Androstenedione may organize or activate sex-reversed traits in female spotted hyenas.
AUTOR(ES)
Glickman, S E
RESUMO
Spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta Erxleben) present a unique syndrome of reversal in behavioral and anatomical distinction between the sexes: females are heavier and more aggressive than males and dominant over them. The female's external genitalia include a false scrotum and a fully erectile pseudopenis through which mating and birth take place. Results of studies of circulating testosterone levels in wild spotted hyenas do not account for the "male-like" characteristics of the female. Androstenedione, however, is consistently higher in females than in males, particularly during early infancy. Experiments on rodents show that androstenedione can be a potent organizer of anatomical and behavioral differentiation. This study suggests that it may also produce the profound virilization of female spotted hyenas.
ACESSO AO ARTIGO
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=304887Documentos Relacionados
- Linkage of the Steroid Sulfatase Gene to the Sex-Reversed Mutation in the Mouse
- Social, state-dependent and environmental modulation of faecal corticosteroid levels in free-ranging female spotted hyenas.
- Cryopreservation of semen from functional sex-reversed genotypic females of the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss
- Mutations in the SRY, DAX1, SF1 and WNT4 genes in Brazilian sex-reversed patients
- Regular exposure to rabies virus and lack of symptomatic disease in Serengeti spotted hyenas
