Data for: Using faecal cortisol metabolites to assess adrenocortical activity in wild-living Alpine marmot Marmota marmota: A biological validation experiment

Faecal cortisol/corticosterone metabolites (FCMs) have become increasingly popular as an easy-to-sample, non-invasive and feedback-free alternative to assess glucocorticoid (GC) levels, key components of the neuroendocrine stress response and other physiological processes. While FCMs can be a powerful aid, for instance, for gaining insights into ecological and evolutionary processes, as well as to assess animal welfare or impacts of anthropogenic stressors on wildlife populations, this method comes with specific challenges. Because GCs are heavily metabolized before excretion, it is critical to validate the enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) used to measure FCMs. Additionally, because species may differ in metabolite profiles, assay validation must be performed separately for each focal species. Despite this, the use of unvalidated assays remains widespread. We performed a biological validation experiment to test a set of EIAs to measure FCMs and adrenocortical activity in free-living Alpine ma..., See Publication: Zenth et al., 2024 In Ecology and Evolution: 
Using faecal cortisol metabolites to assess adrenocortical activity in wild-living Alpine marmot Marmota marmota: A biological validation experiment, , # Data for: Using faecal cortisol metabolites to assess adrenocortical activity in wild-living Alpine marmot Marmota marmota: A biological validation experiment

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3r2280gsc](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3r2280gsc)

## Description of the data and file structure

Data used for the Analysis for the article “Using faecal cortisol metabolites to assess adrenocortical activity in wild-living Alpine marmot *Marmota marmota*: A biological validation experiment” published in Ecology and Evolution (2024).

**Principal Investigator:** Friederike Zenth, [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])

### Files and variables

#### File: FMC\_marmot\_validation\_simplified.csv

**Description:** Data used for the Analysis for the article “Using faecal cortisol metabolites to assess adrenocortical activity in wild-living Alpine marmot *Marmota marmota*: A biological validation experiment” published in Ecology and Evolution (2...