Scent marking golden hamster

Johnston, R.E., Munver, R. Tung, C. 1995. Scent counter marks Selective memory for the top scent by golden hamsters. Anim. Behav., 49, 1435-1442. 

Johnston R.E. (1992b). Vomeronasal and or olfactory mediation of ultrasonic calling and scent marking by female golden hamsters. Physiol Behav 51, 437-448. 

Petrulis A. and Johnston R. (1999). Lesions centered on the medial amygdala impair scent-marking and sex-odor recognition, but spare discrimination of individual odors in female golden hamsters. Behav Neurosci 113, 345-357. 

Petrulis, A. and Johnston, R.E. (1997) Causes of scent marking in female golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) specific signals or classes of information J. Comp. Psychol. Ill, 25-36. 

Johnston, R. E. and Kwan, M. (1984) Vaginal scent marking effects on ultrasonic calling and attraction of male golden hamsters. Behav. Neural Biol. 42, 158-68. 

Cohen, A.B., Johnston, R. and Kwon, A. (2001) How golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) discriminate top from bottom flank scents in over marks. J. Comp. Psychol. 115, 241-247. 

The function of the flank gland of the golden hamster, Mesocricetus auratus, is not clear but it appears to be involved in signals of sexual and social status and familiarity of the male to the female. Sexually receptive females spend more time near flank scent marks of intact males than castrates, or clean controls. They also stay longer near marks from familiar males than novel males. Finally, these females spend more time near marks of dominant males (compared with subordinate males) (Montgomery-St. Laurent etal, 1988). 

Ferris, C. G., Axelson, J. F., Shinto, L. H., and Albers, H. E. (1987). Scent marking and the maintenance of dominant subordinate status in male golden hamsters. Physiological... 

If rivals are successfully chased from a territory the resident reduces the attraction of any scent marks deposited by those rivals with the addition of his own scent close to ( countermarking , e.g. house mice) or across ( overmarking , e.g. golden hamsters and meadow voles) those of the intruder (Johnston et al., 1994, 1997 Hurst and Rich, 1999 Hurst et al., 2001). The ability to ensure one s own scent marks are the most recent in the territory, by rapidly countermarking or overmarking all non-self marks, will signal competitive success as only males able to evict rivals could maintain such territorial signals. 

Johnston, R. E., Chiang, G., and Tung, C., 1994, The information in scent over-marks of golden hamsters, Anim. Behav. 48 323-330. 

Petrulis, A., Peng, M., and Johnston, R. E., 2000, The role of the hippocampal system in social odor discrimination and scent marking in female golden hamsters Mesocricetus auratus), Behav. Neurosci. 

Johnston, R. E., 1975, Scent marking by male golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratta) L Effects of odors and social encoimters, Z. Tierpsychol. 37 75-98. 

Scent over-marking is a specialized type of marking behavior in which one individual places its scent so that it covers or partially covers previously deposited scents of conspeci-fics. In this chapter I first review our research that shows that golden hamsters have amazing abilities to analyze such over-marks to determine which individual s scent is on top. Next I present experiments in which we examine how they do this. Finally, I briefly discuss the functions of over-marking and of the abilities to determine the top-scent individual. 

Huck, U. W., Lisk, R.E., Gore, A.C. 1985. Scent marking and mate choice in the golden hamster. Physiol. Behav., 35, 389-393. 

Johnston, R. E. Lee, N. A. 1976. Persistence of the odor deposited by two functionally distinct scent marking behaviors of golden hamsters. Behav. Biol, 16, 199—210. 

Wilcox, R. M. Johnston, R. E. 1995. Scent counter-marks specialized mechanisms of perception and response to individual odors in golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus). J. Comp. Psych., 109, 349-356. 

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