Odour cue recognition by dominant male bank voles, Clethrionomys glareolus

Abstract

The behaviour shown by hierarchically paired male bank voles in response to the faecal and urine marks of strange conspecifics (dominant male, hierarchically naive male and sexually unstimulated virgin female) and of males of two other rodent species (the common vole, Microtus arvalis, and the wood mouse, Apodemus sylvaticus) was observed in their familiar laboratory enclosure. Dominant residents reacted to all rodent marks by overmarking them with their own urine and faeces. They specifically responded to the urine marks of male and female bank voles by close sniffing and to their droppings by handling and licking them. Moreover, near conspecific male marks only, they performed two other behaviour patterns (flank scratching and genitals dragging) that may be regarded as scent marking. They did so significantly more near the marks of an unknown dominant than near those of an unknown naive male. These results demonstrate that urine and faecal marks of bank voles convey olfactory signals characteristic of the species, the sex and the hierarchical background of the animal that deposited them. They also suggest that voles may use both salivary glands and specific skin glands to mask conspecific odours.