Many mammals use scent marks to advertise territory ownership, but only recently have we started to understand the complexity of these scent signals and the types of information that they convey. Whilst attention has generally focused on volatile odorants as the main information molecules in scents, studies of the house mouse have now defined a role for a family of proteins termed major urinary...

Bloodhounds are used to trail fleeing felons and missing persons. In order to start a trail, the dog must be presented with a person's scent. There are many hypotheses on what a bloodhound smells while trailing. The present study attempts to identify whether human scent is genetic, and if it is influenced by one's environment. Bloodhounds trained in human scent discrimination were used to diffe...

OBJECTIVE Early detection and early treatment are of vital importance to the successful treatment of various cancers. The development of a novel screening method that is as economical and non-invasive as the faecal occult blood test (FOBT) for early detection of colorectal cancer (CRC) is needed. A study was undertaken using canine scent detection to determine whether odour material can become ...

UNLABELLED • BACKGROUND AND AIMS Animal-pollinated angiosperms have evolved a variety of signalling mechanisms to attract pollinators. Floral scent is a key component of pollinator attraction, and its chemistry modulates both pollinator behaviour and the formation of plant-pollinator networks. The neotropical orchid genus Gongora exhibits specialized pollinator associations with male orchid b...

A previous study by the authors showed that the body scent of men who have greater body bilateral symmetry is rated as more attractive by normally ovulating (non-pillusing) women during the period of highest fertility based on day within the menstrual cycle. Women in low-fertility phases of the cycle and women using hormone-based contraceptives do not show this pattern. The current study replic...

Many snakes are able to use their chemosensory system to detect scent of conspecifics, which is important in many social contexts. Age discrimination based on chemical cues may be especially important to ensure access to sexually mature potential partners. In this study, we used 24 individual Boa constrictor snakes (12 adults mature and 12 non-mature individuals) that had been captured in diffe...

Many recent studies attempting to assess the biochemical connections between anthocyanin biosynthesis and floral scent production have yielded limited insights due in part to a focus on either field phenotypes of unknown genetic background or artificial genetic manipulation. In this study, we seek to more precisely explore the mechanistic connections between floral scent and color in Ipomoea pu...

In conjoining the disciplines of "ethology" and "chemistry" the field of "Ethochemistry" has been instituted. Ethochemistry is an effective tool in conservation efforts of endangered species and the understanding of behavioral patterns across all species. Chemical constituents of scent-markings have an important, yet poorly understood function in territoriality, reproduction, dominance, and imp...

Floral scent is a key component of floral display, and probably one of the first floral attractants linking insect pollinators to the radiation of Angiosperms. In this article, we investigate floral scent in two extra-tropical genera of Annonaceae. We discuss floral scent in the context of differing pollination strategies in these genera, and compare their scent to that of a close tropical rela...

The enormous species richness of flowering plants is at least partly due to floral diversification driven by interactions between plants and their animal pollinators [1, 2]. Specific pollinator attraction relies on visual and olfactory floral cues [3-5]; floral scent can not only attract pollinators but also attract or repel herbivorous insects [6-8]. However, despite its central role for plant...