The influences of evolution, habitat and social organisation upon chemical signalling in deer
The influences of evolution, habitat and social organisation upon chemical signalling in deer
This thesis investigates the influences of evolution, social organisation and habitat preference upon social communication in animals. The deer species found in Britain (red, sika, fallow, roe, muntjac and Chinese water deer) represent a wide range from the family Cervidae in terms of evolutionary status, social organisation and habitat preference. The development and use of one mode of communication, olfaction, within these species were explored by (a) the determination of the potential information available from scent gland secretions, (b) the assessment of whether conspecifics use that information and (c) the assessment of the significance of olfaction in the overall framework of social interaction.
The potential information content of secretions from one or more scent glands from each species was determined by capillary gas chromatography. The use of that potential information and significance of olfaction overall was examined by behavioural studies of fallow deer.
Individually unique chemical signals were found in the pre-orbital gland secretions of muntjac, Chinese water deer and red deer, in the interdigital gland secretion of roe deer and in the metatarsal gland samples from fallow and sika deer. Distinctive secretions were also detected within species for animals of a particular character or class: muntjac pre-orbital glands differed consistently by population and sex; red deer pre-orbital glands by sex and age; roe deer metatarsal glands by sex and age. Possible classification of sika deer metatarsal glands by population or sex was confounded by sample bias. No potential information whatsoever was detected in the fallow deer pre-orbital glands whilst the metatarsal glands secretions were not distinctive according to any class of animal.
University of Southampton
Lawson, Ruth Elaine
ce5d7da4-b102-4302-9d2b-2b8162bd4f14
1996
Lawson, Ruth Elaine
ce5d7da4-b102-4302-9d2b-2b8162bd4f14
Putman, Rory
a9dc0196-8639-47d7-8b98-19e6c80ae23b
Lawson, Ruth Elaine
(1996)
The influences of evolution, habitat and social organisation upon chemical signalling in deer.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis, 268pp.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
This thesis investigates the influences of evolution, social organisation and habitat preference upon social communication in animals. The deer species found in Britain (red, sika, fallow, roe, muntjac and Chinese water deer) represent a wide range from the family Cervidae in terms of evolutionary status, social organisation and habitat preference. The development and use of one mode of communication, olfaction, within these species were explored by (a) the determination of the potential information available from scent gland secretions, (b) the assessment of whether conspecifics use that information and (c) the assessment of the significance of olfaction in the overall framework of social interaction.
The potential information content of secretions from one or more scent glands from each species was determined by capillary gas chromatography. The use of that potential information and significance of olfaction overall was examined by behavioural studies of fallow deer.
Individually unique chemical signals were found in the pre-orbital gland secretions of muntjac, Chinese water deer and red deer, in the interdigital gland secretion of roe deer and in the metatarsal gland samples from fallow and sika deer. Distinctive secretions were also detected within species for animals of a particular character or class: muntjac pre-orbital glands differed consistently by population and sex; red deer pre-orbital glands by sex and age; roe deer metatarsal glands by sex and age. Possible classification of sika deer metatarsal glands by population or sex was confounded by sample bias. No potential information whatsoever was detected in the fallow deer pre-orbital glands whilst the metatarsal glands secretions were not distinctive according to any class of animal.
Text
96124150
- Version of Record
More information
Published date: 1996
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 459805
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/459805
PURE UUID: 25e78c2b-c403-4c8b-bfd4-bcf4c167fa35
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 17:19
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 18:33
Export record
Contributors
Author:
Ruth Elaine Lawson
Thesis advisor:
Rory Putman
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics