Familiarity Breeds Contempt: Kangaroos Persistently Avoid Areas with Experimentally Deployed Dingo Scents
BackgroundWhether or not animals habituate to repeated exposure to predator scents may depend upon whether there are predators associated with the cues. Understanding the contexts of habituation is theoretically important and has profound implication for the application of predator-based herbivore d...
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ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt7x5115gz 2023-09-05T13:18:44+02:00 Familiarity Breeds Contempt: Kangaroos Persistently Avoid Areas with Experimentally Deployed Dingo Scents Parsons, Michael H Blumstein, Daniel T Adler, Frederick R e10403 2010-01-01 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7x5115gz unknown eScholarship, University of California qt7x5115gz https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7x5115gz public PLOS ONE, vol 5, iss 5 Animals Avoidance Learning Cues Dogs Fear Macropodidae Odorants Predatory Behavior Recognition Psychology Time Factors General Science & Technology article 2010 ftcdlib 2023-08-21T18:04:36Z BackgroundWhether or not animals habituate to repeated exposure to predator scents may depend upon whether there are predators associated with the cues. Understanding the contexts of habituation is theoretically important and has profound implication for the application of predator-based herbivore deterrents. We repeatedly exposed a mixed mob of macropod marsupials to olfactory scents (urine, feces) from a sympatric predator (Canis lupus dingo), along with a control (water). If these predator cues were alarming, we expected that over time, some red kangaroos (Macropus rufous), western grey kangaroos (Macropus fuliginosus) and agile wallabies (Macropus agilis) would elect to not participate in cafeteria trials because the scents provided information about the riskiness of the area.Methodology/principal findingsWe evaluated the effects of urine and feces independently and expected that urine would elicit a stronger reaction because it contains a broader class of infochemicals (pheromones, kairomones). Finally, we scored non-invasive indicators (flight and alarm stomps) to determine whether fear or altered palatability was responsible for the response. Repeated exposure reduced macropodid foraging on food associated with 40 ml of dingo urine, X = 986.75+/-3.97 g food remained as compared to the tap water control, X = 209.0+/-107.0 g (P<0.001). Macropodids fled more when encountering a urine treatment, X = 4.50+/-2.08 flights, as compared to the control, X = 0 flights (P<0.001). There was no difference in effect between urine or feces treatments (P>0.5). Macropodids did not habituate to repeated exposure to predator scents, rather they avoided the entire experimental area after 10 days of trials (R(2) = 83.8; P<0.001).Conclusions/significanceResponses to urine and feces were indistinguishable; both elicited fear-based responses and deterred foraging. Despite repeated exposure to predator-related cues in the absence of a predator, macropodids persistently avoided an area of highly palatable food. Area ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus University of California: eScholarship |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Animals Avoidance Learning Cues Dogs Fear Macropodidae Odorants Predatory Behavior Recognition Psychology Time Factors General Science & Technology |
spellingShingle |
Animals Avoidance Learning Cues Dogs Fear Macropodidae Odorants Predatory Behavior Recognition Psychology Time Factors General Science & Technology Parsons, Michael H Blumstein, Daniel T Familiarity Breeds Contempt: Kangaroos Persistently Avoid Areas with Experimentally Deployed Dingo Scents |
topic_facet |
Animals Avoidance Learning Cues Dogs Fear Macropodidae Odorants Predatory Behavior Recognition Psychology Time Factors General Science & Technology |
description |
BackgroundWhether or not animals habituate to repeated exposure to predator scents may depend upon whether there are predators associated with the cues. Understanding the contexts of habituation is theoretically important and has profound implication for the application of predator-based herbivore deterrents. We repeatedly exposed a mixed mob of macropod marsupials to olfactory scents (urine, feces) from a sympatric predator (Canis lupus dingo), along with a control (water). If these predator cues were alarming, we expected that over time, some red kangaroos (Macropus rufous), western grey kangaroos (Macropus fuliginosus) and agile wallabies (Macropus agilis) would elect to not participate in cafeteria trials because the scents provided information about the riskiness of the area.Methodology/principal findingsWe evaluated the effects of urine and feces independently and expected that urine would elicit a stronger reaction because it contains a broader class of infochemicals (pheromones, kairomones). Finally, we scored non-invasive indicators (flight and alarm stomps) to determine whether fear or altered palatability was responsible for the response. Repeated exposure reduced macropodid foraging on food associated with 40 ml of dingo urine, X = 986.75+/-3.97 g food remained as compared to the tap water control, X = 209.0+/-107.0 g (P<0.001). Macropodids fled more when encountering a urine treatment, X = 4.50+/-2.08 flights, as compared to the control, X = 0 flights (P<0.001). There was no difference in effect between urine or feces treatments (P>0.5). Macropodids did not habituate to repeated exposure to predator scents, rather they avoided the entire experimental area after 10 days of trials (R(2) = 83.8; P<0.001).Conclusions/significanceResponses to urine and feces were indistinguishable; both elicited fear-based responses and deterred foraging. Despite repeated exposure to predator-related cues in the absence of a predator, macropodids persistently avoided an area of highly palatable food. Area ... |
author2 |
Adler, Frederick R |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Parsons, Michael H Blumstein, Daniel T |
author_facet |
Parsons, Michael H Blumstein, Daniel T |
author_sort |
Parsons, Michael H |
title |
Familiarity Breeds Contempt: Kangaroos Persistently Avoid Areas with Experimentally Deployed Dingo Scents |
title_short |
Familiarity Breeds Contempt: Kangaroos Persistently Avoid Areas with Experimentally Deployed Dingo Scents |
title_full |
Familiarity Breeds Contempt: Kangaroos Persistently Avoid Areas with Experimentally Deployed Dingo Scents |
title_fullStr |
Familiarity Breeds Contempt: Kangaroos Persistently Avoid Areas with Experimentally Deployed Dingo Scents |
title_full_unstemmed |
Familiarity Breeds Contempt: Kangaroos Persistently Avoid Areas with Experimentally Deployed Dingo Scents |
title_sort |
familiarity breeds contempt: kangaroos persistently avoid areas with experimentally deployed dingo scents |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7x5115gz |
op_coverage |
e10403 |
genre |
Canis lupus |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus |
op_source |
PLOS ONE, vol 5, iss 5 |
op_relation |
qt7x5115gz https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7x5115gz |
op_rights |
public |
_version_ |
1776199625318858752 |