Elsevier

Hormones and Behavior

Volume 26, Issue 2, June 1992, Pages 156-166
Hormones and Behavior

Sex steroids and vasotocin interact in a female amphibian (Taricha granulosa) to elicit female-like egg-laying behavior or male-like courtship

https://doi.org/10.1016/0018-506X(92)90039-XGet rights and content

Abstract

Female egg-laying behaviors and male amplectic clasping behaviors in the rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa) are similar in that animals clasp an object. In the case of egg-laying, females clasp submerged inanimate objects, whereas in amplexus, males clasp conspecific females. Considering these behavioral similarities and differences, we investigated the possibility that gonadal steroids and vasotocin (AVT) interact to control egg-laying behaviors, as has been shown for the control of amplexus in Taricha males. Intact, gravid T. granulosa females injected ip with AVT, unlike those injected with saline, exhibited egg-laying behaviors and oviposition. In ovariectomy-steroid-implant studies, no saline-injected female exhibited egg-laying behaviors, whereas AVT-injected ovariectomized females exhibited egg-laying behaviors if implanted with estradiol (E2), testosterone, or dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and not if implanted with empty capsules. When given a choice between clasping aquatic vegetation or other females (amplectic clasping), following an AVT injection, unoperated and shamoperated control females and ovariectomized females with E2 implants did not preferentially clasp aquatic vegetation over other females. In contrast, AVT-injected ovariectomized females with DHT implants preferentially clasped other females. Thus, exposure of Taricha females to estrogens or androgens appears to determine whether the AVT-induced clasping is egg-laying or amplectic clasping.

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Cited by (82)

  • Arginine vasotocin impacts chemosensory behavior during social interactions of Anolis carolinensis lizards

    2020, Hormones and Behavior
    Citation Excerpt :

    Furthermore, sex differences in AVT/AVP systems may be maintained by evolutionary need to secure reproductive opportunities, either directly or indirectly by modulating reproductive or competitive interactions, respectively. For example, in rough-skinned newts (Taricha granulosa), AVT differentially interacts with sex hormones to elicit egg-laying and ovipositioning behavior in gravid females (Moore et al., 1992) and amplectic clasping behavior in males (Moore, 1983, 1987). Exogenous AVT/AVP can also have sex-dependent effects on locomotor behavior that is directly related to reproduction, as demonstrated in bullfrogs (Boyd, 1991, 1994; Goodson and Bass, 2001).

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Current address: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556-0369.

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