Odor Communication and Mate Choice in Rodents

This paper details how chemical communication is affected by ecological challenges such as finding mates. I list several conditions that affect the decision to attract mates, the decision to respond to the signals of potential mates and how the response depends on context. These mate-choice decisions and their outcomes will depend on the life history constraints placed on individuals such as their fecundity, sex, lifespan, opportunities to mate in the future and age at senescence. Consequently, the sender’s decision to scent mark or self-groom as well as the receiver’s choice of response represents a tradeoff between the current costs of the participant’s own survival and future reproduction against that of reproducing now. The decision to scent mark and the response to the scent mark of opposite-sex conspecifics should maximize the fitness of the participants in that context.

• Publication year

  2018

• Venue

  Biology

• Publication date

  2018-01-25

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3390/biology7010013PMID 29370074PMCID 5872039
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Sexual selection

  2019influential reference
• Social Cognition and the Neurobiology of Rodent Mate Choice.

  2017cited by this paper
• The number of male conspecifics affects the odour preferences and the copulatory behaviour of male meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus

  2017cited by this paper
• 1.10 – Communication by Chemical Signals: Physiological Mechanisms, Ontogeny and Learning, Function, Evolution, and Cognition

  2017influential reference
• The Effects of Food Availability on the Sexual Behavior of Meadow Voles.

  2017influential reference
• Mate‐choice copying, social information processing, and the roles of oxytocin

  2017influential reference
• The time interval between sequential mating affects the response of male meadow voles to previous mates

  2016influential reference
• Age-Related Effects on Individual Discrimination Among Meadow Voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus

  2016cited by this paper
• Processing by the main olfactory system of chemosignals that facilitate mammalian reproduction.

  2015cited by this paper
• Central oxytocin regulates social familiarity and scent marking behavior that involves amicable odor signals between male mice.

  2015cited by this paper
• Major urinary protein (MUP) profiles show dynamic changes rather than individual “barcode” signatures

  2015influential reference
• The Genetic Basis of Kin Recognition in a Cooperatively Breeding Mammal.

  2015cited by this paper
• Female rule in lemurs is ancestral and hormonally mediated

  2015cited by this paper
• The impact of phytoestrogens on sexual behavior and cognition in rodents

  2015cited by this paper
• Mate choice as social cognition: predicting female behavioral and neural plasticity as a function of alternative male reproductive tactics

  2015cited by this paper
• Male mate choice and insemination success under simultaneous versus sequential choice conditions

  2015cited by this paper
• The response of rodents to scent marks: four broad hypotheses.

  2015cited by this paper
• Mate-choice copying: Status quo and where to go.

  2015cited by this paper
• Maintenance of familiarity and social bonding via communal latrine use in a solitary primate (Lepilemur leucopus)

  2014cited by this paper
• Aging in the olfactory system.

  2014cited by this paper
• Maternal Food Restriction During Lactation Affects Body Weightand Sexual Behavior of Male Offspring in Meadow Voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus).

  2014cited by this paper
• Group-Living Herbivores Weigh Up Food Availability and Dominance Status when Making Patch-Joining Decisions

  2014cited by this paper
• Sexual Selection: Mate Choice

  2014cited by this paper
• The behavior of female meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, during postpartum estrus and the responses of males to them

  2014influential reference
• The major urinary protein system in the rat.

  2014cited by this paper
• Sequential male mate choice under sperm competition risk

  2014cited by this paper
• Murine pheromone proteins constitute a context-dependent combinatorial code governing multiple social behaviors.

  2014cited by this paper
• The influences of age on olfaction: a review

  2014cited by this paper
• Body mass and attractivity of female offspring are negatively affected by food restriction of meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus) dams during lactation

  2014influential reference
• Female attraction to male scent and associative learning: the house mouse as a mammalian model

  2014cited by this paper
• Response of male mice to odours of female mice in different stages of oestrous cycle: self-grooming behaviour and the effect of castration.

  2014cited by this paper
• When do we eat? Ingestive behavior, survival, and reproductive success.

  2013cited by this paper
• Food deprivation and restriction during late gestation affects the sexual behavior of postpartum female meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus.

