Chemical characterisation of potential pheromones from the shoulder gland of the Northern yellow-shouldered-bat, <i>Sturnira parvidens</i> (Phyllostomidae: Stenodermatinae)
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Bats of the genus Sturnira (Family Phyllostomidae) are characterised by shoulder glands that are more developed in reproductively mature adult males. The glands produce a waxy secretion that accumulates on the fur around the gland, dyeing the fur a dark colour and giving off a pungent odour. These shoulder glands are thought to play a role in their reproductive behaviour. Using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, we analysed solvent extracts of fur surrounding the shoulder gland in the northern-shouldered bat, Sturnira parvidens to (i) characterise the chemical composition of shoulder gland secretions for the first time, and (ii) look for differences in chemical composition among and between adult males, sub-adult/juvenile males and adult females. Fur solvent extracts were analysed as liquids and also further extracted using headspace solid-phase microextraction to identify volatile components in the odour itself. Odour fingerprint analysis using non-metric multidimensional scaling plots and multivariate analysis revealed clear and significant differences ( P < 0.001) between adult males vs both juvenile males and adult females. The chemical components of the shoulder gland secretion included terpenes and phenolics, together with alcohols and esters, most likely derived from the frugivorous diet of the bat. Many of the compounds identified were found exclusively or in elevated quantities among adult (reproductive) males compared with adult females and non-reproductive (juvenile) males. This strongly suggests a specific role in male–female attraction although a function in male–male competition and/or species recognition is also possible.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".