Scent-marking investment is determined by sex and breeding status in meerkats

Abstract

Meerkats, Suricata suricatta , engage in cooperative territorial defence, including olfactory demarcation with latrines. Males from neighbouring groups frequently approach resident groups, but, due to high levels of reproductive skew, the potential fitness costs and benefits of deterring these males vary according to the sex and breeding status of residents. Although all individuals visited latrines for similar durations, latrine scent mark composition was highly male-biased. Male behaviour supported a mate-defence function as males scent marked at significantly higher rates than females and preferentially overmarked female scent marks. In contrast to males, female competition is most intense within the group, and females invested heavily in scent mark investigation, but did not selectively overmark existing scent marks of either sex. Monitoring of other females, particularly their reproductive status, may therefore be an important function of latrine visits for females. Rather than cooperatively contributing to territorial defence, individuals appear to participate selfishly at latrine sites, with ultimate explanations for scent marking potentially being related to both the sex and breeding status of group members.