Behaviour of ewes and lambs in response to human emotional odours.

ABSTRACT: This study investigated whether sheep (Ovis aries) discriminate the body odour of unfamiliar humans subjected to a contrastive emotion-inducing procedure. Axillary secretions were collected from 38 humans after they watched fearful or joyful films. The behavioural responses of adult ewes (n = 35) and 6-day-old lambs (n = 22) to these odours were assessed using a habituation-dishabituation paradigm validated in this species. Both ewes and lambs exhibited habituation (reduced tactile-olfactory investigation), but no significant dishabituation, limiting strong conclusions about odour discrimination. However, ewes displayed ear postures suggestive of differential emotional reactivity to assumed valence, but these effects were subtle and potentially influenced by test conditions. The lambs expo

SUBMITTER: Larrigaldie I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12749266 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature