Odor discrimination and dominance in male domestic guinea pigs

Do male guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus), with established positions in social dominance hierarchies, discriminate subordinate and dominant animals based upon odor cues from the perineal sac glandular complex? Six groups of three or four males were tested first to establish within-group dominance status and second for responses to cotton swabs that had been wiped with the perineal sac glandular complex of other males in the group. There was a significant (P < 0.05) linear relationship between aggressive responses to the cotton swabs and dominance ranks of the males (y = -0.16x + 0.86). Dominance may influence sebum production in the perineal sac glandular complex of guinea pigs via a mechanism involving androgens. Discrimination of dominance status could function in terms of male spatial relations, avoidance of areas inhabited by dominant individuals, and possibly in terms of female mate selection.