Why do river otters scent-mark? An experimental test of several hypotheses

Rostain, Régan R.; Ben‐David, Merav; Groves, Pamela; Randall, Jan A.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2003.10.027

Cited by 78 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…When river otters did stop in the latrine, they were most often observed sniffing or standing, supporting the idea that they may be collecting olfactory information about other animals carried through the air (Eisenberg and Kleiman 1972). Wild-caught, captive otters displayed sniffing behavior when investigating experimentally placed feces (Rostain et al 2004). Patterns in the sniffing behavior indicated that otters could discriminate species, sex, and social familiarity on the basis of feces (Rostain et al 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…Wild-caught, captive otters displayed sniffing behavior when investigating experimentally placed feces (Rostain et al 2004). Patterns in the sniffing behavior indicated that otters could discriminate species, sex, and social familiarity on the basis of feces (Rostain et al 2004). The sniffing behavior included a description of a slight bobbing of the head and flaring of the nostrils if the animal was facing the camera (Rostain et al 2004), behavior which we also observed in the latrines.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Patterns in the sniffing behavior indicated that otters could discriminate species, sex, and social familiarity on the basis of feces (Rostain et al 2004). The sniffing behavior included a description of a slight bobbing of the head and flaring of the nostrils if the animal was facing the camera (Rostain et al 2004), behavior which we also observed in the latrines. By definition, latrine sites are associated with feces and other secretions (e.g., urine, anal jelly) used for chemical communication (Eisenberg and Kleiman 1972;Irwin et al 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rostain et al (2004) and Hansen et al (2009) described the behaviors of captive river otters, but the extent to which these observations represent the behaviors of river otters in their native home range is unclear. Study of latrine behavior will contribute to better understanding of the function of latrine sites and strengthen the basis of research methods that depend on latrine sites to reach conclusions about river otter populations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although latrines are believed to facilitate olfactory communication between individuals and/or groups (Brown and Macdonald 1985), several other hypotheses have been proposed regarding latrine communication, including transfer of information pertaining to territory boundaries (Roper et al 1993), and health, social status, or reproductive state (reviewed by Brown and Macdonald 1985). Among river otters, olfactory latrine communication may aid species (Rostain et al 2004) and social recognition (Oldham and Black 2009), communicate male social status (Rostain et al 2004), or signal resource depletion (Kruuk 1992(Kruuk , 2006; overall function and use may vary with sex and social status (BenDavid et al 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Communication stations: cameras reveal river otter (Lontra canadensis) behavior and activity patterns at latrines

Green

Monick

Manjerovic

et al. 2015

J Ethol

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Little is known about the behaviors river otters (Lontra canadensis) commonly exhibit when visiting latrine sites. By use of video data we constructed an ethogram to describe and quantify latrine behaviors. The most common behaviors were standing (20.5 %) and sniffing (18.6 %), lending support to the hypothesis that latrines are used for olfactory communication. Surprisingly, defecation was rarely observed (1.4 %); body rubbing occurred more than defecation (10.5 %). It is possible that, in addition to feces, urine, and anal jelly, river otters use body rubbing to scent mark. To monitor site use, we determined seasonal, monthly, and daily visitation rates and calculated visit duration. River otters most frequently visited the latrine in the winter (December and January) but the longest visits occurred in the fall. Very few visits were recorded during the summer. Latrines were most often visited at night, but nocturnal and diurnal visit durations were not different. River otters were more likely to visit the latrine and engage in a specific behavior rather than travel straight through the site. Our data supported the idea that river otters are primarily solitary mammals, with most latrine visits by single otters. However, we documented groups of up to 4 individuals using the area, and group visits lasted longer than solitary visits. Therefore, whether visits are solitary or social, latrine sites are likely to act as communication stations to transmit information between individuals.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Communication stations: cameras reveal river otter (Lontra canadensis) behavior and activity patterns at latrines

Green

Monick

Manjerovic

et al. 2015

J Ethol

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The Function of Carnivore Latrines

Buesching

Jordan

2022

Small Carnivores

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Assessing the Diet of the Elusive North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis) in Florida Using Faecal DNA Metabarcoding

Bakker,

van Zinnicq Bergmann,

Stolen

et al. 2024

Aquatic Conservation

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North American river otters (Lontra canadensis) are semiaquatic mammals distributed throughout the North American continent. They are generalist carnivores with a high potential to affect community structure and dynamics. However, habitat degradation and ecosystem changes have the potential to impact their trophic interactions. Therefore, investigating their diet is critical to understand how anthropogenic disturbances can affect their ecological roles, particularly in the urbanised ecosystems in Florida, where such diet information is currently unavailable. Due to their elusive nature, direct observation of feeding events is a major challenge. Here, we have applied DNA metabarcoding of faecal matter (fDNA), opportunistically collected from river otters killed by road traffic in eastern Florida. Two mitochondrial markers were used to identify prey species' DNA—one for fish and one for vertebrates. A total of 23 unique exact sequence variants (ESVs) were identified, the majority belonging not only to teleosts but also to amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. The prey species identified are known dietary resources for river otters and the recovered dietary profiles provided independently by the fish and vertebrate assays were similar. Among the identified teleost prey, three fish species are considered invasive. Here, we show that when sufficient reference sequences are available, fDNA metabarcoding provides high prey species resolution. The collection and metabarcoding of faecal samples is particularly advantageous for scaling diet studies, both geographically and longitudinally, highlighting the potential of fDNA metabarcoding for the investigation of the diet of predators. This can provide foundational information on the organisation of ecological networks, which is vital for implementing successful ecosystem‐based conservation management.

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Why do river otters scent-mark? An experimental test of several hypotheses

Cited by 78 publications

References 49 publications

Communication stations: cameras reveal river otter (Lontra canadensis) behavior and activity patterns at latrines

Communication stations: cameras reveal river otter (Lontra canadensis) behavior and activity patterns at latrines

The Function of Carnivore Latrines

Assessing the Diet of the Elusive North American River Otter (Lontra canadensis) in Florida Using Faecal DNA Metabarcoding

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