Behavioral responses of male guinea pigs to conspecific chemical signals following neonatal vomeronasal organ removal.
Following vomeronasal organ removal or sham surgery at 4-7 days of age, male guinea pigs were tested for responsiveness to conspecific chemical uses as infants and again as adults. In the first experiment, vocalizations in response to soiled home cage bedding and male bedding were monitored twice prior to surgery and twice weekly for four weeks. Home cage cues elicited more vocalizations than did male bedding in both groups; however, there was no effect of vomeronasal organ removal. When tested as adults in a second experiment, animals without vomeronasal organs exhibited depressed investigative responsiveness and vocalizations to female genital smears. The data from the first experiment fail to indicate a role for the vomeronasal organ in infantile response to conspecific odor. However, the second experiment demonstrates that adult responses to similar odors are substantially depressed by an absence of the vomeronasal organ.
Eisthen
H L
HL
Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
Wysocki
C J
CJ
Beauchamp
G K
GK
D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D008297:Male; D009300:Nasal Septum / Q000502:physiology*; D009666:Nose / Q000502:physiology*; D009812:Odorants; D012016:Reference Values; D012903:Smell; D014828:Vocalization, Animal