tems. The relevance of these phenomena in natural popula-
tions of rodents is also unclear. Future work should focus
on filling gaps in our knowledge about urinary chemo-
signals in a number of species of deer mice and voles so that
comparative studies can test ecological and evolutionary
hypotheses; experimental manipulations to confirm or re-
ject predictions of various hypotheses for the functional sig-
nificance of chemosignals under field conditions; and using
modern techniques to thoroughly test the underlying mech-
anisms with regard to physiological and neural bases of
these phenomena. Lastly and importantly, the production
and response to chemosignals must be placed in an adapta-
tionist paradigm such that they can be examined from an
evolutionary perspective.114 Chapter Nine