Male panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) urine contains kinship information

Abstract

Chemical communication plays an important role in kin selection and mate choice in mammals. The covariance of odor-genes of rodents has been documented and kinship odor has been proposed andtermed, yet little is known of the relationship between genetic relatedness and chemical composition of kinship odors. Giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) rely substantially on chemical communication to mediate their social interactions. To examine the relationship between genetic relatedness and compounds in the urine/anogenital gland secretions, we compared the similarities between genetic relatedness and the chemical profiles of anogenital gland secretions and urine via lineage construction and GC-MS (gas chromatography and mass spectrometry). We found that information about kinship odors was present only in the urine of male adults in the mating season but absent in the non-mating season. Adult females and all sub-adults did not have such kinship odors in either mating or non-mating season. Therefore, kinship odor in the panda was contingent on age, sex, and season. This is the first report about the condition-dependent expression of kinship odor, which may have a significant implication in the practice of panda conservation in relation to chemical communication and sexual selection.kinship odor, giant panda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, anogenital gland secretions, urine Most mammals use chemical signals to communicate a wide range of information in their social interactions. Chemical communication is particularly important in rodents, carnivores, and ungulates, which have highly sensitive olfactory systems [1] . The coevolutionary process between signalers and receivers drives chemical signals to become diverse and specific. Many mammals have evolved several glandular and non-glandular sources to communicate different types of information [2,3] . Carnivores, in particular, use chemical communication substantially and anal (or anogenital) gland is present in most carnivores [4] , although it is still unclear whether it is due to convergence or divergence evolution. The gland secretion itself and its contaminating feces are rich sources of chemical signals. In addition, urine also widely contains chemical information in carnivores as well as other mammals [5,6] .Odors that serve to distinguish one individual from another member of the species are determined by polymorphic genes [7] . Genetically related individuals show similar odors, and kinship odor was first demonstrated to be present in golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) [8] and wild beavers (Castor canadensis) [9] . Similar results

Semiochemical compounds of preen secretion reflect genetic make-up in a seabird species

“…The compounds encoding this relation were mainly hexadecyl octanoate and octadecyl octanoate, which are the two major compounds in kittiwakes' preen secretion, and on preen down feathers and neck feathers [49] (Sarah Leclaire 2010, unpublished data; figure 1 and table 1b). In humans, mandrills Mandrillus sphinx, ring-tailed lemurs, giant pandas Ailuropoda melanoleuca, beavers Castor canadensis, mice, sand lizards Lacerta agilis and Arctic charrs Salvelinus alpinus, genetic relatedness is also encoded in semiochemicals, and in some of these species, females have been shown to prefer the scent of unrelated males [11,17,19,21,22,[30][31][32]. Kittiwakes do not display much social behaviour except within the pair.…”

“…This may be owing to our relatively small sample size. Similarly, in giant pandas, information about kinship was only found in the urine of males [32]. Genetic relatedness may be assessed by self-referent or known-kin matching, with individuals avoiding breeding with individuals that have scent signatures to their own or their known kin [81].…”

Analysis of volatile chemical substances in urine of the kinship and non-kinship Tupaia belangeri (Mammalia: Scandentia: Tupaiidae)

“…Ketones compounds are the metabolites of the animals, which were produced by themselves. Ktones compounds were found in the urine of the panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) (Hagey and Macdonald, 2003;Liu et al, 2008) and brown antechinus (Anteehinus stuartii) (Toftegaards et al, 1999). The types of Phenols and Alcohols were relatively higher, which may be related to their food resources.…”

“…Urine as a significant component of odor, which had great ecological significance to study the kin recognition, such as African Elephants (Loxodonta) can observe and smell the urine remaining on the ground, remembering every member of the family (Lee, 1987). The urine of male pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) contains information about kin recognition (Liu et al, 2008). Lasiopodomys mandarinus had the ability to form memories of unfamiliar individuals by perceiving the volatile chemicals produced in the urine of individuals, and then to identify them through their urine (Ren and Tai, 2006;Raymer et al, 1984).…”

“…Kin recognition as one of the important ways to realize inbreeding avoidance was closely related to mate choice, which had important biological significance in mammalian reproduction and breeding. Previous studies showed that kin recognition had become a hotspot, such as in rodents (Jill, 2017;Vincent et al, 2010) and mammals (Gilad et al, 2016;Marylène et al, 2009;Liu et al, 2008).…”