Newly adapted method allows researchers to collect body odour samples of mammals in a non-invasive manner

Mammals communicate with each other using olfactory cues. This way they recognize relatives or friends or find a genetically suitable mate. However, to collect smells, especially in the wild, is anything but easy to accomplish. A team of researchers from the University of Leipzig and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, have now succeeded in adapting a method that has previously been used in plant ecology for collecting body odour samples of captive meerkats. In the future this method can be used to collect body odour samples from mammals living in the wild.