Institute for Pheromone Research and Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
J Chem Ecol. 2012 Feb;38(2):145-56. doi: 10.1007/s10886-012-0075-0. Epub 2012 Feb 22.
We investigated head- and cheek-rubbing behavior in four species of large felines, lions (Leo panther), leopards (Panthera pardus), tigers (Panthera tigris), and cougars (Puma concolor), in captivity. Preliminary behavioral observations found that lions and tigers, but not leopards and cougars, showed behavioral responses to cardboard rubbing samples from head and cheek areas from conspecific felines, compared to the blank cardboard controls. In this context, surface samples on the facial areas of each species were collected to analyze volatile organic compounds that could be involved in the facial marking of felines. Previously developed stir bar surface sampling methodology was used. From all cheek and forehead samples, 100 volatile organic compounds were identified or tentatively identified. Among these, 41 have been previously reported to be present in feline urine and marking secretions. Several new compounds were identified on facial surfaces. Some of the compounds showed substantial quantitative differences among the species. One compound, that has not been reported previously in mammals, 3-acetamidofuran, was found in all investigated species. It was synthesized and tested for behavioral responses. No responses were elicited in a preliminary test. Future research will test other potential signaling compounds and their mixtures for ability to elicit behavioral responses.
我们调查了四种大型猫科动物（狮子、豹、虎和美洲狮）在圈养环境中的头部和脸颊摩擦行为。初步行为观察发现，与空白纸板对照相比，狮子和老虎会对来自同种猫科动物头部和脸颊区域的摩擦纸板样本做出行为反应，但豹和美洲狮不会。在这种情况下，我们收集了每个物种面部区域的表面样本，以分析可能参与猫科动物面部标记的挥发性有机化合物。我们使用了之前开发的搅拌棒表面采样方法。从所有脸颊和额头上的样本中，我们鉴定或暂定鉴定出了 100 种挥发性有机化合物。其中，有 41 种以前被报道存在于猫科动物的尿液和标记分泌物中。在面部表面还鉴定出了一些新的化合物。一些化合物在不同物种之间存在明显的定量差异。有一种以前在哺乳动物中没有报道过的化合物，3-乙酰氨基糠醛，在所有被调查的物种中都被发现。我们对其进行了合成并测试了其行为反应，但在初步测试中没有引起反应。未来的研究将测试其他潜在的信号化合物及其混合物是否具有引起行为反应的能力。
