Ejaculate testosterone levels affect maternal investment in red junglefowl (Gallus gallus gallus).

ABSTRACT: Substantial concentrations of testosterone are not only present in a male's circulation, but also in its ejaculate. Surprisingly, the regulation of ejaculate T and its effects on females and their offspring, potentially a cryptic paternal trait, are not known. We found lower circulating and higher ejaculate T concentrations in subordinate red junglefowl (Gallus gallus gallus) males compared to dominant males, suggestive of an adaptive trade-off in T allocation to circulation and their ejaculate. Subsequently, we artificially inseminated females with either testosterone enriched (TE) or control ejaculates (CE) in a cross-over design. TE females produced heavier eggs than CE females. Offspring growth and tonic immobility were affected in a sex-specific way by TE. TE sons were heavier with sh

SUBMITTER: Lelono A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6702165 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature