A lack of avoidance of flank gland secretions by male Syrian hamsters.

It is commonly assumed that sexually dimorphic cutaneous glands are important in supporting inter-male aggression in rodents. Such an intimidation role has been hypothesized as the function of the hamsters' flank gland. Two experiments failed to find avoidance of male flank odors. In one, subordinate males entered and spent comparable amounts of time in clean areas and areas scented with the dominant's flank secretion. In the other study, males were found to respond differentially to flank odors obtained from the subject, a familiar and a novel male. Although the males seemed to have habituated to the odor of the familiar male, there was no suggestion of avoidance of any of these odors. It may be that the males' flank odor is relevant not to other males but to females.