Faecal pellets as burrow markers: intra- and interspecific odour recognition by western plethodontid salamanders

• Published in: Animal behaviour Vol. 43; no. 6; pp. 931 - 939
• Main Authors: Ovaska, Kristiina, Davis, Theodore M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kent Elsevier Ltd 01.06.1992; Elsevier; Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Ltd
• Subjects: Amphibia and reptilia; Animal behavior; Animal communication; Animal ethology; Biological and medical sciences; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Reptiles & amphibians; Smell; Vertebrata; Chemical communication; Vertebrata; Animal communication; Caudata; Intraspecific recognition; Amphibia; Interspecific recognition; Feces; Stimulus discrimination; Odor; Territory marking; Chemical stimulus
• DOI: 10.1016/S0003-3472(06)80006-0
• ISSN: 0003-3472

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.