Scent Over-Marking and Adjacent-Marking as Competitive Tactics Used During Chemical Communication in Voles

摘要: This chapter reviews studies on meadow voles and prairie that test the broad hypothesis over-marking, a phenomenon in which an individual places its own scent top of scen mark conspecific, is competitive tactic provides advantages transfer chemical information to top-scent donor but not bottom-scent over-mark. To establish whether over-marking tactic, four specific hypotheses were tested. One, over-mark marks same-sex conspecifics. Two, male conspecifics more than female do. Three, age-matched, unfamiliar, nonsiblings those familiar siblings. Four, individuals investigating areas containing over-marks respond preferentially odor vole whose top, bottom. The reviewed data support first, third, fourth hypotheses, do second hypothesis. Overall, findings indicate 1) animals attach greater value topscent 2) adjacent-marking may be used by as tactics.