Male ring-tail lemurs exude fruity-smelling perfume from their wrists to attract mates

“Throughout the yearly breeding season, male lemurs rub the glands on their wrists towards their fluffy tails after which wave them at females in a conduct referred to as ‘stink flirting,'” says senior writer Kazushige Touhara, professor and biochemist on the College of Tokyo.

Ring-tailed lemurs have well-developed scent glands on their shoulders and wrists. These glands are sometimes used to designate social rank, territory, and reproductive standing. Nonetheless, behavioral observations present additionally they use their scent glands to be a focus for females. “Since solely ring-tailed lemurs have these wrist glands and exhibit ‘stink flirting’ conduct, we reasoned that particular odorants for sexual communication should be concerned,” Touhara says.

On the Japanese Monkey Middle (JMC) in Aichi and The Analysis Institute of Evolutionary Biology in Tokyo, Japan, Touhara and his crew tracked the conduct of a conspiracy of ring-tailed lemurs. They noticed that feminine lemurs sniffed the scent markings left by males extra typically and for longer durations of time through the breeding season — when females are sexually receptive. Moreover, when researchers remoted the primate fragrance from 4 males and introduced it to females individually, they discovered that females sniffed the fruity-smelling odor for roughly twice so long as the bitter-smelling gland secretions produced low season.

“Females sniff the floral and fruity scent for a couple of extra seconds than the controls and infrequently even lick it. Though this appears like a really quick time, it is sufficient to acknowledge or evoke curiosities within the male,” says Touhara.

Utilizing fuel chromatography-mass spectrometry evaluation on the of the wrist-gland secretions produced throughout breeding and non-breeding seasons, Touhara decided the foremost chemical parts making up the male scents. Three aldehyde compounds — dodecanal, 12-methyltridecanal, and tetradecanal — have been current in each odors however confirmed considerably greater concentrations through the breeding season. Furthermore, when the compounds have been individually introduced to females within the JMC enclosure, researchers discovered that solely the combination of all three had a major skill to carry a feminine’s consideration.

“All three compounds have been recommended to be concerned within the recognition of new child sheep by their moms, and tetradecanal is named a intercourse pheromone in some insect species. Though that is the primary time 12-methyltridecanal has been recognized in primate species, all three aldehydes seem for use as communication instruments extensively all through the animal kingdom,” says Touhara.

Younger, sexually mature males naturally produce extra of those compounds than their senior male counterparts — almost definitely as a result of aged males produce much less testosterone. Moreover, scientists have noticed that females previous their reproductive prime are altogether unimpressed by the fruity-smelling odors males exude. These findings counsel that the three compounds are, certainly, pheromones, however extra work is required to find out whether or not they instantly affect sexual conduct. “Whereas we now have not examined behavioral adjustments after the sniff intimately, that is an space for future work to find out whether or not these pheromones affect mating success.”

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