Putative pheromones in the urine of male moose: evolution of honest advertisement?
Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1999 I tested hypotheses about how olfactory communication is related to mating behavior in Alaskan moose (Alces alces gigas). Males dig rutting pits where urine is deposited to which females strongly respond. Consequently, male urine may contain primer...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Thesis |
Language: | English |
Published: |
1999
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/11122/7409 |
id |
ftunivalaska:oai:scholarworks.alaska.edu:11122/7409 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivalaska:oai:scholarworks.alaska.edu:11122/7409 2023-05-15T13:13:14+02:00 Putative pheromones in the urine of male moose: evolution of honest advertisement? Whittle, Chris Linda 1999-12 http://hdl.handle.net/11122/7409 en_US eng http://hdl.handle.net/11122/7409 Thesis 1999 ftunivalaska 2023-02-23T21:36:50Z Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1999 I tested hypotheses about how olfactory communication is related to mating behavior in Alaskan moose (Alces alces gigas). Males dig rutting pits where urine is deposited to which females strongly respond. Consequently, male urine may contain primer pheromones that synchronize estrus of females. Urine samples were collected from captive moose on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Samples included those from the mating season and from the nonrutting period for two adult males, one yearling male, and one male and one female calf. After pH adjustment, samples were extracted with methylene chloride to yield 3 fractions (acidic, neutral, and basic), which were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Putative pheromones include unsaturated alcohols and homologs of tetrahydro-6-methyl pyranone, and 2-nonen-4-one. I hypothesize that these compounds are related to hypophagia and catabolism of body reserves by rutting males, and thereby provide an honest advertisement of body condition in moose. Thesis Alces alces Alaska University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA Fairbanks |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA |
op_collection_id |
ftunivalaska |
language |
English |
description |
Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 1999 I tested hypotheses about how olfactory communication is related to mating behavior in Alaskan moose (Alces alces gigas). Males dig rutting pits where urine is deposited to which females strongly respond. Consequently, male urine may contain primer pheromones that synchronize estrus of females. Urine samples were collected from captive moose on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Samples included those from the mating season and from the nonrutting period for two adult males, one yearling male, and one male and one female calf. After pH adjustment, samples were extracted with methylene chloride to yield 3 fractions (acidic, neutral, and basic), which were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Putative pheromones include unsaturated alcohols and homologs of tetrahydro-6-methyl pyranone, and 2-nonen-4-one. I hypothesize that these compounds are related to hypophagia and catabolism of body reserves by rutting males, and thereby provide an honest advertisement of body condition in moose. |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Whittle, Chris Linda |
spellingShingle |
Whittle, Chris Linda Putative pheromones in the urine of male moose: evolution of honest advertisement? |
author_facet |
Whittle, Chris Linda |
author_sort |
Whittle, Chris Linda |
title |
Putative pheromones in the urine of male moose: evolution of honest advertisement? |
title_short |
Putative pheromones in the urine of male moose: evolution of honest advertisement? |
title_full |
Putative pheromones in the urine of male moose: evolution of honest advertisement? |
title_fullStr |
Putative pheromones in the urine of male moose: evolution of honest advertisement? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Putative pheromones in the urine of male moose: evolution of honest advertisement? |
title_sort |
putative pheromones in the urine of male moose: evolution of honest advertisement? |
publishDate |
1999 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/7409 |
geographic |
Fairbanks |
geographic_facet |
Fairbanks |
genre |
Alces alces Alaska |
genre_facet |
Alces alces Alaska |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/7409 |
_version_ |
1766256881899143168 |