Data from: A non-invasive method for sampling the body odour of mammals

1. Olfaction is a central aspect of mammalian communication, providing
information about individual attributes such as identity, sex, group
membership or genetic quality. Yet, the chemical underpinnings of
olfactory cues remain little understood, one of the reasons being the
difficulty in obtaining high quality samples for chemical analysis. 2. In
the present study we adjusted and evaluated the use of thermal desorption
(TD) tubes, commonly used in plant metabolomic and environmental studies,
for non-invasive sampling of mammalian body odour. We obtained chemical
profiles of meerkat (Suricata suricatta) body odour samples using TD tubes
analysed with gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS). 3. TD tubes
captured a wide range of volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds
including compounds likely originating from the target animals. Adjustment
of sampling parameters (distance, volume, flow rate, interruption of
sampling) to increase the feasibility for a non-invasive application
yielded samples of adequate quality. However, to minimize the variability
between samples, sampling parameters should be kept constant and samples
should be collected when no conspecifics are close-by. 4. The method was
sensitive enough to pick up population differences in the chemical
profiles of two captive groups of meerkats, demonstrating its
applicability to biological questions. With sufficiently habituated
animals, the method is applicable non-invasively, allowing short- and
long-term studies on a wide range of questions, including e.g. chemical
signatures of kinship, diet, individual health or reproductive state.