Essence of Male Goat Turns Females On, Study Claims

Researchers have discovered that male goats release a sexually-stimulating odor that not only attracts female goats but also turns on their reproductive system.

The new study, conducted by Yukari Takeuchi and colleagues at The University of Tokyo, reveal the presence of a pheromone in the hair of the male goats that triggers a particular hormone in the female brain.

This is the first study to show that a pheromone activates the central reproductive axis. Although this study was conducted on goats, the researchers believe that the findings are applicable to other livestock and perhaps even humans, as the brain's reproductive center is highly conserved in all mammals.

It is known that it is the hair of the male goats and not urine that activates the female hormone called gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), which is associated with the reproductive endocrine system. In this study, the researchers identified the pheromone called 4-ethylocatanal that is known to activate the female hormone.

"In 4-ethyloctanal, we identified a novel chemical that had never been demonstrated in nature before. This was our first surprise," Takeuchi said in a news statement.

In order to confirm the unique citrus-scented ingredient that attracts the females, the researchers focused on pheromones in male essence, especially those that were unexplored. They found that the essence was mainly released from the male's head.

Researchers examined the odor samples of the males that were collected using gas absorbing caps. They mainly hunted the chemicals that were released by normal males and not the castrated males.  They held cup full of male hair near the females' nose and noticed the activity of the GnRH hormone, source National Geographic .

The researchers found that the pheromone 4-ethyloctanal oxidises to 4- ethylocatanoic acid, which s known to play a crucial role in attracting females and is also responsible for the 'goaty smell.'

"We are tempted to speculate that this is a clever reproductive strategy of the male goat to alter behavior and activity of the reproduction center in the female for mating by a single molecule," Takeuchi said.

Elephants are also known to produce a pungent mix of pheromones as they enter into their period of sexual activity.

The new study was documented in the Cell Press journal Current Biology.