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Mate choice in zebra finches: does corticosterone play a role?
journal contribution
posted on 2007-10-01, 00:00 authored by M Roberts, Kate BuchananKate Buchanan, Andy Bennett, M EvansThe importance of stress as a factor in influencing life history strategies has received considerable attention in recent years, because it appears to have a substantial impact on an individual's behaviour and physiology. Birds respond to environmental and social stressors by the production of corticosterone, a glucocorticoid hormone released by the adrenal gland. In this experiment, we tested whether female zebra finches preferred males selected to produce low or high peak levels of circulating plasma corticosterone. Plasma corticosterone and testosterone levels of the males were recorded, as were morphometric measurements and perch activity. Spectrophotometric measurements were also taken from several putatively sexually selected regions of the males. The females preferred the males from the low corticosterone lines to the high corticosterone males. In addition to, and consistent with this effect, females preferred males with the lowest corticosterone titres. Male activity, testosterone level, body size and mass had no effect on female preference. Leg and beak brightness were important, however, as were the brightness and chromaticity of the male cheek patch. These results are discussed in relation to contemporary hypotheses in sexual selection, particularly in the context of stress-mediated signalling.
History
Journal
Animal behaviourVolume
74Issue
4Pagination
921 - 929Publisher
Bailliè€re, Tindall and Cassell [etc.].Location
London, EnglandPublisher DOI
ISSN
0003-3472eISSN
1095-8282Language
engPublication classification
C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2007, The Association for the Study of Animal BehaviourUsage metrics
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corticosteronemate choiceselection programmesexual signalspectrophotometrytaeniopygia guttatatestosteronezebra finchScience & TechnologyLife Sciences & BiomedicineBehavioral SciencesZoologyADRENOCORTICAL-RESPONSEULTRAVIOLET VISIONPLASMA-CORTICOSTERONECOLOR PREFERENCESSTRESS RESPONSESSEASONAL-CHANGESJAPANESE-QUAILBEAK COLORSELECTIONBEHAVIOR
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