Does testosterone underly the interplay between male traits and territorial behavior in neotropical poison frogs? 2024

Mileidy Betancourth-Cundar, and Virginie Canoine, and Leonida Fusani, and Carlos Daniel Cadena
Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia. Electronic address: cm.betancourth2026@uniandes.edu.co.

The ability of individual animals to defend a territory as well as various phenotypic and behavioral traits may be targets of sexual selection used by males to evaluate their competitors or by females to choose males. A frequent question in animal behavior is whether male traits and characteristics of their territory are correlated and what are the mechanisms that may mediate such associations when they exist. Because hormones link phenotype to behavior, by studying the role of testosterone in territoriality one may come closer to understanding the mechanisms mediating correlations or lack thereof between characteristics of territories and of males. We evaluated whether variation in characteristics of territories (size and quality) are correlated with variation in morphology, coloration, testosterone, heterozygosity, and calls in two species of poison frogs. The Amazonian frog Allobates aff. trilineatus exhibits male care and defends territories only during the breeding season, while the endangered frog Oophaga lehmanni displays maternal care and defends territories throughout the year. We found that morphological traits (body length, weight, thigh size), call activity, and testosterone levels correlated with size and various indicators of quality of the territory. However, the direction of these correlations (whether positive or negative) and which specific morphological, acoustic traits or testosterone level variables covaried depended on the species. Our findings highlight an endocrine pathway as part of the physiological machinery that may underlie the interplay between male traits and territorial behavior. We were able to identify some male traits related to territory attributes, but whether females choose males based on these traits requires further research.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D005260 Female Females
D000097702 Poison Frogs Frogs that sequester and secrete POISONS (e.g., BATRACHOTOXINS). Poison frogs include Australian Pseudophryne, Central and South American Dendrobates, Epipedobates, and Phyllobates and Madagascan Mantella. Melanophyrniscus is a poison toad in the family of Bufonidae. All poison dart frogs are from rain forest of western Colombia and are members of Phyllobates. Dart Frogs,Poison Dart Frogs,Poison Toads,Venomous Frogs,Dart Frog,Frog, Poison Dart,Frog, Venomous,Frogs, Poison Dart,Poison Dart Frog,Poison Frog,Poison Toad,Venomous Frog
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D001001 Anura An order of the class Amphibia, which includes several families of frogs and toads. They are characterized by well developed hind limbs adapted for jumping, fused head and trunk and webbed toes. The term "toad" is ambiguous and is properly applied only to the family Bufonidae. Bombina,Frogs and Toads,Salientia,Toad, Fire-Bellied,Toads and Frogs,Anuras,Fire-Bellied Toad,Fire-Bellied Toads,Salientias,Toad, Fire Bellied,Toads, Fire-Bellied
D001522 Behavior, Animal The observable response an animal makes to any situation. Autotomy Animal,Animal Behavior,Animal Behaviors
D013731 Territoriality Behavior in defense of an area against another individual or individuals primarily of the same species. Territorialities
D013739 Testosterone A potent androgenic steroid and major product secreted by the LEYDIG CELLS of the TESTIS. Its production is stimulated by LUTEINIZING HORMONE from the PITUITARY GLAND. In turn, testosterone exerts feedback control of the pituitary LH and FSH secretion. Depending on the tissues, testosterone can be further converted to DIHYDROTESTOSTERONE or ESTRADIOL. 17-beta-Hydroxy-4-Androsten-3-one,17-beta-Hydroxy-8 alpha-4-Androsten-3-one,8-Isotestosterone,AndroGel,Androderm,Andropatch,Androtop,Histerone,Sterotate,Sustanon,Testim,Testoderm,Testolin,Testopel,Testosterone Sulfate,17 beta Hydroxy 4 Androsten 3 one,17 beta Hydroxy 8 alpha 4 Androsten 3 one,8 Isotestosterone
D014828 Vocalization, Animal Sounds used in animal communication. Singing, Animal,Sound Communication, Animal,Vocal Communication, Animal,Animal Singing,Animal Singings,Animal Sound Communication,Animal Sound Communications,Animal Vocal Communication,Animal Vocal Communications,Animal Vocalization,Animal Vocalizations,Communication, Animal Sound,Communication, Animal Vocal,Communications, Animal Sound,Communications, Animal Vocal,Singings, Animal,Sound Communications, Animal,Vocal Communications, Animal,Vocalizations, Animal
D049628 Body Size The physical measurements of a body. Body Sizes,Size, Body,Sizes, Body

Related Publications

Mileidy Betancourth-Cundar, and Virginie Canoine, and Leonida Fusani, and Carlos Daniel Cadena
April 2017, Hormones and behavior,
Mileidy Betancourth-Cundar, and Virginie Canoine, and Leonida Fusani, and Carlos Daniel Cadena
January 1982, Fortschritte der Chemie organischer Naturstoffe = Progress in the chemistry of organic natural products. Progres dans la chimie des substances organiques naturelles,
Mileidy Betancourth-Cundar, and Virginie Canoine, and Leonida Fusani, and Carlos Daniel Cadena
January 2024, General and comparative endocrinology,
Mileidy Betancourth-Cundar, and Virginie Canoine, and Leonida Fusani, and Carlos Daniel Cadena
March 2017, Scientific reports,
Mileidy Betancourth-Cundar, and Virginie Canoine, and Leonida Fusani, and Carlos Daniel Cadena
October 2021, Ecology and evolution,
Mileidy Betancourth-Cundar, and Virginie Canoine, and Leonida Fusani, and Carlos Daniel Cadena
May 2005, Hormones and behavior,
Mileidy Betancourth-Cundar, and Virginie Canoine, and Leonida Fusani, and Carlos Daniel Cadena
June 2020, Molecular ecology,
Mileidy Betancourth-Cundar, and Virginie Canoine, and Leonida Fusani, and Carlos Daniel Cadena
January 1978, Toxicon : official journal of the International Society on Toxinology,
Mileidy Betancourth-Cundar, and Virginie Canoine, and Leonida Fusani, and Carlos Daniel Cadena
October 2023, Molecular biology and evolution,
Mileidy Betancourth-Cundar, and Virginie Canoine, and Leonida Fusani, and Carlos Daniel Cadena
December 2023, Systematic biology,
Copied contents to your clipboard!