Perception of scent over-marks by golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus): novel mechanisms for determining which individual's mark is on top.
Hamsters preferentially remember or value the top scent of a scent over-mark. What cues do they use to do this? Using habituation-discrimination techniques, we exposed male golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) on 3 to 4 trials to genital over-marks from 2 females and then tested subjects for their familiarity with these 2 scents compared with that of a novel female's secretion. Preferential memory for 1 of the 2 individuals' scents did not occur if the 2 marks did not overlap or did not overlap but differed in age, but it did occur if a region of overlap existed or 1 mark apparently occluded another (but did not overlap it). Thus, hamsters use regions of overlap and the spatial configuration of scents to evaluate over-marks. These phenomena constitute evidence for previously unsuspected perceptual abilities, including olfactory scene analysis, which is analogous to visual and auditory scene analysis.
Johnston
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RE
Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA. rej1@cornell.edu
Bhorade
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A
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000819:Animal Communication; D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D003163:Competitive Behavior; D006224:Cricetinae; D003867:Depth Perception / Q000502:physiology; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008647:Mesocricetus / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000502:physiology*; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014621:Vagina / Q000502:physiology
D012724:Sex Attractants