Testosterone Control of Male-Type Sexual Behavior in the Tammar Wallaby (Macropus eugenii) |
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Authors: | Carl D. Rudd Roger V. Short Geoff Shaw Marilyn B. Renfree |
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Affiliation: | aDepartment of Physiology, Monash University, Clayton, 3168, Australia;bDepartment of Zoology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3052, Australia |
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Abstract: | In the tammar wallaby,Macropus eugenii,the expression of male-type sexual behavior is apparently determined by the activating effects of testicular hormones in adulthood. The incidence of male-type copulatory behavior and sexual checking behavior was compared in intact (control) males, control females, testosterone-treated females, and three groups of males castrated either postnatally (24–26 days of age), prepubertally (14.5 months of age), or in adulthood. All three groups of castrated male wallabies showed a very low incidence of male sexual behavior in adult life, comparable to that shown by the untreated females. Adult female wallabies with 100-mg testosterone implants showed a high incidence of male sexual behavior which was indistinguishable from that shown by intact males. The results suggest that sex differences in male-type behavior in the tammar wallaby are due to short-term inductive effects of testosterone acting on a sexually indifferent brain. There is no evidence of any long-term organizational effects of testosterone acting in fetal or neonatal life on the neural pathways controlling male-type sex behavior in this marsupial mammal. |
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