Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Honey smells like teen elephant

Nature (2002)Cite this article

Young male elephants produce sweet secretions before starting to stink.

A male Asian elephant's smell switches from mellifluous to malodorous as he matures, say researchers. A honeyed aroma keeps young males out of trouble; a rank pong signals their readiness for sex and violence.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Rasmussen, L. E. L., Riddle, H. S & Krishnamurthy, V. Mellifluous matures to malodorous in musth. Nature 415, 975 - 976 (2002).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. John Whitfield
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Related links

Related links

Related external links

Musth in elephant society

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Whitfield, J. Honey smells like teen elephant. Nature (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/news020225-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/news020225-8

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing