Ferkin Michael H
The University of Memphis, Department of Biological Sciences, Ellington Hall, 3700 Walker Ave, Memphis, TN 38152, USA.
Horm Behav. 2015 Feb;68:43-52. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2014.10.002.
This article is part of a Special Issue "Chemosignals and Reproduction". Many terrestrial mammals must be able to distinguish between the myriad of scent marks they encounter in order for them to facilitate or deter direct interactions with their scent donors. I review studies that examine how rodents, mainly meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus), respond when they encounter the scent marks of conspecifics and heterospecifics, and how context, as well as the age and condition of senders and receivers, affect their responses. The review uses four broad hypotheses to discuss the response of rodents to scent marks. The four hypotheses are as follows: 1) Scent marks convey accurate information to the receiver about the sender's state and phenotype and genotype. 2) Scent marks are individually distinct. 3) The response of receivers to scent marks is flexible and would be modulated by the cognitive abilities of receivers. 4) Receivers respond to the information contained or conveyed by the scent mark in a manner that will increase their survival and fitness. The studies cited in this review show that scent marks signal accurate information about the sender's phenotype, genotype, and condition, which receivers use to distinguish among the scent marks of different conspecifics and heterospecifics, and by doing so, receivers tailor their response accordingly to increase their survival and fitness. Thus, the four broad hypotheses may serve as guide to increase our understanding of the response of receivers to scent marks and provide a conceptual framework for future research and the development of additional hypotheses.
本文是《化学信号与繁殖》特刊的一部分。许多陆生哺乳动物必须能够区分它们遇到的无数气味标记，以便促进或阻止与气味标记提供者的直接互动。我回顾了一些研究，这些研究考察了啮齿动物，主要是草原田鼠（Microtus pennsylvanicus），在遇到同种和异种的气味标记时的反应，以及环境、发送者和接收者的年龄及状况如何影响它们的反应。该综述使用四个宽泛的假说来讨论啮齿动物对气味标记的反应。这四个假说如下：1）气味标记向接收者传达关于发送者的状态、表型和基因型的准确信息。2）气味标记具有个体独特性。3）接收者对气味标记的反应是灵活的，并且会受到接收者认知能力的调节。4）接收者以一种将提高其生存和适应性的方式对气味标记中包含或传达的信息做出反应。本综述中引用的研究表明，气味标记发出关于发送者表型、基因型和状况的准确信息，接收者利用这些信息来区分不同同种和异种的气味标记，并且通过这样做，接收者相应地调整其反应以提高生存和适应性。因此，这四个宽泛的假说可以作为一个指南，以增进我们对接收者对气味标记反应的理解，并为未来的研究和其他假说的发展提供一个概念框架。
