Perioral secretions enable complex social signaling in African mole-rats (genus Fukomys)

Subterranean common mole-rats of the genus Fukomys (family Bathyergidae) live in large, cooperatively-breeding families. Odor cues have been hypothesized to play an important role in mediating social behaviors in the underground ecotope, but only little is known about the role of olfactory signaling...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Scientific reports Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 22366
Main Authors:	Caspar, Kai R., Stopka, Pavel, Issel, Daniel, Katschak, Kristin H., Zöllner, Till, Zupanc, Sina, Žáček, Petr, Begall, Sabine
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	London Nature Publishing Group UK 26-12-2022 Nature Publishing Group Nature Portfolio
Subjects:	631/181 631/92 African People Animals Anogenital Behavior Chemical communication Chemical stimuli Clotting Communal breeding Communication Conspecifics Families & family life Female Females Histology Humanities and Social Sciences Humans Male Males Metabolomics Mole Rats multidisciplinary Olfactory stimuli Pelage Reproduction Reproductive status Science Science (multidisciplinary) Sebaceous gland Secretions Sex differences Sexes Sexual dimorphism Social Behavior Spalax Stains & staining Volatiles Zoology
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Summary:	Subterranean common mole-rats of the genus Fukomys (family Bathyergidae) live in large, cooperatively-breeding families. Odor cues have been hypothesized to play an important role in mediating social behaviors in the underground ecotope, but only little is known about the role of olfactory signaling in burrowing mammals. Here we characterize the so far neglected perioral glands of Fukomys and other African mole-rats as an important source of olfactory social information. Histology demonstrates these structures to be derived sebaceous glands that are developed regardless of sex and reproductive status. However, gland activity is higher in Fukomys males, leading to sexually dimorphic patterns of stain and clotting of the facial pelage. Behavioral assays revealed that conspecifics prefer male but not female perioral swabs over scent samples from the back fur and that male sebum causes similar attraction as anogenital scent, a known source of social information in Fukomys . Finally, we assessed volatile compounds in the perioral sebum of the giant mole-rat ( Fukomys mechowii ) via GCxGC-MS-based metabolomic profiling. Volatiles display pronounced sex-specific signatures but also allow to differentiate between intrasexual reproductive status groups. These different lines of evidence suggest that mole-rat perioral glands provide complex odor signals which play a crucial role in social communication.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	2045-2322 2045-2322
DOI:	10.1038/s41598-022-26351-3