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Naked mole-rats provide a striking example, with reproduction restricted to a single queen, while all other females remain infertile\n                    <jats:sup>1<\/jats:sup>\n                    . Here we identify a chemical signal in queens that can regulate this reproductive hierarchy. Isopropyl myristate is a low-volatility ester that is enriched in queens and nearly absent from non-breeding animals. Isopropyl myristate is detected by peripheral and central olfactory neurons and elicits avoidance in high-ranking animals. Exposure alters levels of prolactin and progesterone in non-breeders to suppress reproduction. Daily addition of isopropyl myristate to a queenless colony prevented queen succession, whereas withdrawal triggered aggression and reproductive competition. Isopropyl myristate was also detected in breeding females of several\n                    <jats:italic>Fukomys<\/jats:italic>\n                    mole-rat species, but reaches higher levels in naked mole-rats, paralleling their extreme reproductive skew. These findings reveal a chemical cue that can mediate reproductive suppression in a mammal, linking insect and mammalian eusociality.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-026-10772-5","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]],"date-time":"2026-07-15T15:01:34Z","timestamp":1784127694000},"page":"390-398","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["A queen odour mediates reproductive suppression in a eusocial mammal"],"prefix":"10.1038","volume":"656","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1402-3858","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mohammed A.","family":"Khallaf","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniel W.","family":"Hart","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5202-8855","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wenhan","family":"Luo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Firdevs","family":"Murad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-6124-0466","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Felipe","family":"Cybis Pereira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9668-941X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniel","family":"Mendez-Aranda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3864-2469","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nicole","family":"Hagenah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alice","family":"Rossi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9002-4211","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Val\u00e9rie","family":"B\u00e9gay","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9935-7859","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jan","family":"Okrouhl\u00edk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3350-8682","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dietmar","family":"Krautwurst","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mungo Kisinza","family":"Ngalameno","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1474-7602","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andre","family":"Ganswindt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alison J.","family":"Barker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Radim","family":"\u0160umbera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6710-1071","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Markus","family":"Knaden","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3305-3315","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sophie","family":"Pezet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrew","family":"Woehler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4811-1223","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bill S.","family":"Hansson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9748-2947","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nigel C.","family":"Bennett","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2890-6352","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gary R.","family":"Lewin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"10772_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"571","DOI":"10.1126\/science.7209555","volume":"212","author":"JU Jarvis","year":"1981","unstructured":"Jarvis, J. 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