Androstenedione may organize or activate sex-reversed traits in female spotted hyenas.
Abstract
Spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta Erxleben) present a unique syndrome of reversal in behavioral and anatomical distinction between the sexes: females are heavier and more aggressive than males and dominant over them. The female's external genitalia include a false scrotum and a fully erectile pseudopenis through which mating and birth take place. Results of studies of circulating testosterone levels in wild spotted hyenas do not account for the "male-like" characteristics of the female. Androstenedione, however, is consistently higher in females than in males, particularly during early infancy. Experiments on rodents show that androstenedione can be a potent organizer of anatomical and behavioral differentiation. This study suggests that it may also produce the profound virilization of female spotted hyenas.
- Publication:
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- May 1987
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.84.10.3444
- Bibcode:
- 1987PNAS...84.3444G