| Anal sacs of felids are relatively large and secrete chemicals for communication. These chemicals vary intraspecifically and are used in recognition of status, such as individual, species, sexual, reproductive, and dominance. In addition, chemical signals are used in species recognition, and therefore, may potentially be used for phylogenetic study. Furthermore, these chemicals vary considerably in size and structure among species, suggesting their functional significance in interspecific communication.; Anal sac secretions from species within the Felidae were chemically analyzed to assess intraspecific variation and their potential for recognition of individual, species, sexual, reproductive, and dominance status. This study further investigates the utility of chemical signals as systematic characters. I apply phylogenetic analyses of scent secretions among species within the Family Felidae (Order Carnivora) to test four competing hypotheses about phylogenetic relationships within this family. Phylogenies currently based on molecular and morphological data are posed as hypotheses for testing species relationships using biochemical analyses of anal sac secretions. Finally, the volatility of chemical signals in relation to their functional significance is evaluated by assessing the correlations between relative volatility and several ecological, morphological, and life history traits.; The compounds vary quantitatively among individuals within a species, but each species possess a unique set of compounds that are identical among individuals. Chemical signals among individuals within a single species are quantitatively found to be used in recognition of individual, species, sex, and reproductive status. The phylogenetic analysis reveals consistent relationships among felid species with that proposed by other authors based on morphological and molecular data, and resolves some of the relationships that are unclear with these other data sets. The topology of the trees from this study agrees most closely with that presented by Collier and O'Brien (1985) based on molecular data. This study illustrates the species-specific nature of chemical signals, and their usefulness as phylogenetic characters. Cross-taxa correlations between relative volatility of chemical compounds in a scent mark and various ecological, morphological, and life history characters reveal significant trends, however, overall the relationships remain unclear. |
