Molecule found that attracts wolves, repels humans

[Isela]

Abstract from ArabNews.com:

PARIS: The faintest whiff of a molecule from mammal blood known as E2D sends some animals into a predatory frenzy but frightens others — including people — into retreat, scientists have discovered.
Never before has the same molecule been known to provoke diametrically opposite behaviors in creatures ranging from horse flies to humans, hinting at deep evolutionary roots, they reported in the journal Scientific Reports.

Full article: http://www.arabnews.com/node/1182096/science-technology

An interesting read. It makes sense as well with us being omnivores and not full-blown carnivores/predators. Never knew there was an actual molecule that either triggers these instincts or fuels them.

[wolfluvr101]

This was a very interesting read and makes me more curious about species evolution and what we still retain, thanks for sharing this!

[perenril]

Well, this was an interesting read. It's amazing what is being discovered right now, we thought we knew it all, the next thing you know someone has found out that a certain molecule can trigger a beings instincts.

Thanks for sharing !

[airbones]

Really liked that read! It's insane to think of all the smaller things at work that can affect a species so greatly, and in such different ways. It's both exciting and terrifying to think of what else there is to find and the fact that we're getting better at finding them.

Also, a moment of silence for the wolves in the test group that were licking the piece of wood and their poor, probably splintered tongues.

[DaniBeez]

I can officially say WolfQuest helped me do my homework .

For my advanced concepts in evolution course, we had to pick a paper that had to do with trait evolution and critique it. Feeling uninspired (my Masters work doesn't actually ask evolution-type questions), I picked this one!

What's interesting is that while this paper did report some consistent behavioural patterns in wolves, stable flies, and mice (the human part of the study is questionable) in response to this E2D molecule, the actual mechanism/trait behind this chemical cue is still unknown. So when the mainstream media here says it hints at "deep evolutionary roots", we aren't actually any closer to proving that either way, lol. You can't say something has a deep ancestral root if you didn't even try to identify the trait responsible for your observations!

The authors also just assume that species evolved an adaptive (positive/useful) response to this molecule; they didn't explore any non-adaptive explanations. They also cited an evolutionary psychology book (y i k e s) to support their assumption that modern humans will exhibit a prey response, and not a predator one ! Oh my...

Anyway, final comment: "predatory frenzy" is definitely an overstated reaction by general audience media, but I get why the mdia writes it like this. Sounds exciting!