Mellifluous matures to malodorous in musth.
Male Asian elephants in musth--an annual period of heightened sexual activity and intensified aggression--broadcast odoriferous, behaviourally influential messages from secretions of the temporal gland. From our observations in the wild, together with instantaneous chemical sampling and captive-elephant playback experiments, we have discovered that young, socially immature males in musth signal their naivety by releasing honey-like odours to avoid conflict with adult males, whereas older musth males broadcast malodorous combinations to deter young males, facilitating the smooth functioning of male society. As elephant--human conflicts can upset this equilibrium, chemically modulating male behaviour may be one way to help the conservation of wild elephants.
Rasmussen
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Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, OGI School of Science and Engineering, Oregon Health and Science University, Beaverton, Oregon 97006-8921, USA. betsr@bmb.ogi.edu
Riddle
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Krishnamurthy
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D000098:Acetophenones / Q000378:metabolism; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D004606:Elephants / Q000502:physiology*; D000441:Hexanols / Q000378:metabolism; D006722:Honey; D007659:Ketones / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009812:Odorants; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000502:physiology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D012930:Social Dominance
D000098:Acetophenones; D000441:Hexanols; D007659:Ketones; D012724:Sex Attractants; C051918:3-hexen-1-ol; C011917:2-heptanone; C038699:acetophenone