Olfactory Communication in Australian Marsupials with Particular Reference to Brushtail Possum, Koala, and Eastern Grey Kangaroo

Salamon, M.; Davies, Noel W.; Stoddart, D. Michael

doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-4733-4_6

Cited by 8 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Male koalas often use their sternal glands to mark the trunks and branches of trees, usually when they are in unfamiliar surroundings or entering unfamiliar trees (Mitchell, 1990;Smith, 1980). This scent marking behaviour is hypothesised to regulate inter-individual spacing and facilitate mate location (Salamon et al, 1999). The results of this study provide the first experimental evidence that male sternal scent gland secretions could actually be used to identify individuals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Chemosensory discrimination of identity and familiarity in koalas

Charlton

2015

Behavioural Processes

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Chemosensory discrimination of identity and familiarity in koalas

Charlton

2015

Behavioural Processes

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“…Salamon et al (1999) found that this contained various free fatty acids, benzyl alcohol, α-terpineol (a Eucalyptus monoterpene) and methenamine (an insecticide), illustrating again the necessity of discriminating between animal secretions and extraneous compounds.…”

Section: Sternal Glands In Other Marsupialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scent glands of the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)

McLean

2014

New Zealand Journal of Zoology

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The common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) is an important browsing herbivore in its native Australia and in New Zealand, where it has become a major introduced pest. Possums exhibit marking behaviour, and have specialised scent glands, indicating that they use olfactory communication for social interactions. This review summarises what is known of the scent glands of the possum and some other marsupials. Although the anatomy and histology of the glands has been welldescribed, the composition of their secretions is only beginning to be characterised, and very little is known about their physiological control and role in possum biology.

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“…From then on, they will spend greater amounts of time away from their mother until they are independent and establish their own home range (Cowan and Clout, 2000;Clinchy et al, 2004). Males reach maturity around one-two years of age, whilst the first breeding age for females varies as reproduction is dependent on body condition and therefore, food supply (Salamon et al, 1999. Males will disperse further away from their mothers to establish a home range whilst females typically establish home ranges adjacent to their mothers (Little and Cowan, 1992;Cowan and Clout, 2000).…”

Section: Possum Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Possums have scent glands on the chin, sternum, paracloacal region and pouch. They use these sent glands to communicate with other individuals in the area and mark their home range (Salamon et al, 1999;McLean, 2014). The sternum and cloacal glands are larger on males than females (Woodhouse et al, 1994).…”

Section: Possum Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An individual will leave its scent on the environment to communicate to others information about their condition, dominance and breeding availability. An individual's scent can be left on the environment through urine, faeces, or via the products of various glands (Salamon et al, 1999). In marsupials, these glands are located on the chin, sternum, pouch and cloacal region (Salamon et al, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Testing the behaviour of Australian brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) to candidate semiochemicals from conspecifics’ urine

Mockett¹

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<p>The Australian brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) is a prolific introduced mammalian pest. Current pest control methods involve traps and poisons, but are proving to be ineffective long term solutions. As semiochemical lures are thought to be more attractive than food-based lures at low densities, researchers are attempting to utilize semiochemicals for kill traps. The objectives of this thesis were to create a testing protocol for use in a research colony of possums and use that protocol to test the attractiveness of semiochemicals found in possum urine that had been positively associated with possum attraction and interest in urine.. I hypothesised that there would be an observer effect present in the colony due to the nature of the colony husbandry protocols. There was no statistically significant observer effect present in the colony for eating, interaction, sitting, grooming or enclosure use (front or back). However, there was a trend (across the colony) that sitting and grooming increased in the presence of an observer. From these results, I designed an active presentation protocol for testing semiochemicals. I predicted that the most attractive compounds would belong to the acids and alcohol chemical groups. Overall there was no statistically significant difference between the semiochemicals. However, when taken individually there was clear evidence that five of the semiochemicals (belonging to the ketone, alcohol and phenol chemical groups) were more attractive than their control and the standard lure. It has been shown in this thesis that the attractiveness of semiochemicals can be tested in a small research colony. However, limits on colony size greatly reduce statistical power. For future studies, I would recommend increasing the sample size or instead developing field-based bioassays capable of being repeated across a greater number of sites, populations and therefore, individual possums.</p>

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Olfactory Communication in Australian Marsupials with Particular Reference to Brushtail Possum, Koala, and Eastern Grey Kangaroo

Cited by 8 publications

References 33 publications

Chemosensory discrimination of identity and familiarity in koalas

Chemosensory discrimination of identity and familiarity in koalas

Scent glands of the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)

Testing the behaviour of Australian brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) to candidate semiochemicals from conspecifics’ urine

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