jlynch@ccvax.ucd.ie (John M. Lynch) (08/07/90)
In article <1990Aug1.150051.17707@mercury.cair.du.edu>, mhassman@zephyr.cair.du.edu (Arlo Crymble) writes: > Question: Isn't the bull able to determine if > he has had intercourse with the cow by smell and > can he also determine if the cow is pregnant in > the same fashion? > Pheromonal control plays an important part in reproduction in all terrestrial mammals. Work has shown that a male can individually identify females by their scent and determine their reproductive status. Pheromones can act as inducers of sexual behaviour. Similarly they can cause oestrus synchrony in females.-- ============================================================================== John M. Lynch, Mammal Research Group, Department of Zoology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland. JMLYNH92@IRLEARN.UCD.IE or JLYNCH@CCVAX.UCD.IE. ...... a zoologist who likes computers ! ==============================================================================
ergo@netcom.UUCP (Isaac Rabinovitch) (08/09/90)
In <6141.26beacb6@ccvax.ucd.ie> jlynch@ccvax.ucd.ie (John M. Lynch) writes: >In article <1990Aug1.150051.17707@mercury.cair.du.edu>, mhassman@zephyr.cair.du.edu (Arlo Crymble) writes: >> Question: Isn't the bull able to determine if >> he has had intercourse with the cow by smell and >> can he also determine if the cow is pregnant in >> the same fashion? >> >Pheromonal control plays an important part in reproduction in all terrestrial >mammals. Work has shown that a male can individually identify females by their >scent and determine their reproductive status. Pheromones can act as inducers >of sexual behaviour. Similarly they can cause oestrus synchrony in females.-- That all sounds very plausible. But it hasn't prevented cattle breeders from collecting semen from bulls *without* any cows being present. Apparently a bull can, if properly (or maybe improperly) brought up, can be aroused by female manniquens or even by steers. (I'll refrain from repeating what thye call the latter.) I'm told that most breeders consider the old-fashioned methods too risky. Indeed, some farm animals have been bred this way so long that they're no longer capable of "natural" sex. -- ergo@netcom.uucp Isaac Rabinovitch atina!pyramid!apple!netcom!ergo Silicon Valley, CA uunet!mimsy!ames!claris!netcom!ergo "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know!" -- Ralph Waldo Emerson