000K utf8 1100 2022$c2022-12-26 1500 eng 2050 urn:nbn:de:hbz:465-20231017-113718-2 2051 10.1038/s41598-022-26351-3 3000 Caspar, Kai R. 3010 Begall, Sabine 3010 Issel, Daniel 3010 Katschak, Kristin H. 3010 Stopka, Pavel 3010 Žáček, Petr 3010 Zöllner, Till 3010 Zupanc, Sina 4000 Perioral secretions enable complex social signaling in African mole-rats (genus Fukomys) [Caspar, Kai R.] 4209 Subterranean common mole-rats of the genus Fukomys (family Bathyergidae) live in large, cooperatively-breeding families. Odor cues have been hypothesized to play an important role in mediating social behaviors in the underground ecotope, but only little is known about the role of olfactory signaling in burrowing mammals. Here we characterize the so far neglected perioral glands of Fukomys and other African mole-rats as an important source of olfactory social information. Histology demonstrates these structures to be derived sebaceous glands that are developed regardless of sex and reproductive status. However, gland activity is higher in Fukomys males, leading to sexually dimorphic patterns of stain and clotting of the facial pelage. Behavioral assays revealed that conspecifics prefer male but not female perioral swabs over scent samples from the back fur and that male sebum causes similar attraction as anogenital scent, a known source of social information in Fukomys. Finally, we assessed volatile compounds in the perioral sebum of the giant mole-rat (Fukomys mechowii) via GCxGC-MS-based metabolomic profiling. Volatiles display pronounced sex-specific signatures but also allow to differentiate between intrasexual reproductive status groups. These different lines of evidence suggest that mole-rat perioral glands provide complex odor signals which play a crucial role in social communication. 4950 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-26351-3$xR$3Volltext$534 4950 https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hbz:465-20231017-113718-2$xR$3Volltext$534 4961 https://duepublico2.uni-due.de/receive/duepublico_mods_00078553 5051 570