Tamarin marking

Behavioural testing of protein fractions has not kept pace with semiochemical studies. Belcher et al. (1990) found that the mixed scent marks of the Saddle-backed Tamarin (S. fusicollis) comprise urine and genital/suprapubic gland secretions. Both sexes deposit mixtures of pheromonally active large molecules at, for example, exudate feeding... 

The ability to compare semiochemical patterns and to assess degrees of similarity is a likely mechanism underlying the establishment, and eventually the maintenance of genetic divergence. Amongst Tamarins (Saguinus spp.) and Marmosets, both for within- and between- (related) species distinctions, the complexity of their scent marks provides a discriminatory mechanism (Epple et ai, 1987 Smith et al., 1997). Mixed species groups of these monkeys are enabled to co-exist, to... 

Epple G., Alveario M.C., Golob N.F. and Smith A.B. (1980). Stability and attractiveness related to age of scent marks of Saddle-Back Tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis). J Chem Ecol 6, 735-748. 

French, J.A. and Cleveland, J. (1984) Scent-marking in the tamarin, Saguinus oedipus sex differences and ontogeny. Anim. Behav. 32, 615-623. 

The scent mark of the saddle-back tamarin, Saguinusfuscicollis, contains water-soluble proteins. The major protein (66kDa) of the scent mark occurs in the urine, while another major protein (ISkDa) derives from gland secretions. If the proteins are removed by enzymatic degradation, tamarins still discriminate scent marks from different donor types. However, they are able to discriminate scents with intact proteins from those with the proteins digested. Consequently, the proteins are most likely an integral part of the scent image (Belcher et ah, 1990). 

For mammals, if not vertebrates in general, multicomponent pheromones appear to be the rule. Such mixtures can comprise compounds of a wide range of volatility. They have been variously termed odor profile, pattern, odor image (Albone, 1984), gestalt (Evans ct al., 1978), or mosaic (Johnston, 2005). One of the best-investigated odor profiles is that of the scent mark of the saddle-back tamarin, S. fuscicoUis, (Smith et al, 1985). Here, not even the 16 butyrate esters are sufficient for subspecies recognition. Additional volatiles are also required. 

Among primates, females of the saddleback tamarin, Saguinusfuscicollis, discriminate conspecific scent marks from those of other species or subspecies (Epple etal., 1988), based on a complex mixture of compounds (p. 168). Likewise, Lfiilvus and L. macaco distinguish scent marks by species and show more interest in the other species odor than their own (Fornasieri andRoeder, 1992). 

Epple, G., Kiiderling, I. and Belcher, A. (1988). Some communicatoiy functions of scent marking in the cotton-top tamarin Saguinusoedipus oedipus). Journal ofChemicalEcology 14,503-515. 

French, J. A., Abbot, D. H., and Snowdon, C. T. (1984). The effect of social environment on estrogen excretion, scent marking, and sociosexual behavior in tamarins Saguinus oedipus). American Journal ofPrimatology 6,155-167. 

Epple, G., Belcher, A. M., Kuderling, 1., Zeller, U., Scolnick, L., Greenfield, K. L., and Smith, A. B., 1993, Making sense out of scents - species-differences in scent glands, scent marking behavior and scent mark composition in the Callitrichidae, in Marmosets and Tamarins, Systematics, Behaviour, and Ecology, A. B. Rylands, ed., Oxford Science Publications, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 123-151. 

An excellent opportunity to search for such an inhibitory system is provided by the recent work on the tamarin, Callithrix jacchus jacchus, by Abbott (1984). He established peer groups of pubertal and post-pubertal tamarins. One male and one female dominated each group. Ovulation was suppressed in all subordinate females as a result of low gonadotropin levels. Cortisol and prolactin levels were unaffected but control over gonadotropin release was markedly affected. There was no difference in basal levels of gonadotropins between dominant and subordinate females, but subordinate... 

Marmosets and tamarins possess a rich repertoire of chemosignaling behaviors. These patterns result in the application of a number of secretions and excretions to items in the environment, to the bodies of conspecifics and to their own bodies. Chemosignaling is associated closely with investigatory behaviors. Individuals of all species sniff and lick each other s bodies and scent glands in a number of sexual and spcial situations. Sniffing and occasional licking of scent marks deposited into the environment is also common (Christen, 1974 Epple,... 

In trios of golden lion tamarins consisting of two unrelated males and a female, sexual behavior was limited to one of the males who also showed more circumgenital-suprapubic and sternal marking than the other male. 

Experiments using a habituation technique have shown that the tamarins are able to discriminate between the scent marks of two unknown individuals of the same sex (Epple et al., 1979). An additional experiment strongly suggested that the animals utilize scent to identify known individuals. 

Pairs of tamarins were allowed aggressive encounters with either a strange male or female. Each encounter was followed by a choice test, offering scent marks from both the recent opponent and from a familiar donor of the same sex. The tamarins preferentially investigated and scent-marked material from the recent opponent, even when they were tested several days after the encounter (Epple, 1974). Urine samples from two individuals presented under the same conditions, however, were not distinguished from each other (Epple, 1978b). 

These mathematical differences do not necessarily provide the clues on which the animals base their discriminatory responses. To test the communicatory content of only squalene and the butyrates, scent marks from males and females were subjected to gas chromatography, and the total eluate, containing all volatile material was collected and presented to the tamarins in choice tests. The animals preferred material from males over that from females, suggesting that the information on gender had been retained. However, when the eluate was collected in two fractions, one containing only the butyrates and squalene, the other... 

Epple, G., 1980, Relationships between aggression, scent marking and gonadal state in a primate, the tamarin Saguinus fuscicollis, in "Chemical Signals - Vertebrates and Aquatic Invertebrates," D. Muller-Schwarze, and R. M. Silverstein, eds.. Plenum Press, New York. 

Epple, G, 1981, Effects of prepubertal castration on the development of the scent glands, scent marking, and aggression in the saddle back tamarin (Saguinus fuscicollis, Callitrichidae, Primates),... 

Kleiman, D. G. and Mack, D. S., 1980, Effects of age, sex and reproductive status on scent marking frequencies in the golden lion tamarin, Leontopithecus rosalia. Folia Primat., 33 1. 

Mack, D. S. and Kleiman, D. G., 1978, Distribution of scent marks in different contexts in captive lion tamarins, Leontopithecus rosalia (Primates), "Biology and Behaviour of Marmosets,"... 

Epple, G. Relationship between Aggression, Scent Marking and Gonadal State in a Primate Tamarin Saguinus fuscicollis. In D. Muller-Schwartze and R.M. SiLVERSTEiN eds.. Chemical Signals in Vertebrates and Aquatic Invertebrates, p. 87-105. New York Plenum Press 1980. 

French, J.A., D.A. Abbott, and C.T. Snowdon The Effect of Social Environment on Estrogen Excretion, Scent Marking, and Sociosexual Behavior in Tamarins Saguinus fuscicolis). Amer. J. Primatol. 6, 155-167 (1984). 

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