Timing of reproductive behaviour in male musk turtles,Sternotherus odoratus: effects of photoperiod,temperature and testosterone |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA;2. Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Aiken, SC 29801, USA;1. Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel;2. Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland;3. Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel;1. VCA Animal Hospitals, 12401 West Olympic Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90064, USA;2. Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, 2200 College Station Road, Athens, GA 30602, USA;1. Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, 2 Medical Center Drive, Stratford, NJ 08084, USA;2. Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, 683 Hoes Lane West, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA;3. Department of Biology and Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Rutgers University, 311 North Fifth Street, Camden, NJ 08102, USA;4. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, 14 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA;1. Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal;2. Department of Biology, York University, 4700 Keele St., Toronto, Ontario M3J IP3, Canada;3. Department of Biology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario KOH 2HO, Canada;4. Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas, MARE, Universidade dos Açores, 9901-862 Horta, Açores, Portugal;5. Section of Integrated Environmental Science, Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, North 10, South 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan |
| |
| Abstract: | Although male turtles are usually regarded as having a post-nuptial pattern of gonadogenesis (i.e. gonadal growth dissociated from time of mating), they do mate both in the spring (when testes are regressed, plasma testosterone levels are low, epididymides are enlarged, and temperature and daylength increasing) and in the autumn (testes and epididymides are enlarged, plasma testosterone levels are elevated, and temperature and daylength are decreasing). Therefore different proximate cues may operate in mediating male reproductive behaviour at different times of year. When temperature, photoperiod and testosterone levels were altered in male Sternotherus odoratus during the year in both laboratory and semifield conditions, reproductive behaviour occurred more readily in autumn than in spring (the supposed major breeding period). Short daylength was the key environmental condition stimulating male sexual activity, while temperature changes ‘fine-tuned’ this behaviour. Testosterone was effective in stimulating male behaviour only under certain environmental conditions and males could become refractory to artificially elevated plasma testosterone levels. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
