{"title":"Why do giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca; Carnivora: Ursidae) rub and roll in heterospecific scents?","authors":"Paul J. Weldon","doi":"10.1007/s00049-021-00346-4","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Free-ranging giant pandas (<i>Ailuropoda melanoleuca</i>) in China recently were reported to rub and roll in horse manure, a behavior that was observed frequently at low ambient temperatures. Two sesquiterpenes, β-caryophyllene (BCP) and caryophyllene oxide (BCPO), that are abundant in fresh horse manure elicited rolling in captive giant pandas. Mice and rats treated with BCP/BCPO exhibited enhanced cold tolerance in behavioral assays, and BCP/BCPO inhibited cold-activated ion channels of mammals expressed in human kidney cells; these laboratory results were cited in support of the contention that giant pandas tolerate low ambient temperatures by applying horse manure to their integument. The demonstrated biocidal activities of BCP and BCPO against insects and ticks, and the reported elicitation of anointing in giant pandas with materials other than horse manure, including substances or constituents thereof known to act as arthropod biocides, are consistent with an anti-consumer function of anointing by giant pandas. Anointing with the scents of heterospecifics as a defense against nuisance arthropods constitutes a viable hypothesis for the rubbing and rolling behaviors of giant pandas and other ursids.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":515,"journal":{"name":"Chemoecology","volume":"31 4","pages":"225 - 226"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6000,"publicationDate":"2021-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1007/s00049-021-00346-4","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Chemoecology","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00049-021-00346-4","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Free-ranging giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) in China recently were reported to rub and roll in horse manure, a behavior that was observed frequently at low ambient temperatures. Two sesquiterpenes, β-caryophyllene (BCP) and caryophyllene oxide (BCPO), that are abundant in fresh horse manure elicited rolling in captive giant pandas. Mice and rats treated with BCP/BCPO exhibited enhanced cold tolerance in behavioral assays, and BCP/BCPO inhibited cold-activated ion channels of mammals expressed in human kidney cells; these laboratory results were cited in support of the contention that giant pandas tolerate low ambient temperatures by applying horse manure to their integument. The demonstrated biocidal activities of BCP and BCPO against insects and ticks, and the reported elicitation of anointing in giant pandas with materials other than horse manure, including substances or constituents thereof known to act as arthropod biocides, are consistent with an anti-consumer function of anointing by giant pandas. Anointing with the scents of heterospecifics as a defense against nuisance arthropods constitutes a viable hypothesis for the rubbing and rolling behaviors of giant pandas and other ursids.
期刊介绍：
It is the aim of Chemoecology to promote and stimulate basic science in the field of chemical ecology by publishing research papers that integrate evolution and/or ecology and chemistry in an attempt to increase our understanding of the biological significance of natural products. Its scopes cover the evolutionary biology, mechanisms and chemistry of biotic interactions and the evolution and synthesis of the underlying natural products. Manuscripts on the evolution and ecology of trophic relationships, intra- and interspecific communication, competition, and other kinds of chemical communication in all types of organismic interactions will be considered suitable for publication. Ecological studies of trophic interactions will be considered also if they are based on the information of the transmission of natural products (e.g. fatty acids) through the food-chain. Chemoecology further publishes papers that relate to the evolution and ecology of interactions mediated by non-volatile compounds (e.g. adhesive secretions). Mechanistic approaches may include the identification, biosynthesis and metabolism of substances that carry information and the elucidation of receptor- and transduction systems using physiological, biochemical and molecular techniques. Papers describing the structure and functional morphology of organs involved in chemical communication will also be considered.
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