  2013cited by this paper
• Chemosignals and hormones in the neural control of mammalian sexual behavior.

  2013cited by this paper
• Chemosignals, hormones and mammalian reproduction.

  2013cited by this paper
• Female meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, respond differently to the scent marks of multiple male conspecifics

  2013cited by this paper
• Food restriction affects the maternal behavior provided by female meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus)

  2013cited by this paper
• X-ray kinematics analysis of vaginal scent marking in female Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus).

  2012cited by this paper
• The response of male meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, to same- and mixed-sex over-marks depends on the reproductive state of the top- and bottom-female scent donors

  2012influential reference
• Effects of food availability on proceptivity: a test of the reproduction at all costs and metabolic fuels hypotheses.

  2012cited by this paper
• Mechanisms of Life History Evolution: The Genetics and Physiology of Life History Traits and Trade-Offs

  2011cited by this paper
• The scent of senescence: sexual signalling and female preference in house mice

  2011influential reference
• Odor-related behavior and cognition in meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus (Arvicolidae, Rodentia)

  2011cited by this paper
• Dietary protein content affects the response of meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, to over-marks

  2011cited by this paper
• Effect of protein content of the diet on scent marking and over-marking behavior in meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus

  2011cited by this paper
• Responses of meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus , to areas containing over-marks and single scent marks of two opposite-sex conspecifics

  2011cited by this paper
• Male and female meadow voles Microtus pennsylvanicus respond differently to scent marks from the top- middle-, and bottom-scent donors of an over-mark

  2011cited by this paper
• Blastocyst implantation is vulnerable to stress-induced rises in endogenous estrogens and also to excretions of estrogens by proximate males.

  2011cited by this paper
• The presence and number of male competitor's scent marks and female reproductive state affect the response of male meadow voles to female conspecifics' odours

  2011cited by this paper
• Food restriction dissociates sexual motivation, sexual performance, and the rewarding consequences of copulation in female Syrian hamsters.

  2011cited by this paper
• Chemosensory and hormone information are relayed directly between the medial amygdala, posterior bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and medial preoptic area in male Syrian hamsters.

  2011cited by this paper
• Darcin: a male pheromone that stimulates female memory and sexual attraction to an individual male's odour

  2010cited by this paper
• Olfactory experience affects the response of meadow voles to the opposite-sex scent donor of mixed-sex over-marks.

  2010cited by this paper
• Does fertility trump monogamy?

  2010cited by this paper
• Sperm competition and ejaculate economics

  2010cited by this paper
• Novel OBP genes similar to hamster Aphrodisin in the bank vole, Myodes glareolus

  2010cited by this paper
• Chemical Communication in Mammal Population: Urinary Olfactory Chemosignals in Lactating Female Root Voles (Microtus Oeconomus Pallas )

  2010cited by this paper
• Neurobiology of Grooming Behavior: Self-grooming as a form of olfactory communication in meadow voles and prairie voles ( Microtus spp .)

  2010influential reference
• Male mate choice: why sequential choice can make its evolution difficult

  2010cited by this paper
• Chemical communication in mammal population : urinary olfactory chemosignals in lactating female root voles (Microtus oeconomus Pallas)

  2010cited by this paper
• Gonadal hormones modulate sex differences in judgments of relative numerousness in meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus.

  2009cited by this paper
• Male hamsters discriminate estrous state from vaginal secretions and individuals from flank marks.

  2009cited by this paper
• Profiles of volatiles in male rat urine: the effect of puberty on the female attraction.

  2009cited by this paper
• Male house mice do not adjust sperm allocation in response to odours from related or unrelated rivals

  2009cited by this paper
• 11 – Communication by Chemical Signals: Behavior, Social Recognition, Hormones and the Role of the Vomeronasal and Olfactory Systems

  2009cited by this paper
• Using Broad Cognitive Models to Apply Computational Intelligence to Animal Cognition

  2008cited by this paper
• Self-Grooming Response of Meadow Voles to the Odor of Opposite-Sex Conspecifics in Relation to the Dietary Protein Content of Both Sexes

  2008cited by this paper
• Sperm investment in male meadow voles is affected by the condition of the nearby male conspecifics.

