Medición indirecta de la liberación de andrógenos y su relación con la conducta sexual en coturnix japonica.

In the present article we describe and analyze the advantages of measuring the cloacal gland of male Japanese quail as a strategy to indirectly evaluate the production of hormones related to sexual behavior in this bird species. The use of animal models in general, and birds in particular, for the study of the relationship between hormones and behavior is first introduced. Arguments for the advantage of using indirect measures of hormone production are presented. Research that shows the correlation between area and volume of cloacal gland with other measures of androgen production is described, and some relevant research that has made use of indirect measures is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]