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Subterranean common mole-rats of the genus Fukomys (family Bathyergidae) live in large, cooperatively-breeding families. Odor cues have been hypothesized to play an important role in mediating social behaviors in the underground ecotope, but only little is known about the role of olfactory signaling in burrowing mammals. Here we characterize the so far neglected perioral glands of Fukomys and other African mole-rats as an important source of olfactory social information. Histology demonstrates these structures to be derived sebaceous glands that are developed regardless of sex and reproductive status. However, gland activity is higher in Fukomys males, leading to sexually dimorphic patterns of stain and clotting of the facial pelage. Behavioral assays revealed that conspecifics prefer male but not female perioral swabs over scent samples from the back fur and that male sebum causes similar attraction as anogenital scent, a known source of social information in Fukomys . Finally, we assessed volatile compounds in the perioral sebum of the giant mole-rat ( Fukomys mechowii ) via GCxGC-MS-based metabolomic profiling. Volatiles display pronounced sex-specific signatures but also allow to differentiate between intrasexual reproductive status groups. These different lines of evidence suggest that mole-rat perioral glands provide complex odor signals which play a crucial role in social communication.

Some wildlife species can successfully adapt to urban environments. To prevent potential conflict of these species with humans or their pets, a better understanding of the presence of urban wildlife is needed. However, traditional monitoring methods are often inadequate because many privately owned properties are inaccessible. In this study, we analyse reports of European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus or E. roumanicus) and badgers (Meles meles) provided by two long-term citizen science projects in the city of Vienna, Austria – stadtwildtiere.at and roadkill.at – to assess habitat preferences and potential ecological interactions. Vienna has a human population of about 2×106 and covers an area of 415 km2, 50 % of which is green space in the form of forests, parks and private gardens. A total of 356 hedgehog and 918 badger sightings were reported between 2012 and 2023. Sightings of both species were positively associated with a mix of sealed/built-up areas and green spaces with meadows and shrubs. However, sightings of both species were negatively associated with arable land, most likely due to the avoidance of open terrain, reduced food availability or simply because both nocturnal species were more difficult to spot on dark arable land. The steeper the slope of a habitat, the fewer hedgehogs were reported, whereas for badgers, a positive correlation between slope and reports was observed in areas with built-up fractions over 15 %. Overall, we observed hardly any hedgehog reports in areas in which badgers were reported. We conclude that citizen science wildlife monitoring can be a good data source to better understand human–wildlife interactions and could therefore be a model for other urban areas and species.

Subterranean common mole-rats of the genus Fukomys (family Bathyergidae) live in large cooperatively-breeding families. Odor cues have been hypothesized to importantly mediate social behaviors in the underground ecotope, but only little is known about the role of olfactory signaling in burrowing mammals. Here we characterize the so far neglected perioral glands of Fukomys and other African mole-rats as an important source of olfactory social information. Histology demonstrates these structures to be derived sebaceous glands that are developed regardless of sex and reproductive status. However, gland activity is higher in Fukomys males, leading to sexually dimorphic patterns of stain and clotting of the facial pelage. Behavioral assays revealed that conspecifics prefer male but not female perioral swabs over scent samples from the back fur and that male sebum causes similar attraction as anogenital scent, a known source of social information in Fukomys. Finally, we assessed volatile compounds in the perioral sebum of the giant mole-rat (Fukomys mechowii) via GCxGC-MS-based metabolomic profiling. Volatiles displayed pronounced sex-specific signatures but also allowed to differentiate between intrasexual reproductive status groups. These different lines of evidence suggest that mole-rat perioral glands provide complex odor signals that play a crucial role in social communication. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.