Abstract
Individual recognition and evaluation of individual physiological state are key issues in chemical communication among populations of animals. Ultimately, reproductive success and survival depend on the solution of these problems. The capacity to discriminate between conspecifics as well as the ability to evaluate physiological status on the basis of individual odor has been demonstrated in a variety of mammals (for examples, see Halpin, 1980; Bowers and Alexander, 1967; Carr, Krames and Costanzo, 1970; Johnston, 1983). The occurrence of odor(s) specific to the individual suggests reliability of individual odortypes. Indeed, some mammals are known to maintain consistency in odortypes for comparatively long periods, e.g., for at least two weeks (Kalkowski, 1967). One principle of such a coding system should be the absence of duplication, at least in the population of animals that share chemosensory information.
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© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Voznessenskaya, V.V., Parfyonova, V.M., Zinkevich, E.P., Severtzov, A.N. (1992). Individual Odortypes. In: Doty, R.L., Müller-Schwarze, D. (eds) Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 6. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9655-1_77
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9655-1_77
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