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

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.

The Auk ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-66
Author(s):  
Bradley C. Fedy ◽  
Bridget J. M. Stutchbury

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


2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (48) ◽  
pp. 6785-6790
Author(s):  
Amrane A. Ait ◽  
S. M. Hammoudi ◽  
B. T. Belhamiti ◽  
S. M. A. Selles ◽  
A. R. Benia ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Leonardo Esteves Lopes ◽  
João Paulo Gusmão Teixeira ◽  
Ricardo Camargos Meireles ◽  
Daniel Silva Sena Bastos ◽  
Leandro Licursi de Oliveira ◽  
...  

1998 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 305
Author(s):  
L. Hinds ◽  
D. Goldney

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.


2011 ◽  
Vol 278 (1722) ◽  
pp. 3233-3242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beate Apfelbeck ◽  
Wolfgang Goymann

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.


Ethology ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 112 (10) ◽  
pp. 984-992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hansjoerg P. Kunc ◽  
Katharina Foerster ◽  
Etiënne L. M. Vermeirssen ◽  
Bart Kempenaers

1973 ◽  
Vol 51 (6) ◽  
pp. 651-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. E. Whitehead ◽  
E. H. McEwan

Plasma testosterone levels of reindeer increased from 1 ng/cm3 in August to 30–60 ng/cm3 in mid-September. By late October, when rutting activity had almost ceased, the testosterone concentration had declined to barely detectable levels. The seasonal pattern exhibited by caribou was similar except the peak levels associated with rutting occurred about 1 month later than reindeer. The seasonal changes in plasma testosterone levels of two hybrid calves were studied. Peak testosterone levels of 5 and 3.8 ng/cm3 were attained in late October.The influence of the endocrine glands on antler renewal and casting, and the rhythmic growth pattern exhibited by caribou and reindeer are discussed.


1977 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. GOMBE ◽  
C. B. KATONGOLE

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


1971 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 576-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. O. Nilsson ◽  
B. Hökfelt

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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