Urine washing and urinary odor profiles in relation to dominance rank status in wild male capuchin monkeys (Cebus imitator)

Urine plays an essential role in mammalian olfactory communication, though its potential role in primates has long been overlooked due to focus on their visual adaptations for communication. Here we combined behavioral and chemical data to test the role of urine in signaling male dominance in white-faced capuchins (Cebus imitator). We predicted that: 1) urine washing (i.e., depositing urine onto hands/feet and rubbing them onto substrates) is more frequently performed by alpha than subordinate males, and 2) the chemical composition of alpha male urine is distinct from that of subordinates. We collected 457 hours of focal behavioral follows and 153 urine samples from 24 males in five groups at Sector Santa Rosa, Área de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica. We extracted urinary volatile compounds into thermal desorption tubes and analyzed them by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. We found that alphas urine wash more than subordinates, especially during the dry season when urinary odor..., , # Urine washing and urinary odor profiles in relation to dominance rank status in wild male capuchin monkeys (Cebus imitator)

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## Description of the publication

Title: Urine washing and urinary odor profiles in relation to dominance rank status in wild male capuchin monkeys (*Cebus imitator*)

Authors:
Alice C. Poirier(a,*), Nelle K. Kulick(a,b), Suheidy Romero Morales(c), Marlen Kücklich(d,e), Brigitte M. Weiß(d,e), Claudia Birkemeyer(f,g,1), Anja Widdig(d,e,g,2), Amanda D. Melin(a,h,i,2), Katharine M. Jack(b,2,*)
a Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
b Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
c Área de Conservación Guanacaste, La Cruz, Costa Rica
d Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Faculty of Life Sciences, Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
e Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck...,