Leptin Manipulation Reduces Appetite and Causes a Switch in Mating Preference in the Plains Spadefoot Toad (Spea bombifrons).

ABSTRACT: Condition- or context-dependent mate choice occurs when females modify their mate preferences depending on their internal or external environment. While the ecological and evolutionary factors that favor the evolution of such plasticity are emerging, relatively little is known of the mechanisms underlying such choice. Here we evaluated whether leptin, a protein hormone involved in the regulation of appetite, might affect the expression of condition-dependent mate choice decisions. To do so, we administered leptin to spadefoot toads, Spea bombifrons, which exhibit condition-dependent mate choice for males of their own species versus congeneric males of S. multiplicata. In particular, poor-condition S. bombifrons are more likely than are good-condition S. bombifrons to prefer S. multiplicata

SUBMITTER: Garcia NW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4412710 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature