Mallick J, Stoddart D M, Jones I, Bradley A J
Department of Zoology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia.
Physiol Behav. 1994 Jun;55(6):1131-4. doi: 10.1016/0031-9384(94)90398-0.
Socially dominant male sugar gliders are heavier than socially subordinate males, have higher plasma testosterone and lower cortisol concentrations, win more social encounters, scan the arena more, scent-mark more, and are more active and move more quickly, even though they spend more time in the colony nesting box. When they are transferred into a foreign stable colony there is an impressive reversal of behavioral measures and a concomitant decrease in concentration of plasma testosterone and rise in cortisol that is apparent over the first 3 weeks of observation.
