Faecal pellets as burrow markers: intra- and interspecific odour recognition by western plethodontid salamanders |
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| Institution: | 2. Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C. V8W 2Y2, Canada;1. Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, SK, Canada;2. National Park Service, Moose, WY, U.S.A.;3. Veterinary Biomedical Sciences, WCVM, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada;4. Biology Department, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, U.S.A.;1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia;2. School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia;3. U.S. Geological Survey, DOI Southwest Climate Science Center, 1064 E. Lowell Street, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA;4. Department of Geosciences and School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA;1. Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de l’Hôpital Nord, Marseille, France;2. Vitreous Retina Macula Consultants of New York, New York, New York;3. Department of Ophthalmology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York;4. LuEsther T. Mertz Retinal Research Center, Manhattan Eye, Ear, and Throat Hospital, New York, New York |
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| Abstract: | Chemical communication is widespread among plethodontid salamanders (Caudata: Plethodontidae), but little information exists on the role of odours in interspecific competition in general and among species in western North America in particular. The present study examined the potential of faecal odours for intra- and interspecific communication among sympatric plethodontids in two-choice tests in the laboratory. In experiment 1, Plethodon vehiculum and Aneides ferrus from Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada, were presented with two burrows marked with (1) a faecal pellet of male P. vehiculum versus a control clay pellet, and (2) a faecal pellet of male A. ferreus versus a control pellet. In experiment 2, responses of P. vehiculum, P. dunni and P. vandykei from Washington, U.S.A., were tested towards faecal pellets of conspecific males and females, and towards pellets of congeneric males. Both P. vehiculum and P. dunni distinguished odours of conspecific males and females, based on their behavioural responses towards faecal and control pellets. Only P. dunni, however, avoided burrows marked with faeces of conspecific individuals. In contrast, neither A. ferreus nor P. vandykei appeared to distinguish faecal odours of conspecific salamanders from control pellets. In tests with odours of heterospecific individuals, P. dunni and P. vehiculum distinguished odours of each other, and P. vandykei distinguished odours of P. vehiculum. The data from these two experiments suggest that P. dunni use faecal pellets as territorial markers both in intraspecific communication and in interspecific encounters with P. vehiculum. |
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