Division of Wildlife Research, CSIRO, P.O. Box 84, 2602, Lyneham, A.C.T., Australia.
J Chem Ecol. 1981 Sep;7(5):799-815. doi: 10.1007/BF00992379.
The fecal pellets of rabbits,Oryctolagus cuniculus, are coated with secretion from the anal gland, the odor from which functions as a territorial marker. The total volatiles collected from above fecal pellets and three different fractions prepared by washing the volatiles through either distilled water, 1 M sodium hydroxide, or 1 M hydrochloric acid were tested for their effect on the territorial confidence of individual animals. Tests were based on the neutral pen paradigm used in previous studies but employed a specially designed test chamber, the internal odor environment of which could be fully controlled. In the four series of bioassays a total of 140 separate tests were performed and 64 adult male rabbits were used. The results showed that the presence of the total volatiles influences the outcome of territorial competitions in pairs of male rabbits in favor of the individual from which they were derived. They were comparable with those obtained in earlier studies when fecal pellets were presented in the test pen. The effects of the different washing reagents on the total odor are illustrated by gas chromatograms, and the components most likely to be removed by the different treatments are suggested. The volatiles remaining after passing through distilled water had less effect on the rabbit's behavior than the total odor. Since the washing process not only removed water-soluble compounds but also led to a reduction in the concentrations of water-insoluble components introduced into the test chamber, either of these factors could have been responsible for the weakened effect. Fractions of the odor obtained by washing with either sodium hydroxide or hydrochloric acid did not influence the results of the tests. This suggests that the essential components of the olfactory signal include both basic and acidic compounds.
家兔（Oryctolagus cuniculus）的粪便颗粒表面覆盖着来自肛门腺的分泌物，其气味具有领地标记的功能。从粪便颗粒上方收集的总挥发物，以及通过蒸馏水、1M 氢氧化钠或 1M 盐酸分别洗涤挥发物而得到的三个不同馏分，都被测试了其对个体动物领地信心的影响。测试基于先前研究中使用的中性笔范式，但采用了专门设计的测试室，其内部气味环境可以完全控制。在四组生物测定中，总共进行了 140 次单独的测试，使用了 64 只成年雄性兔子。结果表明，总挥发物的存在影响了雄性兔子对配对竞争的结果，有利于其来源个体。这些结果与之前在测试笔中呈现粪便颗粒时获得的结果相当。不同洗涤试剂对总气味的影响通过气相色谱图说明，并提出了最有可能被不同处理去除的成分。通过蒸馏水过滤后残留的挥发性物质对兔子行为的影响小于总气味。由于洗涤过程不仅去除了水溶性化合物，而且还降低了引入测试室的不溶性成分的浓度，因此这两个因素都可能导致效果减弱。用氢氧化钠或盐酸洗涤得到的气味馏分不影响测试结果。这表明嗅觉信号的基本成分包括碱性和酸性化合物。
