Blue petrels recognize the odor of their egg.

J Exp Biol

Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS, UMR 5175, 1919 rte de Mende, 34293 Montpellier, France.

Published: September 2017

Most studies on avian olfactory communication have focused on mate choice, and the importance of olfaction in subsequent nesting stages has been poorly explored. In particular, the role of olfactory cues in egg recognition has received little attention, despite eggs potentially being spread with parental odorous secretions known to elicit individual discrimination. Here, we used behavioral choice tests to determine whether female blue petrels () can discriminate the odor of their own egg from the odor of a conspecific egg. Females preferentially approached the odor of their own egg, suggesting that blue petrels can recognize their own egg using odor cues. This finding raises the question of the adaptive value of this mechanism, and may inspire further research on odor-based egg discrimination in species suffering brood parasitism.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jeb.163899DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

blue petrels
12
odor egg
12
petrels recognize
8
egg odor
8
egg
7
odor
5
recognize odor
4
egg studies
4
studies avian
4
avian olfactory
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!