Abstract
The proceptive and investigative behavior of estrous female golden hamsters was studied by introducing females into an arena with pairs of males in mesh containers (intact golden hamster - intact Turkish hamster; intact - Harderianectomized (HX) golden hamster; HX golden hamster - golden hamster smeared by male fresh Harderian gland homogenate (HXHG). During 10-min tests the number and duration of lordosis reactions, the time spent in each half of arena, the total time and the number of sniffing bouts were recorded. When one male of the pair was a conspecifíc and another one was a Turkish hamster all measures were significantly higher towards the conspecifíc male. Females also preferred an intact male over an HX male. In the HX male - HXHG male comparison, females showed greater proceptive and investigative interest in the HXHG males. Thus, the degree of expression of female proceptive behavior increased in the following order: heterospecific male, HX conspecifíc male, HX conspecific male plus male Harderian gland homogenate, intact conspecifíc male. We conclude that the Harderian gland of the male golden hamster contains a signal which can provoke sexual response of the female.
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Bodyak, N.D., Surov, A.V. (1999). Male Harderian Gland Secretion of the Golden Hamster (Mesocricetus Auratus) Can Provoke Female Proceptive Behavior. In: Johnston, R.E., Müller-Schwarze, D., Sorensen, P.W. (eds) Advances in Chemical Signals in Vertebrates. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4733-4_31
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4733-4_31
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