Tamarin scent glands

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. 

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,... 

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),... 

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 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). 

---