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Hormonal state influences aspects of female mate choice in the TĂșngara Frog (Physalaemus pustulosus)
- Source :
- Hormones and behavior. 49(4)
- Publication Year :
- 2005
-
Abstract
- Females alter their mate choices as they transition through different reproductive stages; however, the proximal mechanisms for such behavioral fluctuation are unclear. In many taxa, as females transition through different reproductive stages, there is an associated change in hormone levels; therefore, we examined whether fluctuation in hormone levels serves as a proximal mechanism for within-individual variation in mate choice in female túngara frogs (Physalaemus pustulosus). We manipulated hormone levels of females by administering 0, 10, 100, 500 or 1,000 IU of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), which is a ligand for luteinizing hormone (LH) receptors and will therefore cause increased gonadal hormone production. Phonotaxis assays were conducted to measure three aspects of mate choice behavior before and after HCG administration; receptivity (response to a conspecific mate signal), permissiveness (response to a signal that is less attractive than conspecific signals) and discrimination (ability to discern signal differences). The probability of response to a conspecific and an artificial hybrid signal significantly increased at the highest HCG doses. The difference in mean response time between pre- and post-HCG tests was significantly different for both the receptivity and permissiveness tests among the five doses. Increased permissiveness, however, was not due to decreased discrimination because females could discriminate between calls even at the highest HCG doses. These hormonal manipulations caused the same behavioral pattern we reported in females as they transitioned through different reproductive stages (Lynch, K.S., Rand, A.S., Ryan, M.J., Wilczynski, W., 2005. Plasticity in female mate choice associated with changing reproductive states. Anim. Behav. 69, 689-699), suggesting that changes in hormone levels can influence the female's mate choice behavior.
- Subjects :
- Permissiveness
Male
medicine.medical_specialty
medicine.drug_class
Receptivity
Physiology
Biology
Physalaemus
Choice Behavior
Chorionic Gonadotropin
Article
Human chorionic gonadotropin
Behavioral Neuroscience
Sexual Behavior, Animal
Endocrinology
Internal medicine
medicine
Animals
Pair Bond
Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
Endocrine and Autonomic Systems
Luteinizing Hormone
biology.organism_classification
Pair bond
Mate choice
Female
Gonadotropin
Anura
Luteinizing hormone
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 0018506X
- Volume :
- 49
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Hormones and behavior
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....21c73c95d104da4720cd9bcb7eaa7af1