Abstract
Whole-body volatiles from males of the cryptic multimammate mouse speciesMastomys natalensis andM. coucha were analyzed by dynamic solvent effect sampling and capillary gas chromatography. One compound, 3-nonene-2-one, was always present, sometimes as the major component, in volatiles fromM. coucha and absent, or present only at low levels, in volatiles fromM. natalensis. The mean ±SD of the 3-nonen-2-one peak area forM. coucha was 8599 ±9630 and forM. natalensis 148 ±486. Chromatographic analysis was more reliable in identifying a male's species than were a female's in a two-choice olfactorium.
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Apps, P.J., Gordon, D.H., Viljoen, H.W. et al. Chromatographic analysis of species specific odor profiles inMastomys natalensis andM. coucha (Rodentia: Muridae). J Chem Ecol 16, 2667–2676 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988077
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988077