10月15日，国际行为生态学会期刊Behavioral Ecology，在Editor’s choice 头条发表动物研究所动物行为与化学通讯研究组对太平鸟（Bombycilla garrulous）和小太平鸟(B. japonica) 尾脂腺气味成分分化特点及其在种间识别中作用的研究。
太平鸟科仅1属3种，其中太平鸟（俗称：十二黄）和小太平鸟（俗称：十二红）属于姊妹种，又属同域种；在迁徙和越冬期在我国许多地区成混合群活动，是研究物种形成的难得材料。动物所研究人员将两种鸟暂时室内饲养，于繁殖初期，测定尾脂腺气味成分的分化特点及其在种间识别中的作用，探索很少问津的鸟类化学信号和物种形成的关系。
他们利用Y型迷宫测定发现，太平鸟的雌鸟可以利用雄鸟身体的气味辨别出同种和异种，并且对同种的气味表现出喜好；如果在两个迷宫选择臂末端，各加上一块镜子，“镜像”所代表的同种陌生个体的视觉信息，增强了雌鸟对种间身体气味的差异性反应。
鸟的尾脂腺分泌物通过理羽行为被涂抹到身体各个部位来传递有关化学信息，是身体气味信号的主要来源。研究人员利用气质联用（GC-MS）发现两种鸟的尾脂腺成分种类完全相同，种内性别分化也不明显，但有7种主要多成分的含量存在明显的种间分化，尤其太平鸟含有较多的十二醇，十四醇等，而小太平鸟含较多的十七醇，十八醇等，与很多近缘种昆虫的化学信号分化模式类似。 利用这7种合成的成分，按种类特定比例和羽被上的含量量，模拟身体气味，可以产生类似的引起雌鸟种间识别和选择的作用。
这项研究说明鸟类尾脂腺挥发性成分含量的分化，足以起到调节姊妹种间的行为生殖隔离的作用，很可能在鸟的物种分化中起到作用。 (生物谷Bioon.com)
生物谷推荐的英文摘要
Behavioral Ecology doi: 10.1093/beheco/art068
Uropygial gland volatiles facilitate species recognition between two sympatric sibling bird species
Yao-Hua Zhang, Yu-Feng Du and Jian-Xu Zhang
Visual and acoustic cues in birds have been well documented to play a role in species recognition between closely related bird species. Here, we aimed to test whether chemical cues also play a role in avian species recognition between 2 sympatric sibling species of waxwings, Bombycilla garrulus and Bombycilla japonica. Using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, we characterized from uropygial gland secretions 38 compounds that were quantitatively divergent between species and exhibited sex differences within species. Nine major compounds, including 6 linear alkanols and 3 carboxylic acids, which accounted for more than 85% of all compounds were used for simulation of the scents. Female B. garrulus exhibited a striking preference for their mirror images scented with either conspecific body odor or its synthetic analogs and avoided the scents of the sibling species B. japonica in a Y-maze olfactometer. Our results suggest that the volatile components of uropygial gland secretions have diverged in composition and these differences contribute to species recognition between sympatric sibling bird species and subsequently affect the likehood of speciation.
