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Primates were traditionally thought to have a reduced sense of smell. Although there is now evidence that olfaction plays a greater role in primate social life than previously assumed, research on the sense of smell in non-human apes is scarce. Chimpanzees sniff the ground and vegetation on boundary patrols, but the function of this behaviour is unclear. Since chimpanzees are highly territorial and can kill individuals that do not belong to their own community, sniffing might function to gather information about conspecifics, particularly concerning group membership and kinship. To investigate whether chimpanzees recognize group members and kin via olfactory cues, we conducted behavioural bioassays on two groups of chimpanzees at Leipzig Zoo. In a pilot study, we found that chimpanzees responded more strongly to urine than to faeces or body odour. We then presented urine from group members, outgroup individuals and an unscented control in aerated boxes using a simultaneous discrimination task. The first behaviour after a chimpanzee first approached a box was related to olfaction (sniffing, nose within 20 cm, licking) in 83% of cases, highlighting the importance of olfaction as a general investigation mechanism in this species. Chimpanzees sniffed significantly longer at urine stimuli than the control and significantly longer at odours from outgroup individuals than those from group members. Furthermore, the duration of sniffing was positively correlated with relatedness. Our results suggest that chimpanzees use olfactory cues to obtain information about social relationships and fill a gap in our understanding of primate chemical communication.

Scents play an important role in the life of most terrestrial mammals and may transmit valuable information about conspecifics. Olfaction was long considered of low importance in Old World monkeys due to their relative reduction of olfactory structures and low incidence of scent-marking behavior but has been increasingly recognized for mediating social relationships in recent years. Yet, studies investigating the composition of their chemical cues remain scarce. In the present study, we analyzed the potential information content of chemicals present on the skin of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). We collected axillary secretions from 60 animals of the semifree-ranging population on Cayo Santiago (Puerto Rico, USA) with precleaned cotton swabs from which the secretions were subsequently extracted and analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Rhesus macaque axillary odorants varied in their overall similarity and composition. This variation was attributable to differences in sex, group membership, and kinship and further appeared to reflect age and rank in parts of our sample. The compounds most strongly associated with this variation primarily comprised larger molecular weight aldehydes and steroids. Such compounds are considered to be perceivable by the primate olfactory system through close-range interactions or through breakdown into smaller molecules by bacterial fermentation. Overall, our results provide additional evidence that odors of Old World monkeys reflect a wealth of potential information about their carrier, which provides the basis for chemical communication via body odors; however, its use by conspecifics needs to be confirmed in bioassays. Significance statement One prerequisite for olfactory communication is the presence of systematic variation in animal odors that is related to attributes such as age, sex, or kinship. The composition of odors has been examined in numerous mammals but, with the exception of humans, remains poorly understood in Old World monkeys and apes, taxonomic groups in which most species do not show scent-marking behavior. In the present study, we show that the composition of axillary secretions of an Old World monkey, the rhesus macaque, reflects sex, group membership, relatedness, and possibly also age and rank. This variation thus provides a basis for olfactory communication in Old World monkeys. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s00265-018-2479-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The ability to distinguish group members from conspecifics living in other groups is crucial for gregarious species. Olfaction is known to play a major role in group recognition and territorial defense in a wide range of mammalian taxa. Although primates have been typically regarded as microsmatic (having a poor sense of smell), increasing evidence suggests that olfaction may play a greater role in primates’ social life than previously assumed. In this study, we carried out behavioral bioassays using a signaler-receiver paradigm to investigate whether rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) can discriminate between body odors of female group members and females from different social groups. We conducted the study on the research island Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico, in the non-mating season and controlled for kinship and familiarity using extensive pedigree and demographic data. Our results indicate that both males and females inspect out-group odors significantly longer than in-group odors. Males licked odors more often than females, and older animals licked more often than younger ones. Furthermore, individuals tended to place their nose longer towards odors when the odor donor’s group rank was higher than the rank of their own group. Reuse of odor samples decreased odor intensity (rated by human experimenters) during the course of a given test day and with longer exposure to ambient air; however, the reuse of odor samples did not significantly influence the response behaviors. Our findings uncover key roles of olfactory communication in a species not possessing distinct scent glands and thus shed light into the evolution of primate olfactory communication.

Primates were traditionally thought to have a reduced sense of smell. Although there is now evidence that olfaction plays a greater role in primate social life than previously assumed, research on the sense of smell in non-human apes is scarce. Chimpanzees sniff the ground and vegetation on boundary patrols, but the function of this behaviour is unclear. Since chimpanzees are highly territorial and can kill individuals that do not belong to their own community, sniffing might function to gather information about conspecifics, particularly concerning group membership and kinship. To investigate whether chimpanzees recognize group members and kin via olfactory cues, we conducted behavioural bioassays on two groups of chimpanzees at Leipzig Zoo. In a pilot study, we found that chimpanzees responded more strongly to urine than to faeces or body odour. We then presented urine from group members, outgroup individuals and an unscented control in aerated boxes using a simultaneous discrimination task. The first behaviour after a chimpanzee first approached a box was related to olfaction (sniffing, nose within 20 cm, licking) in 83% of cases, highlighting the importance of olfaction as a general investigation mechanism in this species. Chimpanzees sniffed significantly longer at urine stimuli than the control and significantly longer at odours from outgroup individuals than those from group members. Furthermore, the duration of sniffing was positively correlated with relatedness. Our results suggest that chimpanzees use olfactory cues to obtain information about social relationships and fill a gap in our understanding of primate chemical communication.

