“The ‘tomcat Compound’ 3-Mercapto-3-Methylbutanol Occurs in the Urine of Free-Ranging Leopards but Not in African Lions or Cheetahs”, Peter Apps, Lesego Mmualefe, Neil R. Jordan, Krystyna A. Golabek, J. Weldon McNutt2014-04-01 (cat biology)⁠:

• Unique study uses GC-MS to detect tomcat urine odour in wild leopard scent marks.

• Wild leopards, but not lions or cheetahs have the tomcat odor compound in urine.

• Urine odor results from wild big cats reconcile conflicting results from captive cats.

The felid-specific urinary odour compound 3-mercapto-3-methylbutanol and its precursors have been found in several felid species in captivity, but its presence in wild felids has not previously been investigated.

We analysed the naturally deposited scent marks from 3 species of wild, free-ranging big cats in Northern Botswana and found:

3-mercapto-3-methylbutanol in 4 samples of leopard urine (n = 13), but not in lion urine (n = 15) or cheetah urine (n = 6).

Individual variation in the presence of the tomcat compound in samples from big cats in the wild may reconcile conflicting results from captive cats.

[Keywords: Panthera pardus, Panthera leo, Acinonyx jubatus, Felis silvestris, Cauxin, Felinine]