Heritability and cross-sex genetic correlations of early-life circulating testosterone levels in a wild mammal

• Published in: Biology letters (2005) Vol. 10; no. 11; p. 20140685
• Main Authors: Pavitt, Alyson T., Walling, Craig A., Pemberton, Josephine M., Kruuk, Loeske E. B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England The Royal Society 01.11.2014
• Subjects: Androgens; Androgens - blood; Animals; Animals, Newborn; Cervus elaphus; Deer - genetics; Deer - physiology; Evolutionary Biology; Female; Immunoenzyme Techniques - veterinary; Interindividual Variation; Male; Quantitative Genetics; Quantitative Trait, Heritable; Reproductive Endocrinology; Scotland; Selection; Sex Characteristics; Steroid Hormones; Testosterone - blood; Scotland; quantitative genetics; reproductive endocrinology; interindividual variation; steroid hormones; androgens; selection
• ISSN: 1744-9561; 1744-957X
• DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2014.0685

Testosterone is an important hormone that has been shown to have sex-specific links to fitness in numerous species. Although testosterone concentrations vary substantially between individuals in a population, little is known about its heritable genetic basis or between-sex genetic correlations that determine its evolutionary potential. We found circulating neonatal testosterone levels to be both heritable (0.160 ± 0.064 s.e.) and correlated between the sexes (0.942 ± 0.648 s.e.) in wild red deer calves (Cervus elaphus). This may have important evolutionary implications if, as in adults, the sexes have divergent optima for circulating testosterone levels.