scholarly journals The Role of Scent Marking in Mate Selection by Female Pumas (Puma concolor)

PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. e0139087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maximilian L. Allen ◽  
Heiko U. Wittmer ◽  
Paul Houghtaling ◽  
Justine Smith ◽  
L. Mark Elbroch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mate Selection ◽  
Puma Concolor ◽  
Scent Marking

Puma communication behaviours: understanding functional use and variation among sex and age classes

Behaviour ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 151 (6) ◽  
pp. 819-840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maximilian L. Allen ◽  
Heiko U. Wittmer ◽  
Christopher C. Wilmers
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Strategy ◽  
Mate Selection ◽  
Puma Concolor ◽  
Scent Marking ◽  
Territorial Defence ◽  
Video Cameras ◽  
Intraspecific Communication ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Experimental Treatments ◽  
Communication Behaviours

Intraspecific communication for mate selection sometimes varies between sexes based on different evolutionary life history patterns. Solitary felids use communication for territorial defence and location of mates, for which they use scent-marking behaviours including scraping, urine spraying, body rubbing, caterwauling, cheek rubbing, and the flehmen response, but these behaviours are not well understood in pumas (Puma concolor). We used motion-triggered video cameras to document the use of communication behaviours by male and female pumas, and used a series of experimental treatments to determine the mechanisms and importance of visual and olfactory cues in puma scrapes. We found that pumas use the physical scrape to locate communications, and then use urine to convey and interpret the communication itself. We also found significant differences among puma age and sex classes in the proportion of use and duration of time behaviours were displayed. Mature males spent significantly longer durations () on producing behaviours (scraping, body rubbing, and caterwauling behaviours) than mature females (), and males used scraping (78.5%) and body rubbing (12.4%) behaviours at a higher proportion of visits than females (13.6 and 2.7%, respectively). Mature females spent significantly longer durations () on consuming behaviours (investigating and flehmen response behaviours) than mature males (), and females used flehmen response (30.6%) and caterwauling (9.3%) behaviours at a higher proportion of visits than mature males (6.5% flehmen and 0.4% caterwauling). Male reproductive strategy appears based on advertisement for possible mates, while female reproductive strategy appears based on assessment of possible mates. The use of communication behaviours also appears to develop with age, as immature pumas rarely visited and acted as non-participants in communication behaviours.

The Relation of Scent-Marking, Olfactory Investigation, and Specific Postures in the Isolation-Induced Fighting of Rats

Behaviour ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 56 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 286-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Adams
Keyword(s):  
Scent Marking ◽  
Functional Roles ◽  
Threat Behavior ◽  
Typical Sequence ◽  
Strange Male ◽  
Familiar Environment ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Temporal Sequences ◽  
Defensive Mechanism

AbstractThe temporal sequences of acts and postures of rats during tests for isolation-induced fighting were recorded and analyzed. Scent-marking and olfactory investigation, which have been related to fighting by previous studies, were particularly emphasized. From the data a model was constructed for the sequence of behaviors which lead to and maintain isolation-induced fighting. The typical sequence begins with olfactory investigation and scent-marking; the home rat initially investigates the intruder, and the intruder initially investigates the cage. The combination of olfactory perception of a strange male and a familiar environment, it was suggested, serves to trigger an offensive mechanism in the home rat which leads to bite-and-kick attack and offensive sideways posture. The pain of the attack then triggers defensive mechanism in the intruder rat which leads to defensive upright posture and submissive posture. Whereas the functional role of the bite-and-kick attack appears to be simply the infliction of pain and elicitation of defense in the intruder, the function of offensive sideways posture as a threat behavior may be more complex. It is possible that it becomes a conditioned pain stimulus due to its close temporal pairing with bite-and-kick attack, but it is more likely that it produces defense by a process of sensitization. In any case, following the initial attack, the offensive sideways posture continues to elicit defensive behavior by the intruder even when there are no further attacks. The functional roles of the defensive postures were interpreted as positioning the intruder in such a way that the home rat cannot assume the aggressive posture from which attack is launched. Scent-marking behavior was consistent within strains, within individuals, and across different types of measures (accumulation of scent-marking marking material and performance of the stereotyped scent-marking act, crawl-over-dish). Amount of scent-marking was not correlated with attack, however, and its role in isolation-induced fighting remains unclear. In parallel to findings in other rodents, it was observed that scent-marking was diminished in animals after they had been subjected to attack.

