Reconsidering reproductive patterns in a model dissociated species, the red-sided garter snake: Sex-specific and seasonal changes in gonadal steroidogenic gene expression.

ABSTRACT: Sex steroid hormones are powerful regulators of reproductive behavior and physiology in vertebrates, and steroidogenesis has distinct sex- and season-specific patterns ultimately dictated by the expression of key enzymes. Most comparative endocrinology studies, however, focus only on circulating levels of sex steroids to determine their temporal association with life-history events in what are termed associated reproductive patterns. The red-sided garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis) is a notable exception; this species exhibits maximal sex behavior decoupled from maximal sex steroid production and gametogenesis in what is termed a dissociated reproductive pattern. And while this is true for male red-sided garter snakes and their production of testosterone, females have max

SUBMITTER: Lincoln JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10040831 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature