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Winning and losing in public: Audiences direct future success in Japanese quail.
- Source :
-
Hormones & Behavior . Apr2013, Vol. 63 Issue 4, p625-633. 9p. - Publication Year :
- 2013
-
Abstract
- Abstract: Among vertebrates, winning a fight enhances the probability of future victories and vice versa and the role of post-conflict testosterone in mediating this ‘winner effect’ is widely accepted. In a series of staged fights of Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) we tested both opponents' pre-fight and post-conflict testosterone, behavior and dominance status after returning to their social groups. We found that the presence of a familiar mixed-sex audience during the encounter modulated both the testosterone response and the long‐term success after a fighting experience. ‘Public losers’ but not ‘public winners’ lacked a post-conflict testosterone response, whereas without an audience both winners and losers increased testosterone metabolite levels. Long-lasting winner and loser effects exclusively occurred when the performance information was perceived by a mixed-sex audience. In further experiments we manipulated the testosterone responsiveness of either the loser or the winner. An artificial post-conflict testosterone surge after having lost a fight effectively reversed the loser effect in Japanese quail. In contrast, the ‘winner effect’ was not changed by blocking testosterone after the fight. Overall, male Japanese quails' post-conflict testosterone was connected to the audiences and thus, own or the observers' perception of the challenge rather than to winning or losing a fight. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0018506X
- Volume :
- 63
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Hormones & Behavior
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 88980902
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2013.02.010