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Volatile odours reflect breeding status but not social group membership in captive Damaraland mole-rats

Hazel Nichols Orcid Logo, Barbara A. Caspers Orcid Logo, Kevin Arbuckle Orcid Logo, Nigel C. Bennett Orcid Logo, Joseph I. Hoffman Orcid Logo

Animal Behaviour, Volume: 222, Start page: 123015

Swansea University Authors: Hazel Nichols Orcid Logo, Kevin Arbuckle Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.10.029

Abstract

In mammals, olfaction plays a key role in social behaviour, for example, in identifying mating opportunities and potential rivals. However, we still have a limited understanding of how social information is encoded in animal odours, including the social determinants of chemical similarity and divers...

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Published in: Animal Behaviour
ISSN: 0003-3472 1095-8282
Published: Elsevier Ltd 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa67713
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spelling 2025-04-02T15:41:57.5760480 v2 67713 2024-09-18 Volatile odours reflect breeding status but not social group membership in captive Damaraland mole-rats 43ba12986bd7754484874c73eed0ebfe 0000-0002-4455-6065 Hazel Nichols Hazel Nichols true false d1775d20b12e430869cc7be5d7d4a27e 0000-0002-9171-5874 Kevin Arbuckle Kevin Arbuckle true false 2024-09-18 BGPS In mammals, olfaction plays a key role in social behaviour, for example, in identifying mating opportunities and potential rivals. However, we still have a limited understanding of how social information is encoded in animal odours, including the social determinants of chemical similarity and diversity. Here, we used gas chromatography to analyse the chemical composition of swabs taken from the facial and anogenital regions of Damaraland mole-rats, Fukomys damarensis, a highly social subterranean mammal that relies almost exclusively on olfactory and tactile social cues. We found no sign of individual identity across the two body areas sampled; samples from the facial region and samples of the anogenital region from the same individual were not similar to each other, suggesting that these regions carry different information. However, chemical profiles varied significantly by sex and breeding status; female breeders differed from nonbreeders in their anogenital profiles and had higher chemical diversity in their facial profiles compared with both males and nonbreeders. Interestingly, we found no signals of social group identity. Instead, individual identity may be conveyed through signature mixes that are learned through frequent contact, rather than through specific odours associated with genetic kinship or social group membership. Our results highlight the complexity of chemical communication systems in social species and suggest that signals of group level identity are not necessary for behavioural responses based on group membership. Journal Article Animal Behaviour 222 123015 Elsevier Ltd 0003-3472 1095-8282 chemical communication; infochemical; mole-rat; olfaction; scent communication 1 4 2025 2025-04-01 10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.10.029 COLLEGE NANME Biosciences Geography and Physics School COLLEGE CODE BGPS Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) This work was supported by an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Fellowship (awarded to HJN), a Leverhulme Trust International Fellowship (grant reference: IAF-2018-006; awarded to HJN) and a University of Pretoria Staff Exchange Bursary (awarded to HJN and NCB). 2025-04-02T15:41:57.5760480 2024-09-18T11:03:44.6476883 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Hazel Nichols 0000-0002-4455-6065 1 Barbara A. Caspers 0000-0002-4380-0476 2 Kevin Arbuckle 0000-0002-9171-5874 3 Nigel C. Bennett 0000-0001-9748-2947 4 Joseph I. Hoffman 0000-0001-5895-8949 5 67713__33933__2cb7a98ea8f1429bbb9f35961509ca1d.pdf 67713.VOR.pdf 2025-04-02T15:38:24.5975304 Output 987881 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Volatile odours reflect breeding status but not social group membership in captive Damaraland mole-rats
spellingShingle Volatile odours reflect breeding status but not social group membership in captive Damaraland mole-rats
Hazel Nichols
Kevin Arbuckle
title_short Volatile odours reflect breeding status but not social group membership in captive Damaraland mole-rats
title_full Volatile odours reflect breeding status but not social group membership in captive Damaraland mole-rats
title_fullStr Volatile odours reflect breeding status but not social group membership in captive Damaraland mole-rats
title_full_unstemmed Volatile odours reflect breeding status but not social group membership in captive Damaraland mole-rats
title_sort Volatile odours reflect breeding status but not social group membership in captive Damaraland mole-rats
author_id_str_mv 43ba12986bd7754484874c73eed0ebfe
d1775d20b12e430869cc7be5d7d4a27e
author_id_fullname_str_mv 43ba12986bd7754484874c73eed0ebfe_***_Hazel Nichols
d1775d20b12e430869cc7be5d7d4a27e_***_Kevin Arbuckle
author Hazel Nichols
Kevin Arbuckle
author2 Hazel Nichols
Barbara A. Caspers
Kevin Arbuckle
Nigel C. Bennett
Joseph I. Hoffman
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container_title Animal Behaviour
container_volume 222
container_start_page 123015
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 0003-3472
1095-8282
doi_str_mv 10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.10.029
publisher Elsevier Ltd
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
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hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
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department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
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description In mammals, olfaction plays a key role in social behaviour, for example, in identifying mating opportunities and potential rivals. However, we still have a limited understanding of how social information is encoded in animal odours, including the social determinants of chemical similarity and diversity. Here, we used gas chromatography to analyse the chemical composition of swabs taken from the facial and anogenital regions of Damaraland mole-rats, Fukomys damarensis, a highly social subterranean mammal that relies almost exclusively on olfactory and tactile social cues. We found no sign of individual identity across the two body areas sampled; samples from the facial region and samples of the anogenital region from the same individual were not similar to each other, suggesting that these regions carry different information. However, chemical profiles varied significantly by sex and breeding status; female breeders differed from nonbreeders in their anogenital profiles and had higher chemical diversity in their facial profiles compared with both males and nonbreeders. Interestingly, we found no signals of social group identity. Instead, individual identity may be conveyed through signature mixes that are learned through frequent contact, rather than through specific odours associated with genetic kinship or social group membership. Our results highlight the complexity of chemical communication systems in social species and suggest that signals of group level identity are not necessary for behavioural responses based on group membership.
published_date 2025-04-01T15:23:28Z
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