Gonadal hormones and intrasexual aggressive behavior in female bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus)

✍ Scribed by Joanna Kapusta

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 102 KB
• Volume: 24
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0096-140X
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-2337(1998)24:1<63::aid-ab6>3.0.co;2-t

✦ Synopsis

The effects of gonadal hormones on aggressive behavior in the female bank vole was investigated in 10 min home cage tests. Ovariectomized (ovx) or intact females injected with oil, with progesterone (P), with a mixture of progesterone and estrogen (P+E), or with testosterone (T) alone were confronted in a resident-intruder test with unfamiliar, nonoperated females as intruders. Intact females showed aggressive behavior more frequently than ovx females. Ovx females injected with P, with P+E, or with T made significantly more attacks, and these attacks lasted longer than those observed for oil-treated voles. The results indicate that P, the typical female hormone, is responsible for aggressive behavior in female bank voles; however, only T increased the duration of interfemale aggression.