Brown R E, Hauschild M, Holman S D, Hutchison J B
MRC Unit on the Development and Integration of Behaviour, Subdepartment of Animal Behaviour, Madingley, Cambridge, England.
Behav Neural Biol. 1988 Mar;49(2):174-83. doi: 10.1016/s0163-1047(88)90495-5.
We examined the responses of male and female gerbils housed in opposite- or same-sex pairs to the urine odors from their cage-mate and those of an unfamiliar gerbil of the same sex. Gerbils housed in mated pairs spent more time investigating the odor of their partner. They also emitted more modulated ultrasonic vocalizations in the presence of their partner's odor than in the presence of the unfamiliar odor. Gerbils housed in same-sex pairs did not respond differentially to the odor of their cage-mate. There were sex differences in the frequency of ventral scent-marking and modulated vocalizations, with males showing more of these behaviors than females. The urine odor of the gerbil's mate can thus be discriminated from those of other gerbils. Recognition of individual odors may promote affiliative behavior and reduce aggression, thus playing an important role in pair maintenance in gerbils.
我们研究了以异性或同性配对饲养的雄性和雌性沙鼠对其笼伴尿液气味以及来自同性陌生沙鼠尿液气味的反应。以配偶关系配对饲养的沙鼠会花更多时间探究其伴侣的气味。相较于陌生气味，它们在闻到伴侣气味时也会发出更多有节奏变化的超声波叫声。以同性配对饲养的沙鼠对其笼伴的气味没有差异反应。在腹部气味标记和有节奏变化的叫声频率上存在性别差异，雄性比雌性表现出更多此类行为。因此，沙鼠能够区分其配偶的尿液气味与其他沙鼠的气味。识别个体气味可能会促进亲和行为并减少攻击性，从而在沙鼠的配偶关系维持中发挥重要作用。
