The Role of Bacteria in Communication
Researchers
have recently discovered that there are actually bacteria located in the scent
glands of hyenas that help them communicate and interact with other hyenas and
or animals. This has a lot to do with the behavior of hyenas. They essentially
mark their territory by leaving a foul-smelling “paste” on the ground. When
other hyenas approach this and smell this “paste”, they recognize certain
features and information on the hyena that put the paste there. A hyena can
distinguish the sex, age and other details specific of the hyena that dropped
the paste. Why, one may ask, do the hyenas drop this paste? They do this to
avoid aggression in their clan and to notify other’s of their presence.
Hyenas actually have scent glands above the
anus on both sides of their body. These scent glands happen to be perfect
habitats for bacteria. They found that the communities of bacteria that inhabit
theses scent glands vary among hyena social groups and clans. Researchers
believe that bacteria in the scent glands are actually contributing to the
specific scent and structure of the “paste”. If this is true, then it could
really shine light on the idea that bacteria play a role in communication.
I believe that this could be applied
to other animals as well. If bacteria help hyenas in communication, I don’t see
why it wouldn’t help other animals. Dogs, for example, smell other dogs and
also receive information through scent. I’m sure microbes have a lot to do with
that as well. In fact, most animals use their scent on a daily basis, and most
animals harbor perfect microbial habitats within their body. If researchers can
really prove that bacteria do play such a grand role in communication for
hyenas, then I believe they can start looking into the bacterial make-up of
other animals. Through this, they can discover a lot more about bacteria and
open up many new concepts and ideas that may not have been completely present
before.
http://scientistatwork.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/07/do-microbes-help-hyenas-communicate/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1
This article is very interesting! Its the first article I've read on the subject so I'm glad someone found it! I really like it when we all can find very different articles, it makes it more exciting! I never even know that hyenas' have scent glands in the first place, so all of this is new to me! Cool subject!
ReplyDeleteWow, this article is really interesting, the thought of hyena's being able to pick up on age, sex and other characteristics by a scent is truly amazing. You introduced a really interesting idea for other animals to be impacted by microbial scent. I truly believe that animals can answer some of the big questions we have in science!!!
ReplyDeleteI think this article is cool. Who knew hyenas could tell that much about each other just by the paste they leave on the ground. Some could almost compare it to the "Facebook profile" of hyenas. It's also fascinating to know that microbes could help give off these certain scents. Is there anything microbes can't do in this world? Fascinating article!
ReplyDeleteThis article is really interesting to me because I’ve always wondering why some animals greet each other in such a lovely way, versus just greeting with vocal noises. I think it’s really fascinating that these hyenas can determine so much about one another, simply from picking up on this microbial scent. I mean, I think it would be interesting to be able to know someone’s age just by smelling them. I’m not sure how socially acceptable that would be, but I think it would definitely make things interesting. It really makes me wonder what other things are going on in the animal world that humans are unaware of. Not only with the animals, but what are the microbes doing in the animal kingdom that we do not know about? Are microbes doing bigger things in the environment that are affecting us in more ways than just the little stuff? I really want to know more about how microbes affect the animal kingdom.
ReplyDeleteHi, I am a PhD student in Dr. Northup's lab. This is an interesting article you found.
ReplyDelete