To investigate flexibility in vocal signaling by rodent pups, we examined whether olfactory stimuli influence characteristics of pup calls and how these calls may be affected by sex and litter size in California mice (
Predator odors such as urine and feces are known to elicit antipredator behaviors in prey including avoidance, fear, and curiosity. We measured how wild brown mouse lemurs (
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10182197
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- American Journal of Primatology
- Volume:
- 82
- Issue:
- 10
- ISSN:
- 0275-2565
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract Peromyscus californicus ). Pups were isolated and recorded during a 3‐min baseline period followed by a 5‐min exposure to bedding containing scent from their home cage, scent from the home cage of an unfamiliar family, coyote urine, or no scent (control). Latency to call, call rate, and call characteristics (duration, frequency, and amplitude) were compared between the baseline and scent‐exposure periods and among olfactory conditions. Compared with the control condition, pups from two‐pup litters called more quietly when exposed to odor from a predator, whereas pups from three‐pup litters called more loudly. Additionally, pups showed nonsignificant tendencies to reduce call rates in response to odors from their home cage and to increase call rates when exposed to predator urine. Last, males produced higher‐frequency calls and more ultrasonic vocalizations than females. These results indicate that pup calling behavior in this species can be influenced by acute olfactory stimuli as well as litter size and sex. The flexibility of pup calling in response to these three variables potentially increases the communication value of pup calls and helps shape the parents’ responses. -
The transition to motherhood in mammals is marked by changes in females’ perception of and responsiveness to sensory stimuli from infants. Our understanding of maternally induced sensory plasticity relies most heavily on studies in uniparental, promiscuous house mice and rats, which may not be representative of rodent species with different life histories. We exposed biparental, monogamous California mouse (Peromyscus californicus) mothers and ovariectomized virgin females to one of four acoustic and olfactory stimulus combinations (Control: clean cotton and white noise; Call: clean cotton and pup vocalizations; Odor: pup-scented cotton and white noise; Call + Odor: pup-scented cotton and pup vocalizations) and quantified females’ behavior and Fos expression in select brain regions. Behavior did not differ between mothers and ovariectomized virgins. Among mothers, however, those exposed to the Control condition took the longest to sniff the odor stimulus, and mothers exposed to the Odor condition were quicker to sniff the odor ball compared to those in the Call condition. Behavior did not differ among ovariectomized virgins exposed to the different conditions. Fos expression differed across conditions only in the anterior hypothalamic nucleus (AHN), which responds to aversive stimuli: among mothers, the Control condition elicited the highest AHN Fos and Call + Odor elicited the lowest. Among ovariectomized virgin fe- males, Call elicited the lowest Fos in the AHN. Thus, reproductive status in California mice alters females’ behavioral responses to stimuli from pups, especially odors, and results in the inhibition of defense circuitry in response to pup stimuli.more » « less
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Olfactory responses to single odors have been well characterized but in reality we are continually presented with complex mixtures of odors. We performed high-throughput analysis of single-cell responses to odor blends using Swept Confocally Aligned Planar Excitation (SCAPE) microscopy of intact mouse olfactory epithelium, imaging ~10,000 olfactory sensory neurons in parallel. In large numbers of responding cells, mixtures of odors did not elicit a simple sum of the responses to individual components of the blend. Instead, many neurons exhibited either antagonism or enhancement of their response in the presence of another odor. All eight odors tested acted as both agonists and antagonists at different receptors. We propose that this peripheral modulation of responses increases the capacity of the olfactory system to distinguish complex odor mixtures.
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Abstract Landscapes of fear describe a spatial representation of an animal's perceived risk of predation and the associated foraging costs, while energy landscapes describe the spatial representation of their energetic cost of moving and foraging. Fear landscapes are often dynamic and change based on predator presence and behaviour, and variation in abiotic conditions that modify risk. Energy landscapes are also dynamic and can change across diel, seasonal, and climatic timescales based on variability in temperature, snowfall, wind/current speeds, etc.
Recently, it was suggested that fear and energy landscapes should be integrated. In this paradigm, the interaction between landscapes relates to prey being forced to use areas of the energy landscape they would avoid if risk were not a factor. However, dynamic energy landscapes experienced by predators must also be considered since they can affect their ability to forage, irrespective of variation in prey behaviour. We propose an additional component to the fear and dynamic energy landscape paradigm that integrates landscapes of both prey and predators, where predator foraging behaviour is modulated by changes in their energyscape.
Specifically, we integrate the predator's energy landscape into foraging theory that predicts prey patch‐leaving decisions under the threat of predation. We predict that as a predator's energetic cost of foraging increases in a habitat, then the prey's foraging cost of predation and patch quitting harvest rate, will decrease. Prey may also decrease their vigilance in response to increased energetic foraging costs for predators, which will lower giving‐up densities of prey.
We then provide examples in terrestrial, aerial, and marine ecosystems where we might expect to see these effects. These include birds and sharks which use updrafts that vary based on wind and current speeds, tidal state, or temperature, and terrestrial predators (e.g. wolves) whose landscapes vary seasonally with snow depth or ice cover which may influence their foraging success and even diet selection.
A predator perspective is critical to considering the combination of these landscapes and their ecological consequences. Dynamic predator energy landscapes could add an additional spatiotemporal component to risk effects, which may cascade through food webs.
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Skoulakis, Efthimios M. (Ed.)Animals are constantly bombarded with stimuli, which presents a fundamental problem of sorting among pervasive uninformative stimuli and novel, possibly meaningful stimuli. We evaluated novelty detection behaviorally in honey bees as they position their antennae differentially in an air stream carrying familiar or novel odors. We then characterized neuronal responses to familiar and novel odors in the first synaptic integration center in the brain–the antennal lobes. We found that the neurons that exhibited stronger initial responses to the odor that was to be familiarized are the same units that later distinguish familiar and novel odors, independently of chemical identities. These units, including both tentative projection neurons and local neurons, showed a decreased response to the familiar odor but an increased response to the novel odor. Our results suggest that the antennal lobe may represent familiarity or novelty to an odor stimulus in addition to its chemical identity code. Therefore, the mechanisms for novelty detection may be present in early sensory processing, either as a result of local synaptic interaction or via feedback from higher brain centers.more » « less
