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Volatile constituents of wolf (Canis lupus) urine as related to gender and season

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  • Biochemistry, Biophysics, Metabolism
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Summary

The volatile constituents of wolf urine were examined via capillary gas chromatography and compared among male, female, and castrate male. Several compounds including methyl isopentyl sulfide, 3,5-dimethyl-2-octanone, and acetophenone were clearly associated with the gender of the animal and many displayed a seasonal dependence. In addition, 2 long-chain aldehydes isolated from urine samples by an HPLC procedure also correlated with the endocrine status of the animal.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, 47405, Bloomington, Indiana, USA

    J. Raymer, D. Wiesler, M. Novotny, C. Asa, U. S. Seal & L. D. Mech

  2. Veterans Administration Medical Center, 55417, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    J. Raymer, D. Wiesler, M. Novotny, C. Asa, U. S. Seal & L. D. Mech

  3. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, US Fish and Wildlife Service, 20708, Laurel, Maryland, USA

    J. Raymer, D. Wiesler, M. Novotny, C. Asa, U. S. Seal & L. D. Mech

  4. Department of Chemistry, 47405, Bloomington, Ind., USA

    M. Novotny

Authors
  1. J. Raymer
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  2. D. Wiesler
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  3. M. Novotny
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  4. C. Asa
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  5. U. S. Seal
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  6. L. D. Mech
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Additional information

This work was partially funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

We thank Dr Sharon L. Smith of IBM Instruments, Danbury, Connecticut, for recording spectra of some wolf urinary constitutents on an IBM Fourier-transform IR spectrometer.

No such compounds were observed in any other animal species during our previous work with several mammals.

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Raymer, J., Wiesler, D., Novotny, M. et al. Volatile constituents of wolf (Canis lupus) urine as related to gender and season. Experientia 40, 707–709 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01949734

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01949734

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