Antelope

Antelope, deer, camel, llama Selective herbivore... 

Maloiy, G.M.O. 1973 The water metabolism of a small East African antelope the dik-dik. Proceedings of the Royal Society, London B 184 167-178. 

The fossil record of African antelopes (Mammalia, Bovidae) in relation to human evolution. In Vrba, E.S., Denton, G.H., Partridge, T.C. and Burekle, L.H., eds., Paleoclimate and Evolution. New Haven, CT, Yale University Press 385-424. 

Walther, F.R. 1978 Behavioral observations on oryx antelope (Oryx heisa) invading Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Journal ofMammalogy 59 243-260. 

An adaptive association of Flehmen with fluid-sampling is shown where related modifications to the stimulus-access system, such as anatomical and behavioural anomalies, appear. The F. sequence is inconspicuous and ducts reduced in two African Alcephaline antelopes the Topi (Damaliscus iunatus) and Coke s Hartebeest (Alcephalus... 

Fig. 7.7 Discrimination by F. (a) of estrous, vs. non-estrous, urine frequency in feral goats (from O Brien, 1982) and (b) within social groups, species-differences in responsiveness of male antelopes to urinary and/or genital signals (from Hart and Hart, 1987).

A current working hypothesis is that F. and chemoinvestigative behaviour are closely linked, but that it is not restricted to urinalysis by the male. Other signalling functions are indicated by the behaviour of captive and feral groups. Flehmen s role in female female interactions is clearly of equal value since it is highly correlated with rank in the Sable antelope (Hippotragus niger). Dominant females not only perform... 

Fig. 7.8 Sex differences in F. frequency (/hr) with age birth to one year, in captive Sable Antelope Hippotragus niger (from Thompson, 1995).

Flehmen in all species so far studied is stereotyped in execution, although as noted, not all typical patterns are part of each species repertoire. Its function(s) may well vary with species requirements, as with the modifications in certain antelopes discussed above (Hart et al., 1988). F. is not always dimorphic and can be influenced by social context the licking/lapping sequence aids discriminations among female as well as male lemurs [Fig. 7.9(a)]. The contribution of F. to fertility is bound up with the role of the AOS in reproductive patterns. Not all species with a full complement of accessory olfactory structures have been scrutinised for F., nevertheless it is rarely absent, even if modified, in species with VNO/AOB presence. Its presence has not been reported in species without a functional AOS, as required by Knappe s hypothesis (Knappe, 1964). 

Hart B.L., Hart L. and Maina J.N. (1988). Alteration in vomeronasal system anatomy in Alcelaphine antelopes correlation with alteration in chemosensory investigation. Physiol Behav 42, 155-162. 

Thompson K.V. (1991). Flehmen and social-dominance in captive female Sable Antelope, Hippotragus niger. Appl Anim Behav Sci 29, 121-133. 

Horn is the hard organic material that makes up the horns and hooves of many mammals, among them cattle, sheep, goats, and antelopes, and the... 

Munshower, F.F. and D.R. Neuman. 1979. Metals in soft tissues of mule deer and antelope. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 22 827-832. 

Heartwater is a noncontagious disease caused by Rickettsia ruminantium and the organism is transmitted by ticks of the genus Amblyomma. In east and central Africa A. variegatum is the principal vector, while in South Africa it is A. hebraeum. The disease occurs in subclinical form in at least two species of antelope which probably serve as reservoirs of the organism. A larval tick once infected will retain... 

Chemical work on the exocrine secretions of African antelope has concentrated on the interdigital secretions of members of the subfamily Alcelaphinae and the preorbital secretions of members of the subfamilies Antilopinae and Cephalo-phinae. 

The bontebok is a strongly territorial antelope found in the southernmost parts of South Africa, while the blesbok inhabits the arid plains of the central parts of the country. It is practically impossible to translocate these animals even over small distances of a few hundred meters by driving them into unfamiliar areas. In game catching operations, the majority of the driven animals mostly run with their heads down, as though they are more interested in information on the ground than in the source of the threat. This is possibly also the reason why this animal was hunted almost to extinction by the early settlers in South Africa. The territorial behavior of the animal is attributed to territorial mark-... 

Members of the subfamily Antilopinae, known as dwarf antelope, have well-developed preorbital glands. In both sexes the preorbital gland is a thin-walled pocket anterior to the forward corner of the eye, the secretions of which are used for territorial marking. It would be impossible to present and discuss in detail the enormous volume of chemical information on the preorbital secretions of these animals that has been accumulated over more than 30 years (e.g. [8, 17, 18, 136, 140-143]). The compounds identified in the preorbital secretion of the Cape grysbok, Raphicerus melanotis, are, however, listed in Table 8 [18] to exemplify the compounds that are typically found in these secretions, with one notable exception (see below). 

The results of the chemical characterization of the preorbital secretions of these dwarf antelope are summarized in Table 9 [140]. Due to the large number of double-bond positional isomers in the secretions of some of the members of the tribe, it is impossible to include all the relevant information in the table. 

Table 9 Compound types3 identified in the preorbital secretions from antelope of the subfamily Antilopini [ 140]... 

The overall picture of the secretions of the dwarf antelope seems to suggest that secretions that are produced slowly are more complex. This could be explained in terms of microbiological action, which has more time to contribute to the complexity of a secretion, the slower it is produced. If this is indeed the reason for the complexity of secretions that are produced very slowly, it is possible that, in these animals, with exception of the klipspringer, the long-chain lipid constituents of the secretions could be controlled-release carrier materials rather than semiochemicals. If these heavy compounds were semiochemicals, it could be asked why is it necessary for an animal to spend so much energy to regularly renew its territorial marks. In retrospect, it is possible that up to now too much attention could have been devoted to the heavy constituents of the secretions, while the semiochemically active constituents could have been overlooked because they could be present in such low concentrations that they were not detected by the methods that were employed. 

It is well known that dogs track better in humid air. Rodents find buried seeds better in wet soil. This is important in arid climates. After rains, yellow pine chipmunks, Tamias amoenus, and deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus found experimentally buried seeds of Jeffrey pine, Pinus jeffreyi, and antelope bitterbrush, Purshia tridentata, better than in diy soil. The recovered number of seeds increased 27- and 15-fold, respectively. In wet soil, seeds take up water rapidly and emanate volatile organic compounds that the rodents exploit. By extension, variations in humidity in arid environments may have profound effects on olfaction-dependent behaviors such as finding food, social interactions, preying, and predator avoidance (Vander Wall 1998). 

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