Mental gland secretions as a social cue in gopher tortoises (G opherus polyphemus ): tortoise presence stimulates and ma
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Mental gland secretions as a social cue in gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus): tortoise presence stimulates and maintains social behaviour with chemical cues Meghan D. Kelley 1
&
Mary T. Mendonça 1
Received: 5 May 2020 / Revised: 6 September 2020 / Accepted: 27 September 2020 # ISPA, CRL 2020
Abstract Multimodal signalling reinforces specific messages in communication. In gopher tortoises, similar to other reptilian species, visualization of conspecific and chemical exudates from the skin may serve as a multimodal display advertising information about conspecific species, sex, or individual qualities, but this has not been fully elucidated. For gopher tortoises, one such possible source of chemical cues could be secretions from seasonally enlarged mental glands (MG). Here, we used both sexes of gopher tortoises in a paired choice presentation of MG secretions vs. distilled (DI) water on resin tortoise models to assess visual presence with tortoise-specific secretions. We examined behaviours to treatments to examine if MG secretions are recognizable olfactory cues and if visual cues alone are sufficient to maintain social interactions using a simple visual presentation vs. a complex visual and olfactory presentation. Tortoises of both sexes spent more total time (p < 0.001) and performed a greater number of behaviours (p < 0.001) towards the MG-treated model, relative to the neutral control (DI-treated model), suggesting that olfactory MG secretions are also required, along with visual presence of a tortoise, to engage in social behaviours. Our results are among the first for this species suggesting that pheromone usage may drive social interactions in social behaviours. Keywords Gopher tortoise . Olfaction . Mental gland secretions . Pheromone . Social behaviour
Introduction Multimodal signalling is common in social interactions, in which repetitive or novel information may be shared between conspecifics through multiple senses (Johnstone 1996; Candolin 2003; Partan 2004). One such combination of multimodal presentation could include sensory cues such as visual and/or olfactory presentation of a single characteristic (i.e. the colour or scent of floral blooms advertising a nectar reward; Faegri and Van Der Pijl (1971); Kelley et al. (2017)) or a complex whole conspecific presentation (i.e. presence of a female red-sided garter snake, leopard gecko, or Spanish terrapin, respectively, with high levels of integumental semiochemicals that serve as pheromones; Mason et al. (1989, 1990); Mason and Gutzke (1990); Ibáñez et al. (2012)), in
* Meghan D. Kelley [email protected] 1
Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
which the visual sighting of a conspecific and/or the olfactory recognition of volatized chemical exudates from a conspecific could alert others to social or mating opportunities. While it is difficult to ascertain if visual or olfactory cues are more important in stimulating social interactions in most species, namely, if conspecifics prioritize
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