  2008cited by this paper
• Evidence of mate choice copying in Norway rats, Rattus norvegicus

  2008cited by this paper
• The genetic basis of individual-recognition signals in the mouse.

  2007cited by this paper
• Risk of sperm competition does not influence copulatory behavior in the promiscuous meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus)

  2007cited by this paper
• Perspectives on over-marking: is it good to be on top?

  2007cited by this paper
• The Genetic Basis of Inbreeding Avoidance in House Mice

  2007cited by this paper
• Food deprivation and the role of estradiol in mediating sexual behaviors in meadow voles.

  2007cited by this paper
• Male meadow voles respond differently to risk and intensity of sperm competition

  2006cited by this paper
• Males are selective too: mating, but not courtship, with sequential females influences choosiness in male field crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus)

  2006cited by this paper
• Food-deprivation-induced changes in sexual behaviour of meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus

  2005cited by this paper
• Meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, can distinguish more over-marks from fewer over-marks

  2005cited by this paper
• The role of prolactin and testosterone in mediating seasonal differences in the self-grooming behavior of male meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus.

  2005cited by this paper
• Food restriction in pregnant rat-like hamsters (Cricetulus triton) affects endocrine, immune function and odor attractiveness of male offspring.

  2004cited by this paper
• Male mammals respond to a risk of sperm competition conveyed by odours of conspecific males

  2004cited by this paper
• The relationship between dominance rank and spatial ability among male meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus).

  2004cited by this paper
• Meadow voles and prairie voles differ in the percentage of conspecific marks they over-mark

  2004cited by this paper
• Scent-marking displays provide honest signals of health and infection

  2004cited by this paper
• Sperm competition and diversity in rodent copulatory behaviour

  2004cited by this paper
• Scent wars: the chemobiology of competitive signalling in mice

  2004cited by this paper
• CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION IN RODENTS: FROM PHEROMONES TO INDIVIDUAL RECOGNITION

  2003cited by this paper
• Potential disadvantages of using socially acquired information.

  2002cited by this paper
• Mating behavior is controlled by acute changes in metabolic fuels.

  2002cited by this paper
• Self-grooming and sibling recognition in meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, and prairie voles,M. ochrogaster

  2002cited by this paper
• Promiscuity: An evolutionary history of sperm competition

  2002cited by this paper
• The evolution of male mate choice in insects: a synthesis of ideas and evidence

  2001cited by this paper
• The response of meadow voles to an over-mark in which the two donors differ in gonadal hormone status

  2001cited by this paper
• REPRODUCTION AT ALL COSTS: THE ADAPTIVE STRESS RESPONSE OF MALE ARCTIC GROUND SQUIRRELS

  2001cited by this paper
• Individual recognition in mice mediated by major urinary proteins

  2001cited by this paper
• Meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) and prairie voles (M. ochrogaster) differ in their responses to over-marks from opposite- and same-sex conspecifics

  2000influential reference
• Attractiveness of Opposite-Sex Odor and Responses to It Vary with Age and Sex in Meadow Voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus)

  1999cited by this paper
• Multiple paternity in meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus): investigating the role of the female

  1999cited by this paper
• Response of prairie voles, Microtus ochrogaster (Rodentia, Arvicolidae), to scent over-marks of two same-sex conspecifics : A test of the scent-masking hypothesis

  1999cited by this paper
• The Evolution of Mating Preferences and Major Histocompatibility Complex Genes

  1999cited by this paper

• Detection of Disease by Analysis of Volatile Organic Compounds: I. Detector Dogs

  2026cites this paper
• Role of Odour Perception in Health and Disease

  2026cites this paper
• Sex-related differences in phenotype and nigro-striatal degeneration of c-rel-/- mouse model of Parkinson’s disease

  2025cites this paper
• Acute and Repeated Low Dose Lipopolysaccharide Differentially Influences Opposite-Sex Odour Preference in Male and Female Mice.

