scholarly journals Testosterone Does not Increase in Response to Conspecific Challenges in the White-Bellied Antbird (Myrmeciza Longipes), A Resident Tropical Passerine

The Auk ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-66
Author(s):  
Bradley C. Fedy ◽  
Bridget J. M. Stutchbury
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Temperate Zone ◽  
Plasma Testosterone ◽  
Tropical Species ◽  
Zone Model ◽  
Territorial Aggression ◽  
Social Instability ◽  
Testosterone Levels ◽  
Testosterone Secretion ◽  
Removal Experiments

Abstract Resident tropical passerines that exhibit year-round territorial aggression do not fit well into the temperate-zone model, because testosterone does not increase substantially during the breeding season. We studied patterns of testosterone secretion in the White-bellied Antbird (Myrmeciza longipes), a resident tropical species in Panama that maintains territories year-round and is capable of aggression throughout the year, regardless of its stage of reproduction. Levels of plasma testosterone were low (mean = 0.30 ng mL−1) throughout the breeding and nonbreeding seasons and did not differ between them. Testosterone also did not increase in response to simulated conspecific intrusions. When we used temporary removal experiments to induce natural, extended conflict between males, testosterone levels did not increase in response to the extended social instability that resulted. White-bellied Antbirds demonstrate an apparent uncoupling of testosterone and territorial aggression throughout the year. La Testosterona no Aumenta como Respuesta a Desafíos de Individuos Coespecíficos en Myrmeciza longipes, un Paserino Residente de la Zona Tropical

Seasonal variation in plasma testosterone and the testis in captive male dingoes, Canis familiaries dingo

1979 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 939 ◽  
Author(s):  
PC Catling
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Plasma Testosterone ◽  
Testosterone Levels ◽  
Central Australia ◽  
Eastern Highlands

Eastern Highlands and Central Australian dingoes housed in Canberra do not have a testicular cycle. They are spermatogenically active and capable of mating with oestrous females and fathering young all year. They do exhibit a breeding season (April-June) but this is entirely governed by the female. During the breeding season testosterone levels rise; this is thought to be influenced by the presence of an oestrous female and copulation. There are indications that captive dingoes in Central Australia may have a testicular cycle. Colony dingoes showed little interest in and do not mate with an oestrous domestic female at times other than January-July. They also become almost aspermous outside the breeding season. In contrast, Central Australian dingoes housed in Canberra are spermatogenically active and capable of successful matings all year.

PLASMA TESTOSTERONE LEVELS IN INTACT AND HEMICASTRATED GROWING COCKERELS

1979 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. J. M. DRIOT ◽  
M. DE REVIERS ◽  
J. WILLIAMS
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Testosterone ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Blood Samples ◽  
Testosterone Levels ◽  
Testosterone Secretion ◽  
Testicular Hypertrophy

Changes in the levels of testosterone in plasma were measured by radioimmunoassay in blood samples taken at frequent intervals between 2 and 26 weeks of age from entire cockerels and cockerels hemicastrated before 2 weeks of age. In both groups the pattern of testosterone secretion could be divided into three clearly defined phases. In young birds, the levels of testosterone in plasma were low (0·3 ng/ml) but in the prepubertal period, at 11 weeks of age, they started to rise and continued to rise until 22 weeks of age when adult levels, which fluctuated between 2·5 and 3·5 ng/ml, were reached. In the immediate period after hemicastration, the concentration of testosterone decreased temporarily. From 11 weeks of age the levels of testosterone in the hemicastrated birds were approximately 75% of those in intact birds. These results are discussed in relation to the compensatory testicular hypertrophy which occurs in growing cockerels hemicastrated at an early age.

scholarly journals Free-Living Male Mountain White-Crowned Sparrows Exhibit Territorial Aggression Without Modulating Total or Free Plasma Testosterone

The Condor ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 173-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon E. Lynn ◽  
Thomas P. Hahn ◽  
Creagh W. Breuner
Keyword(s):  
Aggressive Behavior ◽  
Free Testosterone ◽  
Plasma Testosterone ◽  
Zonotrichia Leucophrys ◽  
Territorial Aggression ◽  
Testosterone Secretion ◽  
Corticosteroid Binding Globulin ◽  
Simulated Territorial Intrusion ◽  
Territorial Intrusion ◽  
Free Plasma

