Behavioral Evidence of a Courtship Pheromone in the Crested Newt, Triturus cristatus carnifex Laurenti

Malacarne, Giorgio; Vellano, Camillo

doi:10.2307/1446067

Cited by 40 publications

(18 citation statements)

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“…2004). In particular, sexual signalling has been reported in several species (Malacarne & Vellano 1987; Houck & Reagan 1990; Kikuyama et al 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Logically, they preferred the waterborne odour of a courting pair. However, they also displayed more ‘sniffing’ to female odours, whereas they did not respond to single male odours (Malacarne & Vellano 1987). More surprisingly, females from the complex of terrestrial species Plethodon glutinosus – P. jordani tested in an air Y‐olfactometer, showed preference for female over male stimuli (Dawley 1984).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Female Attraction to Conspecific Chemical Cues in the Palmate Newt Triturus helveticus

2005

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Although chemosignals are largely used in sexual communication in urodeles, olfactometer studies in newts provided contrasting results about the sex specificity of female behavioural responses. Because long-range sexual advertisement is believed to be costly, some species might restrain this activity to close interactions with conspecifics. We tested chemical-mediated sexual attraction in female palmate newt (Triturus helveticus) by measuring the attraction to male and female odours in a linear water olfactometer. Unexpectedly, females were attracted towards conspecifics regardless of sex. They did not show attraction towards Limnaea stagnalis, a common sympatric aquatic gastropod. These results do not support the use of long-range male sexual signalling in the palmate newt. Instead, conspecific attraction is likely to promote aggregation of males and females in breeding ponds. Observations in the field and in the laboratory tend to support the aggregative behaviour of this species. We discuss the possible function of conspecific attraction in this context. Heading towards any conspecific would increase the probability of finding potential mates. Chemical cues do not need to be sex-specific at that stage so that long-range sexual advertisement might be unnecessary. This work emphasizes the need for studies investigating the evolutionary relationships between sexual signalling systems and population-distribution patterns.

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“…2004). In particular, sexual signalling has been reported in several species (Malacarne & Vellano 1987; Houck & Reagan 1990; Kikuyama et al 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Female Attraction to Conspecific Chemical Cues in the Palmate Newt Triturus helveticus

2005

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“…T. alpestris; Zajc & Arntzen 1999) develop no or relatively small and invariant crests during the breeding season and exhibit courtship behaviours that lack many of the strong vigour signals used by T. vulgaris and T. cristatus (Arntzen & Sparreboom 1989). Males of all Triturus species deliver chemical signals to females during courtship (Arnold & Houck 1982;Malacarne & Giacoma 1986), which include pheromones that attract females (Malacarne & Vellano 1987;Houck & Reagan 1990 (Penn & Potts 1999). It is conceivable, then, that males of Triturus species that do not rely heavily on strong phenotypic cues signal their suitability as mates more strongly through chemical signals that enable mate choice for genetic compatibility.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relatedness, body size and paternity in the alpine newt,Triturus alpestris

Garner

Schmidt²

2003

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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Sexual selection has traditionally been investigated assuming that male quality is as skewed as patterns of male reproductive success can sometimes be. Recently, female choice has been investigated under the model of genetic compatibility, which assumes that each individual female has her own 'best' mate and there is no overall optimal choice for all females. We investigated female mate choice in the newt species Triturus alpestris, a member of a genus where female choice has been investigated only within the context of the optimal male (female choice for condition-dependent traits). We provided females with two males that differed in one condition-dependent trait (body size) and overall genetic composition. Both male body size and female body size did not influence paternity, but the degree of genetic relatedness between females and potential mates did. Two components of fitness (fecundity and hatching success) did not differ between singly and multiply sired clutches, indicating that females do not employ polyandry as a means of increasing offspring fitness through genetic bet-hedging. Instead, we hypothesize that females may mate initially for fertility assurance, but prefer less-related males as the most genetically compatible mates.

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“…In most urodeles, chemical signals play a major role in sex recognition and courtship behavior (Houck, 1986;Salthe and Mecham, 1974). Several investigators have confirmed the existence of sex pheromones in certain species of urodeles (Twitty, 1955;Malacarne and Vellano, 1987;Malacarne et al,1984;Cedrini and Fasolo, 1971). However, very little work had been carried out to elucidate the biochemical nature of these substances (Belvedere et al, 1988;Andreleotti et al, 1994).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Endocrine regulation of reproductive behavior in the newt Cynops pyrrhogaster

Toyoda

Kikuyama

2000

Zoological Science

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Hormonal control of the expression of courtship behavior and of secretion of the female-attracting pheromone sodefrin by the male red-bellied newt, Cynops pyrrhogaster, together with the hormonal influence on the responsiveness to the pheromone in the female, is reviewed.Expression of the initial stage of the courtship behavior, i.e., tail vibration by the male in front of the female, is dependent on prolactin (PRL) and androgen. During the courtship, sodefrin seems to be released from the cloaca through the ducts of the abdominal gland. Both content of immunoreactive sodefrin and preprosodefrin mRNA levels in the abdominal gland are elevated by a combination of PRL and androgen, indicating that the pheromone synthesis is stimulated by these two hormones. On the other hand, the discharge of sodefrin is accelerated by AVT, its action being mediated by V1 receptor. In female newts, responsiveness of the vomeronasal epithelium to the pheromone is elevated by a combination of PRL and estrogen. Thus, it can be concluded that PRL, AVT, and sex steroids are key hormones for the reproductive performance in the red-bellied newt. In this article, the significance of the structure of the pheromone molecule as a peptide is also discussed in terms of its species-specificity and its effectiveness in an aquatic environment.

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Behavioral Evidence of a Courtship Pheromone in the Crested Newt, Triturus cristatus carnifex Laurenti

Cited by 40 publications

References 0 publications

Female Attraction to Conspecific Chemical Cues in the Palmate Newt Triturus helveticus

Female Attraction to Conspecific Chemical Cues in the Palmate Newt Triturus helveticus

Relatedness, body size and paternity in the alpine newt,Triturus alpestris

Endocrine regulation of reproductive behavior in the newt Cynops pyrrhogaster

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