Measurement of short-term changes in heart rate and in plasma concentrations of cortisol and catecholamine in a small marsupial.

Using a chronically placed jugular catheter and a silver electrode, it was possible to monitor short-term changes in the plasma concentration of cortisol and catecholamine in the marsupial sugar glider (Petaurus breviceps) and to monitor both heart and respiration rates. Males judged to be low in the social hierarchy of a particular group were exposed to the whole-body odor of a dominant male from the same social group, a foreign dominant male, or a castrate male. While there was no evidence of a change in any of the physiological parameters when a male was exposed to either a castrate male or a female, a rapid increase occurred in heart rate and plasma concentrations of cortisol, glucose and catecholamine when the donor was a dominant male from the same or a different social group.