ArticleRoyal Society open science2016
Mix it and fix it: functions of composite olfactory signals in ring-tailed lemurs.
Article in Royal Society open science, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 72 citations in OpenAlex.
- Urine washing and urinary odour profiles in relation to dominance rank status in wild male capuchin monkeys (Royal Society open science · 2025Article
- The role of between-group signaling in the evolution of primate ornamentation.Evolution letters · 2024Article
- Behavioural Correlates of Lemur Scent-Marking in Wild Diademed Sifakas (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- The Scent Enriched Primate.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Review
- Evaluating the functional, sexual and seasonal variation in the chemical constituents from feces of adult Iberian wolves (Canis lupus signatus).Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Sex differences in audience effects on anogenital scent marking in the red-fronted lemur.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Symbiotic microbiota and odor ensure mating in time for giant pandas.Frontiers in microbiology · 2022Article
- Sexual Dimorphism in Crowned Lemur Scent-Marking.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Article
- Olfactory signals and fertility in olive baboons.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Scent Marks Signal Species, Sex, and Reproductive Status in Tamarins (Saguinus spp., Neotropical Primates).Chemical senses · 2021Article
- Design, delivery and perception of condition-dependent chemical signals in strepsirrhine primates: implications for human olfactory communication.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2020Review
- Genetic variation at MHC class II loci influences both olfactory signals and scent discrimination in ring-tailed lemurs.BMC evolutionary biology · 2019Article
- Male Scent Gland Signals Mating Status in Greater Spear-Nosed Bats, Phyllostomus hastatus.Journal of chemical ecology · 2018Article
- Costs of injury for scent signalling in a strepsirrhine primate.Scientific reports · 2018Article
- Reproductive endocrine patterns and volatile urinary compounds of Arctictis binturong: discovering why bearcats smell like popcorn.Die Naturwissenschaften · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Animals communicating via scent often deposit composite signals that incorporate odorants from multiple sources; however, the function of mixing chemical signals remains understudied. We tested both a 'multiple-messages' and a 'fixative' hypothesis of composite olfactory signalling, which, respectively, posit that mixing scents functions to increase information content or prolong signal longevity. Our subjects-adult, male ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta)-have a complex scent-marking repertoire, involving volatile antebrachial (A) secretions, deposited pure or after being mixed with a squalene-rich paste exuded from brachial (B) glands. Using behavioural bioassays, we examined recipient responses to odorants collected from conspecific strangers. We concurrently presented pure A, pure B and mixed A + B secretions, in fresh or decayed conditions. Lemurs preferentially responded to mixed over pure secretions, their interest increasing and shifting over time, from sniffing and countermarking fresh mixtures, to licking and countermarking decayed mixtures. Substituting synthetic squalene (S)-a well-known fixative-for B secretions did not replicate prior results: B secretions, which contain additional chemicals that probably encode salient information, were preferred over pure S. Whereas support for the 'multiple-messages' hypothesis underscores the unique contribution from each of an animal's various secretions, support for the 'fixative' hypothesis highlights the synergistic benefits of composite signals.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.