Microbes give meerkat gangs their signature scents

Microbes give meerkat gangs their signature scents 06/15/2017 02:30 PM EDT Body odor. To some it's an embarrassing nuisance. But to meerkats, it's a calling card. Meerkats produce a pungent "paste" that they use to mark their turf. With one whiff they can tell if a scent belongs to a relative, a rival or a potential mate. But the chemical signals in this stinky graffiti don't come from the meerkats themselves; they're made by odor-producing bacteria that thrive in the meerkats' gooey secretions, researchers find. Full story at https://today.duke.edu/2017/06/microbes-give-meerkat-gangs-their-signature-scents Source Duke University This is an NSF News From the Field item.   Follow NSF:  This email was sent using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: National Science Foundation Update · 4201 Wilson Boulevard · Arlington, VA 22230 · 703-292-5111