Scent marking: The mammalian equivalent of showy plumage

The smell of urine may not strike people as pleasant, but female mice find it as attractive as cologne. Researchers at the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna have confirmed that male house mice that excel at scent-marking their territory also have more offspring. This is likely because mouse females are able to infer mate quality from the males' scent mark deposits. The findings are reported in the Journal of Animal Behaviour.

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