Hormonal state influences aspects of female mate choice in the Túngara Frog ( Physalaemus pustulosus)
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; therefo...
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Published in | Hormones and behavior Vol. 49; no. 4; pp. 450 - 457 |
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Main Authors | , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Amsterdam
Elsevier Inc
01.04.2006
Elsevier Elsevier BV |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | 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 1000 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. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Current address: Department of Psychology and Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Georgia State University, PO Box 3966, Atlanta, GA 30302-3966, USA. Fax: +1 404 463 4808. Current address: Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 Charles St. Ames Hall, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA. |
ISSN: | 0018-506X 1095-6867 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2005.10.001 |