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The smell of a meat-eater

Nature (2011)Cite this article

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Chemical in urine alerts prey species to a nearby predator.

If you are a small animal, it is useful to know whether there is anything around that might want to eat you. Stephen Liberles from Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and his colleagues have analysed urine samples from a variety of zoo inhabitants, including lions and bears, and discovered how rodents can use smell to do just that.

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References

  1. Ferrero, D. M. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA advance online publication doi:10.1073/pnas.1103317108 (2011).

  2. Borowsky, B. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98, 8966-8971 (2001).

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Authors
  1. Nicola Nosengo
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Stephen Liberles lab

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Nosengo, N. The smell of a meat-eater. Nature (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/news.2011.375

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/news.2011.375

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