Scent hyena

Hofer, H., East, M., Sammang, I. and Dehnhard, M. (2001) Analysis of volatile compounds in scent-marks of spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) and their possible function in olfactory communication. In A.Marchlewska-Koj, D. Muller-Schwarze and J. Lepri (Eds.), Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 9. Plenum Press, New York, pp. 141-148. 

Do Spotted Hyena Scent Marks Code for Clan Membership ... 

Communal scent posts were established at the communal den, at communal latrines, and close to frequently used hyena paths and resting sites. Individuals that... 

Fig. 16.1 Gas-chromatograph mass spectrometer profile of scent from the anal scent gland of three adult female spotted hyenas from the same social group...

Fig. 16.2 A multidimensional scaling (MDS) plot in three dimensions for scent profiles of individuals from three spotted hyena clans (o Isiaka clan, N = 8 Pool clan, N = 14 A Mamba clan, N = 23). Similarities between samples were calculated with the Bray-Curtis coefficient. MDS Stress 0.08... 

Our behavioural observations suggested that spotted hyenas actively acquired scent from other clan members when they pasted over stalks of vegetation that held scent deposited by another clan member. During this process the scent of other clan members may be taken into the protruded scent gland as well as being rubbed onto the pasting individual s fur. As clan membership is not static over time, there is probably a need for clan members to continuously anoint themselves with the scent of other clan members to retain the current clan odour. 

Woodmansee, K.B., Zabel, C.J., Glickman, S.E., Frank, L.G. and Keppel, G. (1991) Scent marking (pasting) in a colony of immature spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) A developmental study. J. Comp. Psychol. 105, 10-14. 

Other chemical studies did not find sex or seasonal differences in the composition of mammalian scents. No sex differences in the composition of mixtures of volatile compounds from glands have been found in the brushtailed possum, Trichosurus vulpecula, for example. The same profiles of low-molecular-weight branched carboxylic acids were found in paracloacal gland secretions of males and females (Woolhouse etal., 1994). Branched carboxylic acids also occurred in the preorbital gland secretion of a female sika deer [Ccrvus nippon) (Wood, 2004). Comparisons between the compositions of secretions in different, related species permit assumptions about functional adaptations and possible evolutionary pathways. Such comparisons are available for five Mustek species (Brinck etal., 1983), and three species of hyenas (Buglass etal., 1990). 

The four species of hyena all scent mark plants with anal gland secretion ( pasting ). Different species concentrate their scent marks in different parts of their territories. In the resource-poor Kalahari, both brown Hyaena brunnea) and... 

FIGURE 6.7 The double scent mark of the brown hyena. The black mark on top originates from apocrine glands and the white mark from separately located sebaceous glands. (Redrawn from Mills etal., 1980.)... 

---