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Evolutionary, molecular and comparative zoology
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 53(2)

Predator scent induces differing responses in two sympatric macropodids

Daniel Ramp A B , Ben G. Russell A and David B. Croft A
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A School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, NSW 2052, Australia.

B Corresponding author. Email: d.ramp@unsw.edu.au

Australian Journal of Zoology 53(2) 73-78 https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO04053
Submitted: 12 July 2004  Accepted: 3 February 2005   Published: 6 April 2005

Abstract

When prey species encounter the scent of a predator they must make a decision on how to respond. This may be either to ignore, flee, hide or alarm call. While many species are able to derive detailed information from the chemical cues associated with predator scent, for some the decision to respond is often made without being able to identify the actual location and intentions of the predator. Depending on the sociality and ecology of the species, it may pay to flee or to engage in predator inspection where knowledge is impure. We tested for this in two sympatric marsupial macropodids, the parma wallaby (Macropus parma) and the red-necked pademelon (Thylogale thetis), as little is known of how these species detect and respond to olfactory cues of predation risk. We observed that, when presented with a synthetic predator scent mimicking dog urine, the social forager, T. thetis, tended to spend more time close to the predator odour, while the solitary forager, M. parma, exhibited an aversive response. The results suggest that social and ecological constraints on the sensory modalities used in predator detection may influence how macropodids respond to olfactory predator cues.


Acknowledgments

This research was conducted with Animal Ethics approval (03/57). Thanks to Tom Montague and Roe Koh & Associates Ltd for providing the Plant Plus. This research was conducted as part of the ‘Saving wildlife: saving people on our roads’ project sponsored by the Australian Research Council, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation and the NSW Wildlife Rescue and Information Service. This manuscript was greatly improved by helpful comments from Peter Banks, Dror Ben-Ami, Dan Blumstein, Amos Bouskila and an anonymous reviewer. Thanks also to Jan Nedved and Jeff Vaughan for assistance with the trials.


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