The Neglected Scent: On the Marking Function of Urine in Lemur catta

In ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) urine deposition can be combined with two different tail configurations: (i) tail held up in an evident display (urinate tail-up, UT-up); (ii) tail slightly raised to avoid its impregnation with urine (urinate tail-down, UT-down). We used both signaller- and recei...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioral ecology and sociobiology 2005-09, Vol.58 (5), p.437-445
Main Authors: Palagi, E., Dapporto, L., Tarli, S. Borgognini
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Animal communication
Animal ethology
Biological and medical sciences
Breeding seasons
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Genitalia
Goslings
Lemur catta
Mammalia
Mammals
Marking behavior
Primates
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Signals
Social behavior
Urine
Vertebrata
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Summary:In ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) urine deposition can be combined with two different tail configurations: (i) tail held up in an evident display (urinate tail-up, UT-up); (ii) tail slightly raised to avoid its impregnation with urine (urinate tail-down, UT-down). We used both signaller- and receiver-based approaches to search for functional differences between these two kinds of urine deposition. We predicted that UT-up might be a complex signal combining olfactory and visual cues. We carried out observations and scent tests on four captive groups of ring-tailed lemurs. Group members sniffed/licked UT-up scents more frequently than UT-down ones. Moreover, UT-up showed peak levels during the mating season whereas UT-down did not. These findings suggest that urine can play a role in intra-group reproductive communication. Lemurs more frequently performed UT-up in a few drops and UT-down in streams. Recognition experiments clearly showed that individuals can discriminate between urine of their own group and urine from a foreign group (a necessary prerequisite for the use of urine in inter-group communication). The possible function of UT-up in inter-troop communication was supported by the higher frequency of this pattern along a fence separating two of the study groups. Moreover, in the presence of a dummy, the frequency of UT-up increased significantly. In conclusion, UT-up is a complex signal with multiple characteristics. By using different sensory channels, UT-up provides different types of information (location and signaller quality) and contains multiple messages directed both at group-members and neighbouring groups.
ISSN:0340-5443
1432-0762
DOI:10.1007/s00265-005-0963-1