Urine washing and urinary odour profiles in relation to dominance rank status in wild male capuchin monkeys (Cebus imitator)
Urine plays an essential role in mammalian olfactory communication, although its potential role in primates has long been overlooked owing to focus on their visual adaptations for communication. Here, we combined behavioural and chemical data to test the role of urine in signalling male dominance in...
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The Royal Society
2025-07-01
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| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.250608 |
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| author | Alice C. Poirier Nelle K. Kulick Suheidy Romero Morales Marlen Kücklich Brigitte M. Weiß Claudia Birkemeyer Anja Widdig Amanda D. Melin Katharine M. Jack |
| author_facet | Alice C. Poirier Nelle K. Kulick Suheidy Romero Morales Marlen Kücklich Brigitte M. Weiß Claudia Birkemeyer Anja Widdig Amanda D. Melin Katharine M. Jack |
| author_sort | Alice C. Poirier |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Urine plays an essential role in mammalian olfactory communication, although its potential role in primates has long been overlooked owing to focus on their visual adaptations for communication. Here, we combined behavioural and chemical data to test the role of urine in signalling male dominance in white-faced capuchins (Cebus imitator). We predicted that: (i) urine washing (i.e. depositing urine onto hands/feet and rubbing them onto substrates) is more frequently performed by alpha than subordinate males; and (ii) the chemical composition of alpha male urine is distinct from that of subordinates. We collected 457 h of focal behavioural follows and 153 urine samples from 24 males in five groups at Sector Santa Rosa, Área de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica. We extracted urinary volatile compounds into thermal desorption tubes and analysed them by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. We found that alphas urine wash more than subordinates, especially during the dry season when urinary odours can last longer and intergroup interactions are more frequent. Additionally, dominance rank predicted a modest fraction of overall sample chemical dissimilarity. Our results support the hypothesis that urine may be an olfactory signaling medium; future experimental research is needed to test the extent to which urinary odours may be cues versus evolved signals. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6dd34082da7d468b861c3baefa6c1943 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-6dd34082da7d468b861c3baefa6c19432025-08-20T02:45:24ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032025-07-0112710.1098/rsos.250608Urine washing and urinary odour profiles in relation to dominance rank status in wild male capuchin monkeys (Cebus imitator)Alice C. Poirier0Nelle K. Kulick1Suheidy Romero Morales2Marlen Kücklich3Brigitte M. Weiß4Claudia Birkemeyer5Anja Widdig6Amanda D. Melin7Katharine M. Jack8Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, CanadaDepartment of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, CanadaÁrea de Conservación Guanacaste, La Cruz, Guanacaste, Costa RicaBehavioural Ecology Research Group, Faculty of Life Sciences, Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, GermanyBehavioural Ecology Research Group, Faculty of Life Sciences, Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, GermanyMass Spectrometry Research Group, Institute of Analytical Chemistry, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, GermanyBehavioural Ecology Research Group, Faculty of Life Sciences, Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, GermanyDepartment of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, CanadaDepartment of Anthropology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USAUrine plays an essential role in mammalian olfactory communication, although its potential role in primates has long been overlooked owing to focus on their visual adaptations for communication. Here, we combined behavioural and chemical data to test the role of urine in signalling male dominance in white-faced capuchins (Cebus imitator). We predicted that: (i) urine washing (i.e. depositing urine onto hands/feet and rubbing them onto substrates) is more frequently performed by alpha than subordinate males; and (ii) the chemical composition of alpha male urine is distinct from that of subordinates. We collected 457 h of focal behavioural follows and 153 urine samples from 24 males in five groups at Sector Santa Rosa, Área de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica. We extracted urinary volatile compounds into thermal desorption tubes and analysed them by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. We found that alphas urine wash more than subordinates, especially during the dry season when urinary odours can last longer and intergroup interactions are more frequent. Additionally, dominance rank predicted a modest fraction of overall sample chemical dissimilarity. Our results support the hypothesis that urine may be an olfactory signaling medium; future experimental research is needed to test the extent to which urinary odours may be cues versus evolved signals.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.250608urine washingolfactory communicationvolatile organic compoundschemosignallingmale dominance rank statusalternative male morphologies |
| spellingShingle | Alice C. Poirier Nelle K. Kulick Suheidy Romero Morales Marlen Kücklich Brigitte M. Weiß Claudia Birkemeyer Anja Widdig Amanda D. Melin Katharine M. Jack Urine washing and urinary odour profiles in relation to dominance rank status in wild male capuchin monkeys (Cebus imitator) Royal Society Open Science urine washing olfactory communication volatile organic compounds chemosignalling male dominance rank status alternative male morphologies |
| title | Urine washing and urinary odour profiles in relation to dominance rank status in wild male capuchin monkeys (Cebus imitator) |
| title_full | Urine washing and urinary odour profiles in relation to dominance rank status in wild male capuchin monkeys (Cebus imitator) |
| title_fullStr | Urine washing and urinary odour profiles in relation to dominance rank status in wild male capuchin monkeys (Cebus imitator) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Urine washing and urinary odour profiles in relation to dominance rank status in wild male capuchin monkeys (Cebus imitator) |
| title_short | Urine washing and urinary odour profiles in relation to dominance rank status in wild male capuchin monkeys (Cebus imitator) |
| title_sort | urine washing and urinary odour profiles in relation to dominance rank status in wild male capuchin monkeys cebus imitator |
| topic | urine washing olfactory communication volatile organic compounds chemosignalling male dominance rank status alternative male morphologies |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.250608 |
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