Meeting Abstract

36.11  Monday, Jan. 5  Lemurs Discriminate the Scent of Conspecifics Based on Individual Heterozygosity and Pairwise Relatedness CRAWFORD, J.C.**; CHARPENTIER, M.J.E.; BOULET, M.; DREA, C.M.; Duke University; CEFE-CNRS; Duke University; Duke University jeremy.crawford@duke.edu

Sexual selection theory predicts that certain traits may function as honest indicators of genetic quality, influencing intrasexual competition and mate choice. There is mounting evidence to suggest that, like visual and auditory cues, olfactory cues can signal genetic traits. Likewise, olfactory cues are increasingly implicated in kin recognition, influencing nepotism and facilitating inbreeding avoidance. In prior studies of ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta), we showed that the semiochemical profiles of scent gland secretions from males and females vary according to an individual’s heterozygosity and converge between conspecifics as the genetic distance between pairs decreases. Here, we complement and extend those chemical data with behavioral evidence that lemurs detect the genetic information contained in olfactory cues. We presented 22 ‘recipient’ lemurs (10 M; 12 F) with paired samples of scrotal or labial glandular secretions obtained from conspecific ‘donors.’ Donors were non-group members that differed in their heterozygosity (relative to each other) and in relatedness (relative to the recipient). We recorded recipient responses during 157 15-min trials conducted during the breeding and non-breeding seasons. Across seasons, both sexes discriminated between odorants based on the donors’ genetic characteristics. These data constitute the first evidence that nonhuman primates can decipher genetic information via olfactory cues. We suggest that L. catta may use available olfactory cues to guide competitive or nepotistic decisions, as well as to select the best and most unrelated mates. Funded by NSF grant IOS-0719003.