Fusani Leonida, Day Lainy B, Canoine Virginie, Reinemann Dan, Hernandez Estefanía, Schlinger Barney A
Department of Physiological Science, and Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology of the Brain Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
Horm Behav. 2007 Jan;51(1):62-8. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2006.08.005. Epub 2006 Sep 27.
In most bird species, male courtship behavior is controlled by testosterone (T) and its metabolites. In species breeding in temperate and arctic regions T circulates at high levels during a relatively short courtship period because high levels of T can be costly in terms of immunocompetence and parental care. Few studies have investigated androgen modulation of courtship behavior in tropical birds. Male golden-collared manakins (Manacus vitellinus) aggregate in leks for several months and perform spectacular, acrobatic courtship displays. Here we examined whether T is elevated in golden-collared manakins during the displaying period and if courtship behavior is modulated by androgen action on androgen receptors. We measured T levels in displaying males at the beginning of the breeding season and again, one month later. In addition, both wild and captive males were treated with the anti-androgen, flutamide, and their courtship behavior was recorded for several weeks. T levels were relatively high shortly after leks were established but decreased substantially a month later, even though the amount of courtship did not change. Flutamide reduced male courtship activity for one week, but display behavior then increased after two weeks of flutamide treatment. Our studies show that androgens modulate male manakin courtship, but the amount of courtship is not directly correlated with the concentration of circulating T. These results suggest that the relationships between androgen and courtship might differ between tropical and temperate birds.
在大多数鸟类中，雄性求偶行为受睾酮（T）及其代谢产物的控制。在温带和北极地区繁殖的物种中，T在相对较短的求偶期内以高水平循环，因为高浓度的T在免疫能力和亲代抚育方面成本较高。很少有研究调查热带鸟类求偶行为的雄激素调节。雄性金领侏儒鸟（Manacus vitellinus）会在求偶场聚集数月，并进行壮观的、杂技般的求偶展示。在此，我们研究了在展示期金领侏儒鸟的T水平是否升高，以及求偶行为是否受雄激素对雄激素受体的作用调节。我们在繁殖季节开始时以及一个月后再次测量了正在展示的雄性的T水平。此外，对野生和圈养的雄性都使用了抗雄激素药物氟他胺进行处理，并记录它们数周的求偶行为。求偶场建立后不久T水平相对较高，但一个月后大幅下降，尽管求偶行为的量没有变化。氟他胺使雄性求偶活动减少了一周，但在氟他胺处理两周后展示行为又增加了。我们的研究表明，雄激素调节雄性侏儒鸟的求偶行为，但求偶行为的量与循环T的浓度没有直接关联。这些结果表明，热带鸟类和温带鸟类中雄激素与求偶行为之间的关系可能有所不同。
