Pellis S M, Pellis V C, McKenna M M
Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
J Comp Psychol. 1994 Mar;108(1):68-73. doi: 10.1037/0735-7036.108.1.68.
In rats (Rattus norvegicus), juvenile males engage in more play fighting (a male-typical behavior) than do juvenile females, and this difference is based on perinatal influences of androgens. We show that there are qualitative and quantitative differences between the sexes in the type of defensive responses and their manner of execution. In defensive responses rats try to avoid having their napes contacted by the partner's snout. The sex differences arise from females' greater response distance; that is, females responded to an approach when the partner's snout was further from the nape. This permits females to use different defensive responses and to use them more successfully. This greater response distance is defeminized by the neonatal administration of testosterone propionate. Our findings suggest that play fighting in rats has both male- and female-typical features and that these are, at least in part, influenced perinatally by androgens.
在大鼠（褐家鼠）中，幼年雄性比幼年雌性参与更多的嬉戏打斗（一种典型的雄性行为），这种差异基于雄激素在围产期的影响。我们发现，在防御反应的类型及其执行方式上，两性之间存在质和量的差异。在防御反应中，大鼠会试图避免其颈部被同伴的口鼻部接触。性别差异源于雌性更大的反应距离；也就是说，当同伴的口鼻部离颈部更远时，雌性才会对其靠近做出反应。这使得雌性能够使用不同的防御反应并更成功地运用它们。新生期给予丙酸睾酮会使这种更大的反应距离雌性化特征消失。我们的研究结果表明，大鼠的嬉戏打斗具有雄性和雌性的典型特征，并且这些特征至少在一定程度上受到围产期雄激素的影响。
