Abstract
Basic knowledge of chemical signalling in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) involves identification of the female-emitted-male-received sex pheromone (Z)-7-dodecenyl acetate and a series of malodorous compounds together with frontalin from the temporal gland secretion of adult males. We describe the ultrastructure and lipid chemistry of the tail hair of the Asian elephant which may have special significance in relation to the scent flagging behaviour of receptive females of the species. Scanning electron micrographs of both the surface and cross sections of the elephant hairs show a marked deviation from those observed in the hair of other mammalian species. Chemical analysis of tail and head hair reveals the presence of C8–C24 fatty acids that included straight-chain saturated, unsaturated and some branched-chain compounds. The significance of these fatty acids in relation to flagging behaviour is discussed.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to University Grants Commission, Government of India for financial support. We thank the Officer-in-Charge, Bethune College, Kolkata 700006 for giving us infrastructural facility. We acknowledge Dr. Jeff Church, Principal Research Scientist CSIRO, Material Science & Engineering, Australia for his kind donation of the authentic compound C21:0ai which helped us a lot for the detection of this compound in elephant hairs. Finally, we are indebted to the PCCF, Department of Forest, Government of West Bengal, India for his kind co-operation.
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Raha, P., Poddar-Sarkar, M., Nag, U.K., Bhar, R., Brahmachary, R.L. (2013). Ultrastructure and Chemical Composition of Elephant Hair in the Context of Chemical Signals in the Asian Elephant Elephas maximus . In: East, M., Dehnhard, M. (eds) Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 12. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5927-9_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5927-9_18
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