  2025cites this paper
• Risking infanticide or losing precious time? Delay of reproduction in a short-lived mammal

  2025cites this paper
• Evaluating sex differences in behaviour and glucocorticoids of rodents

  2025cites this paper
• Behavioral response of Bandicota bengalensis rats toward conspecific urinary signals for their role in mitigating poison bait and trap shyness

  2025cites this paper
• Female-mediated selective sperm activation may remodel major histocompatibility complex-based mate choice decisions in humans

  2025cites this paper
• Odor-Based Molecular Communications: State-of-the-Art, Vision, Challenges, and Frontier Directions

  2025cites this paper
• Factors affecting the urine-marking activity in water voles Arvicola amphibius (Rodentia, Cricetidae)

  2024cites this paper
• Immunization of male BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice similar modulates chemical signals detected in both chromatographic and behavioral tests

  2024cites this paper
• Immunization of Male BALB/c and C57BL/6 Mice Alters the Composition of Their Urine and the Response of Females to Its Odor

  2024cites this paper
• Neurobiology of Pathogen Avoidance and Mate Choice: Current and Future Directions

  2024cites this paper
• Anatomical and Histological Studies of anogenital scent glands of jerboa Jaculus orientis

  2023cites this paper
• Morphological and Histological Studies of Anogenital Scent Glands of Egyptian Jerboa Jaculus Orientalis

  2023cites this paper
• The Neurobiology of Love and Pair Bonding from Human and Animal Perspectives

  2023cites this paper
• Odor-Based Molecular Communications: State-of-the-Art, Vision, Challenges, and Frontier Directions

  2023cites this paper
• Interaction time with conspecifics induces food preference or aversion in the wild Algerian mouse.

  2023cites this paper
• Effects of a GnRH agonist on sex behavior in females of the southern giant pouched rat.

  2022cites this paper
• Flexibility and rigidity in hunting behaviour in rodents: is there room for cognition?

  2022cites this paper
• Sexual differences in responses of meadow voles to environmental cues in the presence of mink odor

  2022cites this paper
• Parasite-Mediated Mate Preferences in a Cooperatively Breeding Rodent

  2022cites this paper
• Effect of diet quality on food consumption and body mass in Microtus pennsylvanicus

  2022cites this paper
• Social impact of mara pair disruption on the formation of new bonds and reproduction in a multiple mate choice context

  2022cites this paper
• Hearing, touching, and multisensory integration during mate choice

  2022cites this paper
• Impact of food availability and predator cues on meadow vole response to social vs. non-social odorants

  2022cites this paper
• Experience of social density during early life is associated with attraction to conspecific odour in the common vole ( Microtus arvalis )

  2021cites this paper
• Sex differences in social odor discrimination by southern giant pouched rats ( Cricetomys ansorgei )

  2021cites this paper
• Courtship Behavior of the Meadow Jumping Mouse (Zapus hudsonius)

  2021cites this paper
• Quick detection of a rare species: Forensic swabs of survey tubes for hazel dormouse Muscardinus avellanarius urine

  2021cites this paper
• Intersexual Selection: How Females Choose

  2021cites this paper
• Can cryptic female choice prevent invasive hybridization in external fertilizing fish?

  2021cites this paper
• Mate Choice, Sex Roles and Sexual Cognition in Vertebrates: Mate Choice Turns Cognition or Cognition Turns Mate Choice?

  2021cites this paper
• Sex differences in olfactory social recognition memory in meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus

  2020cites this paper
• Medial Amygdala Arginine Vasopressin Neurons Regulate Innate Aversion to Cat Odors in Male Mice

  2020cites this paper
• Social recognition in rats and mice requires integration of olfactory, somatosensory and auditory cues

  2020cites this paper
• Intersexuelle Selektion: wie Weibchen wählen

  2020cites this paper
• Long‐term repeatability and stability of three personality traits in meadow voles

  2020cites this paper
• Scent marks of rodents can provide information to conspecifics

  2019influential citation
• Olfactory Perception

  2019cites this paper
• Rodentia Communication

  2019cites this paper
• Factors that affect non-independent mate choice

  2019cites this paper
• Impact of external odor on self‐grooming of lesser flat‐headed bats, Tylonycteris pachypus

  2019cites this paper
• Sperm is a sexual ornament in rose bitterling

  2018cites this paper
• The best smellers make the best choosers: mate choice is affected by female chemosensory receptor gene diversity in a mammal

  2018cites this paper