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Live Indian desert gerbils, Meriones hurrianae, trapped from sandy habitat, were exposed to conspecific and interspecific sebum odours of M. hurrianae and M. unguiculatus, respectively, in multiple choice tests. The experimental gerbils were released in the middle of the glass cage (90x30x30 cm) and its behavioural responses like sniffing, licking, scent marking, urination and defecation were observed. Exposure of conspecific and interspecific sebum odours in five combinations to M. hurrianae indicated that these gerbils perceive not only conspecific odour of the ventral scent marking gland but also that of another species which is not sympatric i.e. M. unguiculatus. M. hurrianae preferred (P < 0.05) uni-sex odour, even that of M. unguiculatus, and also enhanced its own scent marking frequency in the presence of scent marking gland odours of the strange gerbils.