| Title |
Chemical Signals of Elephant Musth: Temporal Aspects of Microbially-Mediated Modifications
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Journal of Chemical Ecology, January 2012
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s10886-011-0056-8 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Thomas E. Goodwin, Laura J. Broederdorf, Blake A. Burkert, Innocent H. Hirwa, Daniel B. Mark, Zach J. Waldrip, Randall A. Kopper, Mark V. Sutherland, Elizabeth W. Freeman, Julie A. Hollister-Smith, Bruce A. Schulte |
| Abstract |
Mature male African (Loxodonta africana) and Asian (Elephas maximus) elephants exhibit periodic episodes of musth, a state in which serum androgens are elevated, food intake typically decreases, aggressiveness often increases, and breeding success is enhanced. Urine is a common source of chemical signals in a variety of mammals. Elephants in musth dribble urine almost continuously for lengthy periods, suggesting that the chemicals in their urine may reveal their physiological condition to conspecifics. We investigated the volatile urinary chemicals in captive male elephants using automated solid phase dynamic extraction (SPDE) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). We found higher levels of alkan-2-ones, alkan-2-ols, and some aromatic compounds in urine from males in musth than in urine from non-musth males or from females. Levels of ketones and alcohols increased as the urine aged, likely due to microbial metabolism of fatty acids. Protein-derived aromatic metabolites also increased in abundance after urination, likely due to microbial hydrolysis of hydrophilic conjugates. We suggest that microbes may play an important role in timed release of urinary semiochemicals during elephant musth. |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 53 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 1 | 2% |
| Zimbabwe | 1 | 2% |
| South Africa | 1 | 2% |
| Unknown | 50 | 94% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Researcher | 9 | 17% |
| Student > Master | 7 | 13% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 7 | 13% |
| Student > Bachelor | 6 | 11% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 6 | 11% |
| Other | 11 | 21% |
| Unknown | 7 | 13% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 23 | 43% |
| Environmental Science | 4 | 8% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 3 | 6% |
| Earth and Planetary Sciences | 2 | 4% |
| Psychology | 2 | 4% |
| Other | 8 | 15% |
| Unknown | 11 | 21% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 03 April 2012.
All research outputs
#17,932,284
of 26,017,215 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Chemical Ecology
#1,806
of 2,290 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#177,388
of 254,552 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Chemical Ecology
#6
of 9 outputs
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