The influence of testosterone on the development and fixation of the form of displays in two age classes of young black-headed gulls

Groothuis, Ton G. G.; Meeuwissen, Guido

doi:10.1016/s0003-3472(05)80215-5

Cited by 73 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Because sex differences in morphology develop only much later in life, sex of the birds was not established. It cannot be a confounding factor in the analyses because gulls show hardly any sexual differentiation in social behavior even in response to testosterone treatment (Terkel, Moore, and Beer, 1976;Wingfield, Newman, Hunt, and Farner, 1982;Groothuis and Meeuwissen, 1992). To facilitate individual recognition by the observer the chicks were individually marked on head or back with rhodamine or picrine (ICN Biochemicals, Cleveland, OH; chemicals were dissolved in acetone) and received a color ring.…”

Section: Rearing Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sibling aggression may not be regulated by testosterone (Nuñ ez de la Mora, Drummond, and Wingfield, 1996; Ramos-Fernandez, Nuñ ez de la Mora, Wingfield, and Drummond, 2000). However, there is convincing experimental evidence for testosterone-dependent regulation of territorial aggression in black-headed gull chicks (Groothuis and Meeuwissen, 1992). Young birds especially might be vulnerable to the subsequent effects of testosterone: like reduction of growth (Fennell and Scanes, 1992;Ros, 1999); modification of plumage characteristics (Ros, 1999); decrease of begging behavior; and modification of the syrinx (Groothuis and Meeuwissen, 1992).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, there is convincing experimental evidence for testosterone-dependent regulation of territorial aggression in black-headed gull chicks (Groothuis and Meeuwissen, 1992). Young birds especially might be vulnerable to the subsequent effects of testosterone: like reduction of growth (Fennell and Scanes, 1992;Ros, 1999); modification of plumage characteristics (Ros, 1999); decrease of begging behavior; and modification of the syrinx (Groothuis and Meeuwissen, 1992). Therefore, if juvenile aggression is testosterone dependent, it is to be expected that also in these young testosterone profiles are finely tuned to the challenging situation.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is not known whether such temporary increases of aggressive behavior are based on temporary changes in plasma levels of testosterone. Groothuis and Meeuwissen (1992) studied the relation between testosterone and aggression in young black-headed gulls experimentally. They implanted chicks and juveniles with pellets of testosterone.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the first experiment we analyzed whether exposure of the chicks to a period of territorial challenges, as is the normal situation in the field, is correlated with increased basal levels of testosterone. In the second experiment we used a similar set up as the one of Groothuis and Meeuwissen (1992). We analyzed (1) whether in the period when the experimentally elevated basal levels of testosterone were returned to low values, aggression is related to brief elevations of blood levels of the hormone around the time of a territorial challenge, and (2) whether this may be due to priming to testosterone in an earlier phase.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Social Stimuli, Testosterone, and Aggression in Gull Chicks: Support for the Challenge Hypothesis

Ros

Dieleman

Groothuis

2002

Hormones and Behavior

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We tested the challenge hypothesis for the hormonal regulation of aggression in chicks of the black-headed gull, Larus ridibundus. Chicks of this species are highly aggressive toward conspecifics, but never to peers that hatched from the same clutch (modal clutch size is three). Therefore, in the first experiment small families were housed together in large groups (challenged condition) and compared to families kept isolated (nonchallenged condition). As expected, in the challenged condition during the initial stage of territory establishment basal levels of testosterone (T) were clearly higher than those in the nonchallenged condition. In the second experiment we tested the effect of a short social challenge on short-term T-fluctuations. The design was based on an earlier experiment, showing that after temporary T-treatment chicks become very sensitive to social challenges while having low basal T-levels. We now show that these social challenges induce brief elevations in plasma T-levels. These peaks are similar to those in previously untreated chicks but untreated chicks do not respond with aggression to a challenge. Therefore, we conclude that the initial exposure to elevated T-levels increases the sensitivity to brief changes in T induced by social challenges. In this way exposure to T, that may be detrimental for development, is minimized while birds remain able to defend territories. This is the first report showing that the challenge hypothesis as established for adult birds, is also applicable for aggressive behavior in young birds outside the sexual context. Furthermore we suggest that a phase of priming with T is necessary to obtain the high behavioral responsiveness to a challenge. © 2002 Elsevier Science (USA)

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Section: Rearing Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%