The Role of Urinary Proteins and Volatiles in Competitive Scent Marking Among Male House Mice

2001 ◽  
pp. 353-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rick E. Humphries ◽  
Duncan H. L. Robertson ◽  
Charlotte M. Nevison ◽  
Robert J. Beynon ◽  
Jane L. Hurst
Keyword(s):  
Scent Marking ◽  
House Mice ◽  
Urinary Proteins ◽  
Male House

scholarly journals Exploring the Adaptive Significance of Five Types of Puma (Puma concolor) Vocalizations

2017 ◽  
Vol 130 (4) ◽  
pp. 289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maximilian L Allen ◽  
Yiwei Wang ◽  
Christopher C Wilmers
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Puma Concolor ◽  
Scent Marking ◽  
Adaptive Significance ◽  
Alarm Calls ◽  
Central Component ◽  
Video Cameras ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Indirect Cues ◽  
Limit Detection

Communication is a central component of animal behaviour, yet communicative behaviours are poorly studied due to their complexity and varied functions. Pumas (Puma concolor) are wide-ranging, solitary felids that primarily use indirect cues (e.g., scent marking) for communication. Because these cryptic carnivores are rarely observed directly, little is known about their vocalizations in the wild. We recorded a variety of Puma vocalizations among females and family groups using motion-triggered video cameras and then attempted to understand the function of each vocalization. We found two categories of vocalizations: 1) attention-attracting (caterwauling and mewing), and 2) calls (contact, agitated, and alarm). Vocalizations to attract attention ranged across broad frequencies. Contact, agitated, and alarm calls are narrow-frequency vocalizations that varied in intensity and were used to communicate with nearby conspecifics. Vocal communication entails risk, and while some Puma vocalizations may provide benefits that outweigh their risk, others are structured to limit detection and risk. These observations highlight the importance of the structure of vocalizations used during different behaviours to understand their adaptive significance.

Understanding The Role of Mate Selection Processes in Couples’ Pair-Bonding Behavior

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Briana N. Horwitz ◽  
Chandra A. Reynolds ◽  
Hasse Walum ◽  
Jody Ganiban ◽  
Erica L. Spotts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mate Selection ◽  
Pair Bonding ◽  
Selection Processes

Role of progesterone on the control of scent marking in Suncus murinus viridescens (Blyth)

1984 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Balakrishnan ◽  
T. Annielet Shelly ◽  
K.M. Alexander
Keyword(s):  
Scent Marking ◽  
Suncus Murinus

Volatile substances in feces, urine and urine-marked feces of feral horses

2001 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rikako Kimura
Keyword(s):  
Scent Marking ◽  
Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Behavioral Differences ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Feral Horses ◽  
Reproductive Process ◽  
Volatile Substances ◽  
Breeding Seasons ◽  
Releaser Pheromone

The identity and amount of volatile substances in the feces, urine and feces scent-marked with urine (i.e., feces mixed with urine) of feral horses was determined by acid/steam distillation and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The frequency of excretion and scent marking, as evaluated in the breeding and non-breeding seasons, showed clear evidence of seasonal behavioral differences. The concentration of each substance (fatty acids, alcohols, aldehydes, phenols, amines and alkanes) in the feces differed according to maturity, sex and stage in the reproductive process. They had a characteristic chemical fingerprint. Although the levels of tetradecanoic and hexadecanoic acids in the feces of estrous mares were significantly higher than the respective levels in the feces of non-estrous mares, in the case of scent-marked feces by stallions, the levels of them in the feces from estrous mares had decreased to levels similar to those in non-estrous mares. The concentration of these substances in mares were not significantly different. The presence of a high concentration of cresols in the urine of stallions in the breeding season suggests that one role of scent marking by stallions is masking the odor of the feces produced by mares. Key words: Odors (volatile), excrement, scent-marking, masking, horse (feral), (releaser) pheromone

Taphonomy and the role of pumas (Puma concolor) in the formation of the archaeological record

2018 ◽  
Vol 466 ◽  
pp. 157-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis A. Borrero ◽  
Fabiana M. Martin ◽  
Francisco J. Prevosti
Keyword(s):  
Puma Concolor ◽  
Archaeological Record

The Effect of Female Color, Size, Dominance and Early Experience Upon Mate Selection in Male Convict Cichlids, Cichlasoma Nigrofasciat Um Günther (Pisces, Cichlidae)

Behaviour ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 56 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 116-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne P. Weber ◽  
Peter G. Weber
Keyword(s):  
Mate Selection ◽  
Female Dominance ◽  
Female Size ◽  
Mixed Group ◽  
Homogenous Group ◽  
Color Experience ◽  
Convict Cichlids ◽  
Wild Type Male ◽  
Male Mate

AbstractThis study investigates the role of female color, size, and dominance, and the influence of early color experience in mate selection by male Convict cichlids, Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum. Dark wild-type male fish were reared by dark parents in dark schools (dark homogenous group), and by mixed dark and white parents in mixed schools (dark mixed group), until sexual maturity. Correspondingly a white homogenous group and a white mixed group were also established. Each male was then allowed to choose a mate among two dark (mixed group) and two white (mixed group) females. Males tended to spawn more often with dark females and always spawned with dominant females. Female size is positively correlated with female dominance and this may be either as a cause or as an effect of female dominance. Early color experience appears to be unimportant in male mate selection.

Role of frontal cortex in social odor discrimination and scent-marking in female golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus).

1998 ◽  
Vol 112 (1) ◽  
pp. 199-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aras Petrulis ◽  
Ian DeSouza ◽  
Marisa Schiller ◽  
Robert E. Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Scent Marking ◽  
Mesocricetus Auratus ◽  
Odor Discrimination ◽  
Golden Hamsters ◽  
Social Odor
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