Abstract Abstract In some species, expression of territorial aggression is accompanied by a rise in testosterone secretion, but in others aggressive behavior is expressed while testosterone levels remain unchanged. Corticosteroid binding globulin (CBG) binds both corticosterone and testosterone in avian plasma. Thus, increasing corticosterone may result in fluctuations in unbound (“free”) testosterone; this could result in greater biological activity of testosterone without an increase in testosterone secretion. We investigated whether such plasma interactions of testosterone, corticosterone, and CBG might result in alterations of free testosterone in male Mountain White-crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys oriantha). We conducted simulated territorial intrusions during incubation and compared total and free testosterone of males captured immediately following a simulated territorial intrusion with that of males captured passively. All experimental males showed aggressive behavior, but apparently did not modulate total or free testosterone relative to controls.

A Comparison of Plasma Testosterone and Progesterone Levels in The Thredbo and Duckmaloi River Platypuses Over a Twelve Month Cycle.

1998 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 305
Author(s):  
L. Hinds ◽  
D. Goldney
Keyword(s):  
Blood Sample ◽  
Breeding Season ◽  
Blood Cells ◽  
Peak Plasma ◽  
Plasma Testosterone ◽  
Plasma Progesterone ◽  
Breeding Potential ◽  
Testosterone Levels

A 1-2 ml blood sample was removed from the bill sinus of 208 captured platypuses from the Duckmaloi and Thredbo Rivers over the period January 1991-March 1993. Platypuses from the Duckmaloi were sampled monthly during 1992 and in February, August and December from the Thredbo River in the same year. The numbers and sex of platypuses sampled are recorded in the following Table. Samples were stored on ice and plasma separated from blood cells within 24 hours of sampling by centrifugation for I0 minutes and the supernatant stored at -20°C. The changes in plasma testosterone and progesterone for platypuses from both rivers were compared over a 12 month cycle. The levels of these two hormones were considerably less in the breeding season in the Thredbo River platypuses than in those from the Duckmaloi River. Peak plasma progesterone levels of the order of 90 ng/ml were measured in the Duckmaloi River females compared to levels of <5 ng/ml in Thredbo River females. Male plasma testosterone levels in animals from the Duckmaloi River peaked around 15 ng/ml, whereas Thredbo River males had levels of around 6 ng/mI. These data suggest that over the period of the two year study, platypus breeding potential in the Thredbo River was significantly impaired.

scholarly journals Ignoring the challenge? Male black redstarts ( Phoenicurus ochruros ) do not increase testosterone levels during territorial conflicts but they do so in response to gonadotropin-releasing hormone

2011 ◽  
Vol 278 (1722) ◽  
pp. 3233-3242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beate Apfelbeck ◽  
Wolfgang Goymann
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone ◽  
Plasma Testosterone ◽  
Releasing Hormone ◽  
Social Challenges ◽  
Testosterone Levels ◽  
Territorial Conflicts ◽  
Territory Defence ◽  
Simulated Territorial Intrusion ◽  
Territorial Intrusion

Competition elevates plasma testosterone in a wide variety of vertebrates, including humans. The ‘challenge hypothesis’ proposes that seasonal peaks in testosterone during breeding are caused by social challenges from other males. However, during experimentally induced male–male conflicts, testosterone increases only in a minority of songbird species tested so far. Why is this so? Comparative evidence suggests that species with a short breeding season may not elevate testosterone levels during territory defence. These species may even be limited in their physiological capability to increase testosterone levels, which can be tested by injecting birds with gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). We studied two populations of black redstarts that differ in breeding altitude, morphology and the length of their breeding season. Unexpectedly, males of neither population increased testosterone in response to a simulated territorial intrusion, but injections with GnRH resulted in a major elevation of testosterone. Thus, black redstarts would have been capable of mounting a testosterone response during the male–male challenge. Our data show, for the first time, that the absence of an androgen response to male–male challenges is not owing to physiological limitations to increase testosterone. Furthermore, in contrast to comparative evidence between species, populations of black redstarts with a long breeding season do not show the expected elevation in testosterone during male–male challenges.

