Fig 1.
Schematic of experimental lipid trail deposition within a Y-maze.
All scent trails started at the opening of the holding box at the base (dashed black line) then run along one side of the arm and crossed to the opposite side, terminating at the opening of an arm box. The trail represented in the schematic (A or B) depended on the specific trial type (i.e., for Male-only trials, male skin lipids would be trail A while peanut oil was trail B). Additional aspects of the Y-maze design can be found in Parker, Currylow, et al. [14].
Fig 2.
Tegus successfully choose conspecific skin lipid trails in a Y-maze.
Tegus (n = 7 males, n = 7 females) consistently followed isolated skin lipid trails from male conspecifics when only those lipids were present in the base and target arm (Male-only). When presented with a choice between male and female skin lipid trails, tegus chose the opposite-sex trail (target arm) rather than the same-sex trail (non-target; Male vs. female). In Male-only and Female-only trials, the non-target arm contained a neutral lipid trail (peanut oil) at the same concentration as the target lipid trail. ***P < 0.001, *P < 0.05, #0.05 < P < 0.10.
Fig 3.
Turn rates in the Y-maze differed between the sexes and across trial type.
Female tegus turned more frequently when both male and female skin lipid trails were present, and they turned more than males in that specific type of trial (Male vs. female). Bars are means (+SEM; -95% C.I.). Different letters represent statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) between those trials for a given sex. **P < 0.01.
Fig 4.
Comparison of choice penalty between trailing scenarios.
When tegus created the scent trails tested in the Y-maze [25], there were sex differences in average choice penalty (the degree of exploration of the unscented arm of the maze; 0 to -5 scale) per tegu from the three trial types (Male-only, Female-only, Male vs. female). This sex difference was absent when only skin lipids from conspecifics were present in the maze (Lipid trails). Bars are means (+SEM; -95% C.I.). Different letters represent significant differences (P < 0.05) between those sexes for a given trial type.
Fig 5.
Turn rates differ based on trailing cues.
Tegus turned more frequently when only lipid trails were present in the Y-maze, and this was primarily due to the increase in male behavior. Bars are means (+SEM; -95% C.I.). Different letters represent significant differences (P < 0.05) between those trial types. **P < 0.01.