| Autor: |
Nabil A. Nasseri, Helen Loizi, Bruce A. Schulte, Dhaval K. Vyas, Kathryn R. Bagley, Thomas E. Goodwin, Stacie M. Castelda |
| Rok vydání: |
2012 |
| Předmět: |
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| Zdroj: |
Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 12 ISBN: 9781461459262 |
| DOI: |
10.1007/978-1-4614-5927-9_10 |
| Popis: |
Male African and Asian elephants exhibit a lengthy extended developmental period from weaning to social reproductive maturity. Chemical signals play an important role in elephant society, and male Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) have been shown to go through developmental changes in chemical signal sending, reception and social interactions. We examined the chemosensory behaviour of male African elephants (Loxodonta africana) over four life stages (calf, juvenile, adolescent and adult). We observed the investigatory behaviour of the trunk by wild male African elephants, as well as their responses to potential chemical signals (i.e. urine, control and individual compounds from elephant urine). One of our objectives was the search for compounds in the urine of African elephant females that might serve as chemical signals. We conducted biological assays with elephants in South Africa and Tanzania. No single compound evoked responses indicative of a chemical signal. The chemosensory response to these signals showed an intriguing pattern of increasing interest by males from the calf to adolescent stages with a significant drop off in chemosensory behaviour by adult males. Chemosensory behaviour in male African elephants appears to go through developmental refinement from exploration to selective information gathering once they mature. |
| Databáze: |
OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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