Data

Volatile scent chemicals in urine of the red fox - Data

University of Tasmania, Australia
Stuart McLean ; Noel Davies ; David Nichols
Viewed: [[ro.stat.viewed]] Cited: [[ro.stat.cited]] Accessed: [[ro.stat.accessed]]
ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2FANDS&rft_id=https://data.utas.edu.au/metadata/0286a71c-8e3c-445e-8f50-948380ae595a&rft.title=Volatile scent chemicals in urine of the red fox - Data&rft.identifier=https://data.utas.edu.au/metadata/0286a71c-8e3c-445e-8f50-948380ae595a&rft.publisher=University of Tasmania, Australia&rft.description=The red fox is a highly adaptable mammal that has established itself world-wide in many different environments. Contributing to its success is a social structure based on chemical signalling between individuals. Urine scent marking behaviour has long been known in foxes, but there has not been a recent study of the chemical composition of fox urine. We have used solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to analyze the urinary volatiles in 15 free-ranging wild foxes (2 female) living in farmlands and bush in Victoria, Australia. Foxes here are routinely culled as feral pests, and the urine was collected by bladder puncture soon after death. Compounds were identified from their mass spectra and Kovats retention indices. There were 53 possible endogenous scent compounds, 10 plant-derived compounds and 5 anthropogenic xenobiotics. Among the plant chemicals were several aromatic apocarotenoids previously found in greater abundance in the fox tail gland. They reflect the dietary consumption of carotenoids, essential for optimal health. One third of all the endogenous volatiles were sulfur compounds, a highly odiferous group which included thiols, methylsulfides and polysulfides. Five of the sulfur compounds (3-isopentenyl thiol, 1- and 2-phenylethyl methyl sulfide, octanethiol and benzyl methyl sulfide) have only been found in foxes, and four others (isopentyl methyl sulfide, 3-isopentenyl methyl sulfide, and 1- and 2-phenylethane thiol) only in some canid, mink and skunk species. The urinary scent chemistry may represent a highly evolved system of semiochemicals for communication between foxes. The data files attached to this record support the paper Volatile Scent Chemicals in the Urine of the Red Fox, 𝘝𝘢𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘴.&rft.creator=Stuart McLean &rft.creator=Noel Davies &rft.creator=David Nichols &rft.date=2021&rft.coverage=northlimit=-36.9586711315303; southlimit=-38.7969083034843; westlimit=143.739624023438; eastlimit=148.485717773438; projection=WGS84&rft_rights=Attribution - Share Alike(BY - SA) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/&rft_subject=Terrestrial ecology&rft_subject=Ecology&rft_subject=BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES&rft_subject=Biosecurity science and invasive species ecology&rft_subject=Ecological applications&rft_subject=ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES&rft_subject=Separation science&rft_subject=Analytical chemistry&rft_subject=CHEMICAL SCIENCES&rft_subject=Expanding knowledge in the environmental sciences&rft_subject=Expanding knowledge&rft_subject=EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE&rft_subject=fox&rft_subject=scents&rft_subject=semiochemicals&rft_subject=gas chromatography&rft_subject=urine&rft_subject=Australia&rft_subject=Vulpes vulpes&rft.type=dataset&rft.language=English Access the data
Cite Saved to MyRDA Save to MyRDA

Licence & Rights:

Open Licence view details
CC-BY-SA

Attribution - Share Alike(BY - SA)
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Access:

Open

Full description

The red fox is a highly adaptable mammal that has established itself world-wide in many different environments. Contributing to its success is a social structure based on chemical signalling between individuals. Urine scent marking behaviour has long been known in foxes, but there has not been a recent study of the chemical composition of fox urine. We have used solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to analyze the urinary volatiles in 15 free-ranging wild foxes (2 female) living in farmlands and bush in Victoria, Australia. Foxes here are routinely culled as feral pests, and the urine was collected by bladder puncture soon after death. Compounds were identified from their mass spectra and Kovats retention indices. There were 53 possible endogenous scent compounds, 10 plant-derived compounds and 5 anthropogenic xenobiotics. Among the plant chemicals were several aromatic apocarotenoids previously found in greater abundance in the fox tail gland. They reflect the dietary consumption of carotenoids, essential for optimal health. One third of all the endogenous volatiles were sulfur compounds, a highly odiferous group which included thiols, methylsulfides and polysulfides. Five of the sulfur compounds (3-isopentenyl thiol, 1- and 2-phenylethyl methyl sulfide, octanethiol and benzyl methyl sulfide) have only been found in foxes, and four others (isopentyl methyl sulfide, 3-isopentenyl methyl sulfide, and 1- and 2-phenylethane thiol) only in some canid, mink and skunk species. The urinary scent chemistry may represent a highly evolved system of semiochemicals for communication between foxes. The data files attached to this record support the paper "Volatile Scent Chemicals in the Urine of the Red Fox, 𝘝𝘢𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘴".

Data time period: 2015 to 2020

This dataset is part of a larger collection

Click to explore relationships graph
Help

Related Data

Related People

148.48572,-36.95867 148.48572,-38.79691 143.73962,-38.79691 143.73962,-36.95867 148.48572,-36.95867

146.11267089844,-37.877789717507

Subjects
Analytical Chemistry | Australia | Biological Sciences | Biosecurity Science and Invasive Species Ecology | Chemical Sciences | Environmental Sciences | Expanding Knowledge | Ecological Applications | Ecology | Expanding Knowledge | Expanding Knowledge in the Environmental Sciences | Separation Science | Terrestrial Ecology | Vulpes vulpes | fox | gas chromatography | scents | semiochemicals | urine |

User Contributed Tags    

Login to tag this record with meaningful keywords to make it easier to discover

Identifiers
ACN 633 798 857