In mammals, females are the main caretakers of offspring. In a number of species, however, males also care for young, and may spend considerable time with infants. In various nonhuman primates, male interactions with infants appear to benefit mainly the males, who use them to regulate their relationships, particularly with other male group members. We studied whether interactions with infants were related to glucocorticoid output in male Barbary macaques, Macaca sylvanus, at the enclosure ‘La Foret des Singes’, France. We used a combination of behavioural observations, social network analysis and measures of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites as an indicator of physiological stress, and compared the results for the birth season in spring, during a time of intense interactions with infants, with a period in autumn, when males interacted less frequently with infants. Social network analyses revealed that infant carriers had stronger ties with other males than noncarriers. Overall, male relationships were stronger in spring than in autumn. Infant care was unevenly distributed among males and not related to rank, suggesting that the motivation to invest in infant carrying depends on the position in the social network and the current constellation of relationships. Despite the correlation of infant carrying with male interactions, the time spent with infants alone explained most of the variation in glucocorticoid levels, suggesting that access to the male–male network is paid for by an increase in stress hormone levels. Taken together, these results show that Barbary macaque infants can be viewed as costly social tools that facilitate networking among males.

Halb acht Uhr morgens in der Nahe von Frankfurt: Papa schiebt sich noch schnell den Rest vom Honigbrot in den Mund, um kurz darauf mit der Arbeitstasche unter dem einen und der Zeitung unterm anderen Arm zur S-Bahn zu hetzen. In der Garage tut es Schlage, weil der Sohnemann beim Ausparken des neuen Mountainbikes wieder alles andere umgeworfen hat; das fruhe Aufstehen bekommt ihm einfach nicht. Mama sucht panisch den Schlussel des Familien-Vans. Um spatestens halb neun mussen die Zwillinge in der Kita sein, denn ab neun hat sich der Zalando-Mann angemeldet – der Mann, der fruher Postbote hies. Der ganz normale Familienwahnsinn, wie er sich, so oder ahnlich, allmorgendlich hunderttausendfach in den Speckgurteln der grosen Stadte vollzieht.

Kapazitatsengpasse, neue technische Moglichkeiten, sowie gesteigerte Erwartungshaltungen der Mobilitatsnutzer erfordern neue Losungsansatze. Basierend auf der Bedurfnisanalyse der einzelnen Mobilitatstypen, sowie den Erkenntnissen der Interviews lassen sich typspezifische Losungsansatze ableiten.

Acht Mobilitatstypen stehen stellvertretend fur die vorherrschenden Mobilitatsnutzungsmuster unserer Gesellschaft. Dargestellt werden hier sowohl ihre heutigen Mobilitatssysteme als auch mogliche zukunftige Mobilitatsysteme der einzelnen Mobilitatstypen.

Der Mensch ist ein Nutzen-Maximierer, ein Homo Oeconomicus. Hat er die Wahl zwischen verschiedenen Alternativen, bringt er diese in eine Rangordnung und wahlt am Ende diejenige, die seine Bedurfnisse bestmoglich erfullt.

Die vorangegangenen Kapitel haben einen umfassenden Einblick in unsere Mobilitatssysteme gegeben. Wahrend der Homo Mobilicus ein theoretisches Konstrukt der effizienten Mobilitat bleiben wird, spiegeln die aktuellen Statistiken in Kap. 3 unser tatsachliches Mobilitatsverhalten wider. Aber wie denken nun die Nutzer unserer Mobilitatssysteme tatsachlich uber die verschiedenen Instrumente der Mobilitat? Welche Praferenzen haben die Menschen und warum? Und welche Erwartungen haben sie an die Zukunft der Mobilitat?

Die in Kap. 2 vorgestellten Handlungsmaximen des Homo Mobilicus zeigen, dass dessen Welt durch rationale Entscheidungen gepragt ist. Nutzenoptimierung setzt er mit der Minimierung seines zeitlichen, monetaren und kognitiven Aufwands bei der Erreichung seines Mobilitatsziels gleich. Es ist deshalb zum Beispiel davon auszugehen, dass er im Falle eines regelmasig anfallenden Arbeitswegs auf offentliche Verkehrsmittel zugreifen wurde. Das gleiche gilt fur Urlaubsreisen.

Die erfolgreiche Integration der Kommunikationsaktivitaten eines Unternehmens gewinnt auch fur die offentliche Verwaltung (OV) an Bedeutung. Jedoch gelingt es vielen Verwaltungsbereichen noch nicht, ihr Image zu steuern. Durch eine strategische Neuorientierung und die Beachtung der Besonderheiten gegenuber der Privatwirtschaft wird interne Kommunikation zu einem erfolgreichen Marketingtool im offentlichen Sektor.