ano-genital odor secretions used for scent marking by crowned lemurs ( Eulemur coronatus ). 101 A number of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes including compounds 64–68 (Fig. 7) have also been found in sternal gland secretions of male koalas ( Phascolarctos cinereus ).…”

Section: Volatile Terpenes In the Animal Kingdommentioning

confidence: 98%