Jacobs, WW. et al.: Conditioned aversion, bitter taste and the avoidance of natural toxicants in wild guinea pigs

William W. Jacobs; John N. Labows: Conditioned aversion, bitter taste and the avoidance of natural toxicants in wild guinea pigs.
In: Physiology & Behavior, Volume 22, Issue 1, January 1979, Pages 173–178.

Artikel: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0031938479904189

Zitat :

Abstract

Wild cavies injected with lithium chloride following a first exposure to 0.008 M sodium saccharin did not consume measurable amounts of this tastant upon a second exposure. Only a slight depression of intake of 0.00025 M sucrose octaacetate was produced by lithium induced illness. Cavies were able to distinguish toxic from non-toxic plants. Animals accepted crabgrass, common plantain and a sedge species but quickly rejected Japanese honeysuckle. Common nightshade was first accepted and later totally rejected by some animals. Others continued to eat some nightshade, primarily stem tissue. A glycoalkaloid analysis of nightshade tissues revealed much lower concentrations of these toxic compounds in stem tissue than in leaf blade or petiole tissues. These results indicate that cavies can form conditioned aversions to foods as well as to pure tastants in laboratory experiments. Conditioned aversion formation is offered as the likely mediator of poison avoidance by this species in the wild.