The economics of scent marking with urine and feces in goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa)

• Autorzy: Blank D. , Ruckstuhl K. , Yang W.
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Apart from the purely physiological excretion function, many mammals use their own urine and feces as reliable, odoriferous signals to indicate territorial occupancy. Marking is especially important for many antelopes, as territoriality is linked to reproductive success in these species. Scent marking with excrement, though, imposes physiological constraints in the amounts of urine and feces they can produce for these acts. Some male antelopes have been found to be able to regulate the size of their fecal marks, increasing marking frequency and decreasing the volume per defecation deposit compared to that of females. In this paper, we investigate quantitative characteristics of urination-defecation acts in goitered gazelles (Gazella subgutturosa), such as excretion frequency and duration, and explain potential differences in urine and fecal marking behavior for goitered gazelles based on sex, age, season, and territorial status. Our study found that frequency of urination-defecation acts in adult males fluctuated significantly over seasons and was highest in males during the rut, while subadult males urinated-defecated more rarely and with longer acts of urination than adults. In contrast, females (both adult and subadult) urinated and defecated at the same rate without significant seasonal changes. During the rutting period, urination duration in adult males decreased significantly with the rate increasing but even then, urination duration was longer than in females; defecation duration, on the other hand, remained relatively stable in adult males over months compared to urination duration, irrespective of rate. This finding is contradictory to the “material (urine and feces) saving hypothesis” as found for male oribi (Ourebia ourebi). We also discovered that in contrast to females and non-territorial males, territorial goitered gazelle males intensively ate snow during the rut, likely to compensate for water loss during their vigorous urination marking activity. The stability in defecation duration in adult and subadult males, however, regardless of seasonal changes in rate, was difficult to explain.

• Wydawca: -
• Czasopismo: Acta Theriologica
• Rocznik: 2015
• Tom: 60
• Numer: 1
• Opis fizyczny: p.51-60, fig.,ref.

Twórcy

autor

Blank D.

• Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China
• Institute of Zoology, Kazakh Academy of Sciences, Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan

autor

Ruckstuhl K.

• Department of Biological Sciences, University Calgary, Calgary, Canada

autor

Yang W.

• Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi, China

Bibliografia

• Alberts AC (1992) Constraints on the design of chemical communication systems in terrestrial vertebrates. Am Nat 139:62–89
• Altmann J (1974) Observational study of behavior: sampling methods. Behaviour 49(3):227–267
• Bigalke RC (1972) Observations on the behavior and feeding habits of the springbok, Antidorcas marsupialis. Zool Afr 7:333–359
• Blank DA (1985) Peculiarities of social and reproductive behaviour of Gazella subgutturosa in the Iliisky Valley. Zool J 64: 1059–1070 (in Russian, English abstract).
• Blank DA (1990) Most important representative of rare animals: Gazella subgutturosa. In: Kovshar AF (ed) Rare animals of the desert. Nauka Kaz. SSR Press, Alma-Ata, pp 56–80 (in Russian)
• Blank DA (1992) Social and reproductive behaviour of the Persian gazelle. PhD thesis. University of Tel Aviv
• Blank DA (1998) Mating behavior of the Persian gazelle Gazella subgutturosa Guldenstaedt. Mamm 62(4):499–519
• Blank DA, Ruckstuhl KE, Yang W (2012) Social organization in goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa Guldenstaedt, 1780). Ethol Ecol Evol 24:306–321
• Brashares JS, Arcese P (1999a) Scent marking in a territorial African antelope: I. The maintenance of borders between male oribi. Anim Behav 7:1–10
• Brashares JS, Arcese P (1999b) Scent marking in a territorial African antelope: II. The economics of marking with faeces. Anim Behav 57:11–17
• Brown RE, MacDonald DW (1985) Social odours in mammals. Oxford University Press, Oxford
• Coblentz BE (1976) Functions of scent-urination in ungulates with special reference to feral goats (Capra hircus L.). Am Nat 110(974):549–557
• Davies NB, Krebs JR, West SA (2012) An introduction to behavioral ecology, 4th edn. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford
• Dubost G, Feer F (1981) The behaviour of the male Antilope cervicapra L., its development according to age and social rank. Behaviour 76:62–127
• Dunbar RIM, Dunbar EP (1974) Social organization and ecology of the klipspringer (Oreotragus oreotragus) in Ethiopia. Z Tierpsychol 35:481–493
• Eilam D, Zor R, Szechtman H, Hermesh H (2006) Rituals, stereotypy and compulsive behavior in animals and humans. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 30:456–471
• Estes RD (1991) The behaviour guide to African mammals. University of California Press, Los Angeles
• Ferkin MH (1999) Meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus, Arvicolidae) over-mark and adjacent-mark the scent marks of same-sex conspecifics. Ethology 105(10):825–837
• Ferkin MH, Pierce AA (2007) Perspectives on over-marking: is it good to be on top? J Ethol 25(2):107–116
• Gillam E (2012) An introduction to animal communication. Nat Edu Knowl 3(10):70
• Giotto N, Gerard JF (2010) The social and spatial organization of the beira antelope (Dorcatragus megalotis): a relic from the past? Eur J Wildl Res 56:481–491
• Gosling LM (1981) Demarkation in a gerenuk territory: an economic approach. Z Tierpsychol 56:305–322
• Gosling LM (1985) The even-toed ungulates: order Artiodactyla. In: Brown RE, MacDonald D (eds) Social odours in mammals. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 550–618
• Gosling LM, Roberts SC (2001) Testing ideas about the function of scent marks in territories from spatial patterns. Anim Behav 62(3):F7–F10
• Hendrichs H (1975) Changes in a population of dikdik, Madoqua kirkii. Zeit Tierpsychol 38:55–69
• Hofmann RR (1989) Evolutionary steps of ecophysiological adaptation and diversification of ruminants: a comparative view of their digestive system. Oecologia 78:443–457
• Hughes NK, Kelley JL, Banks PB (2012) Dangerous liaisons: the predation risks of receiving social signals. Ecol Lett 15:1326–1339
• Hurst JL, Rich TJ (1999) Scent marks as competitive signals of mate quality. In: Johnston RE, Muller-Schwarze D, Sorensen P (eds) Advances in chemical communication in vertebrates. Plenum, New York, pp 209–226
• Jarman PJ (1974) The social organization of antelope in relation to their ecology. Behav 48(3/4):215–267
• Johnston RE, Sorokin ES, Ferkin MH (1997) Female voles discriminate males’ over-marks and prefer top-scent males. Anim Behav 54(3):679–690
• Kruger M, du Bothma P, Kruger JM (2002) The effect of neighbouring klipspringer on the scent-marking behaviour of a group of klipspringer in the Kruger National Park. Koedae 45(1):87–92
• Leuthold W (1977) African ungulates. A comparative review of their ethology and behavioral ecology, Springer, Berlin
• Marmazinskaya NV (1990) Social behaviour of goitered gazelles during the reproductive period. V Congress of All-Union Theriological Society, abstracts 3:32–33 (in Russian)
• Marmazinskaya NV (1996) Territorial and marking behavior of goitered gazelle Gazella subgutturosa (Artyodactyla, Bovidae) in the Bukhara ecological center. Zool J 75:1737–1751 (in Russian)
• Muller-Schwarze D (1999) Signals specialization and evolution in mammals. In: Johnston RE et al (eds) Advances in chemical signals in vertebrates. Springer Science + Business Media, LLC, New York, pp 1–14
• Owens B (2014) Male scent stimulates female goats’ fertility. Nature. doi:10.​1038/​nature.​2014.​14788
• Ralls K (1971) Mammalian scent marking. Science 171:443–449
• Roberts SC, Dunbar RIM (2000) Female territoriality and the function of scent-marking in a monogamous antelope (Oreotragus oreotragus). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 47:417–423
• Roberts SC, Lowen C (1997) Optimal patterns of scent marks in klipspringer (Oreotragus oreotragus) territories. J Zool (Lond) 243:565–578
• Roberts SC, Gosling LM et al (2001) The economic consequences of advertising scent mark location on territories. In: Marchkewska-Koj (ed) Chemical signals in vertebrates 9. Kluwer Academic/Plenum, New York
• Sun L, Xiao B, Dai N (1994) Scent marking behaviour in the male Chinese water deer. Acta Theriol 39:177–184
• Vlautin CT, Hobbs NJ, Ferkin MH (2010) Male and female meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, differ in their responses to heterospecific/conspecific over-marks. Ethology 116:797–805
• Walther FR (1978) Quantitative and functional variations of certain behaviour patterns in male Thomson’s gazelle of different social status. Behaviour 65(3/4):212–240
• Walther FR (1984) Communication and expression in hoofed animals. Indiana University Press, Bloomington
• Walther FR, Mungall EC, Grau GH (1983) Gazelles and their relatives. Noyes, Park Ridge, New Jersey
• Wronski T, Plath M (2010) Characterisation of the spatial distribution of latrines in mountain gazelles (Gazella gazella): do latrines demark female group home ranges? J Zool (Lond) 280(1):92–101
• Wronski T, Apio A, Plath M, Ziege M (2013) Sex-difference in the communicatory significance of localized defecation sites in Arabian gazelles (Gazella arabica). J Ethol 31(2):129–140
• Zhevnerov VV (1984) Goitered gazelle of the Barsa-Kelmes Island. Nauka Press of the Kazakh SSR, Alma-Ata (in Russian)

Uwagi

Rekord w opracowaniu

Identyfikatory

DOI

10.1007/s13364-014-0201-1