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Organizational and activational androgens, lemur social play, and the ontogeny of female dominance.

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Date
2019-07-02
Authors
Grebe, Nicholas M
Fitzpatrick, Courtney
Sharrock, Katherine
Starling, Anne
Drea, Christine M
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Abstract
The role of androgens in shaping "masculine" traits in males is a core focus in behavioral endocrinology, but relatively little is known about an androgenic role in female aggression and social dominance. In mammalian models of female dominance, including the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta), links to androgens in adulthood are variable. We studied the development of ring-tailed lemurs to address the behavioral basis and ontogenetic mechanisms of female dominance. We measured behavior and serum androgen concentrations in 24 lemurs (8 males, 16 females) from infancy to early adulthood, and assessed their 'prenatal' androgen milieu using serum samples obtained from their mothers during gestation. Because logistical constraints limited the frequency of infant blood sampling, we accounted for asynchrony between behavioral and postnatal hormone measurements via imputation procedures. Imputation was unnecessary for prenatal hormone measurements. The typical sex difference in androgen concentrations in young lemurs was consistent with adult conspecifics and most other mammals; however, we found no significant sex differences in rough-and-tumble play. Female (but not male) aggression increased beginning at approximately 15 months, coincident with female puberty. In our analyses relating sexually differentiated behavior to androgens, we found no relationship with activational hormones, but several significant relationships with organizational hormones. Notably, associations of prenatal androstenedione and testosterone with behavior were differentiated, both by offspring sex and by type of behavior within offspring sexes. We discuss the importance of considering (1) missing data in behavioral endocrinology research, and (2) organizational androgens other than testosterone in studies of female dominance.
Type
Journal article
Subject
Aggression
Androstenedione
Female dominance
Imputation models
Masculinization
Play
Strepsirrhine primate
Testosterone
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/19149
Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.07.002
Publication Info
Grebe, Nicholas M; Fitzpatrick, Courtney; Sharrock, Katherine; Starling, Anne; & Drea, Christine M (2019). Organizational and activational androgens, lemur social play, and the ontogeny of female dominance. Hormones and behavior, 115. pp. 104554. 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.07.002. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/19149.
This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Scholars@Duke

Drea

Christine M. Drea

Professor in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology
I have two broad research interests, sexual differentiation and social behavior, both focused on hyenas and primates. I am particularly interested in unusual species in which the females display a suite of masculinized characteristics, including male- like or exaggerated external genitalia and social dominance. The study of naturally occurring hormones in such unique mammals can reveal general processes of hormonal activity, expressed in genital morphology, reproductive development, and

Nicholas Grebe

Postdoctoral Associate
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