Discrimination among colony mates' anogenital odors by guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus).
Controversy exists in the literature regarding whether odor is used by guinea pigs in detection of physiological estrus in female counterparts. Three experiments are presented which used an aversively motivated learning task to examine the ability of adult guinea pigs to discriminate among odors from non-specific anogenital swabbings of colony mates. The first and second experiments examined the ability of male and female guinea pigs to discriminate among odors of colony mates controlled for age and sex. Both males and females were able to discriminate among individual animals on the basis of odor. Since individual animals could be discriminated, the third experiment, examining detection of physiological estrus, tested the ability of males and females to discriminate preserved odor samples from the same female during conditions of estrus and nonestrus. Both males and females were able to discriminate between the conditions. Results are discussed with reference to the involvement of odor in the social behavior of guinea pigs.
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D004971:Estrus; D005260:Female; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D008297:Male; D010675:Pheromones; D011247:Pregnancy; D012724:Sex Attractants; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D012903:Smell
D010675:Pheromones; D012724:Sex Attractants