Woodley S K, Cloe A L, Waters P, Baum M J
Department of Biology, Boston University, MA 02215, USA.
Chem Senses. 2004 Oct;29(8):659-69. doi: 10.1093/chemse/bjh069.
Previous research suggests that body odorants, including anal scents and urinary odors, contribute to sex discrimination and mate identification in European ferrets of both sexes. We assessed the possible role of the vomeronasal organ (VNO) in these functions by surgically removing the organ bilaterally in sexually experienced female ferrets. Lesioned (VNOx) and sham-operated control (VNOi) females reliably discriminated between male- and female-derived anal scent gland as well as fresh urinary odors in habituation/dishabituation tests. However, VNOi females spent significantly more time than VNOx subjects investigating male urinary odors in these tests. Also, VNOi females, but not VNOx subjects, preferred to investigate day-old male versus female urine spots as well as wooden blocks that had previously been soiled by male versus female ferrets. Both groups of female ferrets preferred to approach volatile odors from a breeding male instead of an estrous female in Y-maze tests and both groups showed similar levels of receptive sexual behavior in response to a male's neck grip. The VNO is apparently not required for olfactory sex discrimination or mate recognition in this carnivore, but instead may play a role in promoting continued contact with nonvolatile body odors previously deposited by opposite-sex conspecifics during territorial scent marking.
先前的研究表明，包括肛门气味和尿液气味在内的体臭有助于欧洲雌雄雪貂进行性别辨别和配偶识别。我们通过对有性经验的雌性雪貂双侧手术切除犁鼻器（VNO），评估了犁鼻器在这些功能中的可能作用。在习惯化/去习惯化测试中，接受损伤处理（VNOx）和假手术对照（VNOi）的雌性雪貂能够可靠地辨别雄性和雌性来源的肛门气味腺以及新鲜尿液气味。然而，在这些测试中，VNOi雌性雪貂比VNOx组的雪貂花费显著更多的时间来探究雄性尿液气味。此外，VNOi雌性雪貂（而非VNOx组的雪貂）更喜欢探究一日龄雄性与雌性的尿液斑点，以及先前被雄性与雌性雪貂弄脏的木块。在Y迷宫测试中，两组雌性雪貂都更喜欢接近处于繁殖期的雄性散发的挥发性气味而非处于发情期的雌性散发的气味，并且两组在对雄性颈部抓握的反应中表现出相似水平的接受性行为。在这种食肉动物中，犁鼻器显然并非嗅觉性别辨别或配偶识别所必需的，但相反，它可能在促进与异性同种个体在领地气味标记过程中先前留下的非挥发性体臭持续接触方面发挥作用。
