Chemosensory discrimination of identity and familiarity in koalas

Both familiarity and kinship influence odour discrimination by females in a highly social African ground squirrel

“…The discrimination of kin versus non-kin has been supported in vertebrates and invertebrates and has been the focus of a number of reviews (see Tang-Martinez 2001;Mateo 2003;Breed 2014;Smith 2014). Many studies examining kin recognition by scent in mammals have found a difference in the behaviour of focal individuals to familiar and unfamiliar scents, including marsupials (Blumstein et al 2002, Charlton 2015, carnivores (Leclaire et al 2013, Gilad et al 2016, Mitchell et al 2018 and numerous ground squirrel species (Raynaud & Dobson 2011;Mateo 2002Mateo , 2003Harris & Murie 1982). The majority of these studies have supported a general kin discrimination based on prior association (see Breed 2014and Smith 2014, as well as Mateo 2003.…”