Female yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) do not display the Dear Enemy Phenomenon in response to female anal gland secretions

Abstract

The dear enemy phenomenon (DEP) is a form of neighbour - stranger discrimination in which resident territorial individuals respond less agonistically to intrusions by known neighbouring conspecifics than they do to stranger conspecifics. I tested philopatric female yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris) for the presence of DEP. As males treat females impartially I focused on the responses of the dominant adult female of a territory. I hypothesised that dominant females discriminate between the Anal Gland Secretion (AGS) from female neighbors and strangers, and predicted that they would respond more agonistically (as reflected by the duration of both sniffing and physical behavior) towards AGS from strangers than neighbors. Additionally, I also hypothesized that female yellow-bellied marmots will respond differently to kin and non-kin female neighbors, and predicted a lower agonistic response to related individuals. Direct observations of resident marmot responses to the olfactory trials showed that marmots spent significantly longer durations sniffing the AGS of both neighbours and strangers than a neutral scent free control. However, there was no significant difference in the sniffing response duration towards AGS from a neighbour or a stranger. In addition, kinship was not found to influence the responses of residents to neighbours or strangers. I conclude that although female yellow-bellied marmots detect AGS they do not seemingly discriminate between neighbours and strangers via AGS scent marks, and that they may not exhibit territorial behaviour but this needs further study