Experimentally Elevated Plasma Testosterone Levels Do Not Influence Singing Behaviour of Male Blue Tits (Parus caeruleus) During the Early Breeding Season

Ethology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 112 (10) ◽  
pp. 984-992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hansjoerg P. Kunc ◽  
Katharina Foerster ◽  
Etiënne L. M. Vermeirssen ◽  
Bart Kempenaers
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Plasma Testosterone ◽  
Parus Caeruleus ◽  
Elevated Plasma ◽  
Testosterone Levels ◽  
Blue Tits

Seasonal changes in the plasma testosterone profile in Merino rams

1983 ◽  
Vol 23 (122) ◽  
pp. 254 ◽  
Author(s):  
MJ D'Occhio ◽  
DE Brooks
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Changes ◽  
Mating Behaviour ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Plasma Testosterone ◽  
Seasonal Trends ◽  
Testosterone Levels ◽  
Testosterone Secretion

The pattern of testosterone secretion (i.e. profile of plasma testosterone sampled every hour for 24 h) was characterized for Merino rams at various times during the year at latitude 35�S to assess seasonal trends. The profiles of plasma testosterone were always characterized by random peaks regardless of season. However, at any particular time of the year, there were large differences between individual rams in the number of peaks124 h (range 1-7). Mean plasma testosterone levels were higher and a greater number of peaks were recorded per 24 h in summer (December-January) than in winter (July) and spring (September-October). Seasonal changes observed in the plasma testosterone profile of Merino rams were consistent with the concept that activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis in sheep is entrained to changes in the photoperiod. Merino rams at latitude 35�S are therefore markedly seasonal from an endocrine point of view, although they are not generally regarded as seasonal breeders based on mating behaviour.

PLASMA TESTOSTERONE LEVELS IN DONKEYS IN THE TROPICS

1977 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. GOMBE ◽  
C. B. KATONGOLE
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Adult Male ◽  
Laboratory Animals ◽  
Plasma Testosterone ◽  
Free Access ◽  
Testosterone Levels ◽  
Animal Physiology ◽  
Basal Plasma ◽  
The Tropics

Department of Animal Physiology, University of Nairobi, Chiromo, Nairobi, Kenya (Received 1 February 1977) The concentration of testosterone in the plasma of most male domestic and laboratory animals, for example bulls (Thibier, 1975), boars (Andresen, 1976) and rats (Mock, Kamel, Wright & Frankel, 1975) is usually in excess of 10 nmol/l. In seasonal breeders such as sheep, values as high as 90 nmol/l have been reported in the summer before the breeding season (Falvo, Buhl, Reimers, Foxcroft, Dunn & Dziuk, 1975). In contrast, Katongole (1971) found that in a temperate summer, plasma testosterone concentrations in Equidae, including the donkey, were 4·5 nmol/l or less. It was, therefore, of interest to investigate whether the basal plasma testosterone concentrations in donkeys would be higher and more stable in the tropics. Six potent adult male donkeys were kept in a large pen, fed rhode grass and given free access to salt and water. Blood

INFLUENCE OF METYRAPONE ON PLASMA CONCENTRATIONS OF TESTOSTERONE AND ANDROSTENEDIONE IN MAN

1971 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 576-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. O. Nilsson ◽  
B. Hökfelt
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Male Patient ◽  
Gradual Increase ◽  
Plasma Concentrations ◽  
Plasma Testosterone ◽  
Testosterone Levels ◽  
Basal Plasma ◽  
Normal Males ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Secondary Hypogonadism

ABSTRACT Metyrapone was administered either orally, 750 mg every four h, in a total of six doses, or intravenously 30 mg per kg body weight as a four h infusion. In three males with normal endocrine functions, metyrapone given orally or intravenously induced a fall in plasma testosterone and an elevation of androstenedione within 2–8 h. When metyrapone was administered to a patient given dexamethasone to suppress endogenous ACTH production, the androstenedione levels did not alter whereas the testosterone levels showed a slight, transient decrease. In two normal females metyrapone administration was followed by a marked increase in plasma androstenedione whereas testosterone showed only a minor, gradual increase. In one male patient with Addison's disease the basal plasma testosterone was normal whereas the level of androstenedione was low. Following metyrapone intravenously, there was a slight suppression of plasma testosterone but no change in the androstenedione concentration. In one patient with primary hypogonadism, two with secondary hypogonadism and two with Klinefelter's syndrome the plasma testosterone was low under basal conditions and did not change following metyrapone. Basal plasma androstenedione was within the range for normal males and increased markedly following metyrapone in all the cases.

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