Posted on: 02 March, 2017
Author: Alexander P
In addition, a variety of studies have shown that neither anosmia nor blinding exert strong effects on pituitary gonadotropin content by themselves but in combination these procedures can drastically ... In addition, a variety of studies have shown that neither anosmia nor blinding exert strong effects on pituitary gonadotropin content by themselves but in combination these procedures can drastically alter hormonal secretion in rats (e.g. Donofrio and Reiter 1972; see also Orbach and Kling 1966). Apparently then the rat has the capacity to use male- but not female- originating primers but long domestication has ensured that their reproduction is not dramatically dependent upon them. Studies in wild rats would be particularly interesting in this regard. Signalling pheromones in other mammals A wealth of observational information on a host of mammalian species attests to the fact that olfactory signals are heavily utilized by many mammals for intra-popu- lation communication. A review of this literature reveals a hodgepodge of species examined, some under carefully controlled laboratory conditions, some in the eld, and some in semi-natural environments. It is indeed unfortunate that many of the best-controlled studies take place in the limited connes of the laboratory and involve only the common laboratory animals, while far too many eld studies provide only the minimum of documentation and/or experimental manipulation. While correlative-type observations made under eld conditions are thus legion, too many provide little more than suggestions concerning the importance of olfactory cues. Notable studies done under field or semi-natural conditions include those on the rabbit in Australia (Mykytowycz 1965), a marsupial, the sugar glider (Schu1tze- Westrum 1969), and the black-tailed deer (Miiller-Schwarze 1969; 1971). Worthy of note regarding laboratory approaches is a large series of studies on scent marking by the Mongolian gerbil (e.g., Thiessen et a1. 1970) according to http://hartch25.weebly.com As of now the simple framework of limited functions and numbers of signals which was established earlier for the mouse is probably not a bad guide for examin- ing signalling pheromones in mammals as a whole; that is, identification of species, race, individual, age, sex, sexual state, and fear with single compounds able to accomplish more than one of these functions depending upon concentration and, in addition, variation in response being dependent upon experience and sex of the recipient. Given a broader spectrum of species and possibilities, however, it is expected that some inadequacies will be apparent in this scheme. Much attention, for example, has been given to scent marking, an unknown phenomenon in mice (reviewed by Ralls 1971; Eisenberg and Kleiman 1973). Scent marking could be included in the mouse system either under the aggressive or sexual categories, probably most often under the former since its function in most mammals seems to be associated either with dominance or territory. Within the above framework, then, individual recognition has been experimentally demonstrated using conditioning techniques in rats as well as mice (Husted and McKenna 1966; Krames 1970). Gerbils can discriminate between the urinary odors of two other gerbils of the same sex even when the test urines are diluted 1000-fold (Dagg and Windsor 1971). Species preferences based on olfactory cues have been documented for a variety of rodents, e.g., voles (Godfrey 1958) and deermice (Doty 1972). Examples of olfactory attraction to a receptive female are reported for dogs (Beach and Gilmore 1949), deer (Golley 1957), deermice (Doty 1972), and rats (Lemagnen 1952). Sexual attraction is a two-way process; for example, estrous ewes will succesfully seek out a ram without the use of visual cues (Lindsay 1966). A series of papers by Carr and his associates (Carr and Caul 1962; Carr et al. 1965; 1966) has examined the relative roles of gonadal state and past sexual experience as modifiers of identication-attraction responses in rats. Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com Alexander P is a blogger that studies pheromones.