Woodley Sarah K, Baum Michael J
Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Horm Behav. 2003 Aug;44(2):110-8. doi: 10.1016/s0018-506x(03)00126-0.
Body odors contribute to mate recognition and sexual partner preference in many mammals, including ferrets. We used a habituation/dishabituation procedure to test whether sex steroid hormones influence whether ferrets will approach and investigate different concentrations of volatile anal scent gland odors from male and female conspecifics. When tested with high concentrations of anal scent gland secretions in oil vehicle, gonadectomized male and female ferrets that received no sex steroids reliably discriminated anal scents from male and female conspecifics. This discrimination most likely reflects gender recognition rather than individual recognition because gonadectomized, sex steroid-treated ferrets discriminated between anal scents of males and females but not between anal scents of individual males or females. Treatment with either the estrogen receptor agonist, estradiol benzoate (EB), or the androgen receptor agonist, 5-alpha dihydrotestosterone proprionate (DHTP), increased investigation of low concentrations of anal scent by gonadectomized ferrets. These data suggest that ferrets could use anal scent gland secretions in mate recognition and that seasonal increases in circulating sex steroid hormones increase ferrets' responsiveness to low concentrations of these odors.
体味在包括雪貂在内的许多哺乳动物的配偶识别和性伴侣偏好中发挥作用。我们采用习惯化/去习惯化程序来测试性类固醇激素是否会影响雪貂对来自同性和异性的不同浓度挥发性肛门气味腺气味的接近和探究行为。当用油性载体中的高浓度肛门气味腺分泌物进行测试时，未接受性类固醇的去势雄性和雌性雪貂能够可靠地辨别来自同性和异性的肛门气味。这种辨别很可能反映的是性别识别而非个体识别，因为接受性类固醇治疗的去势雪貂能够区分雄性和雌性的肛门气味，但无法区分个体雄性或雌性的肛门气味。用雌激素受体激动剂苯甲酸雌二醇（EB）或雄激素受体激动剂丙酸5-α-双氢睾酮（DHTP）进行治疗，会增加去势雪貂对低浓度肛门气味的探究行为。这些数据表明，雪貂可以利用肛门气味腺分泌物进行配偶识别，并且循环性类固醇激素的季节性增加会增强雪貂对这些气味低浓度的反应性。
