The influence of physiological status on the reproductive behaviour of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae)
For most cetacean species, there is little known about how an individual's physiology influences its behaviour. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are a good candidate to examine such links as they have a well-described distribution and behaviour, can be consistently sampled using remote...
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2020
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ftunivqespace:oai:espace.library.uq.edu.au:UQ:b52f698 2023-05-15T16:35:57+02:00 The influence of physiological status on the reproductive behaviour of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) Mingramm, F. M.J. Keeley, T. Whitworth, D. J. Dunlop, R. A. 2020-01-01 https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:b52f698 eng eng Academic Press doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.104606 issn:1095-6867 issn:0018-506X orcid:0000-0001-7001-3366 orcid:0000-0003-2327-5958 orcid:0000-0002-9097-0240 orcid:0000-0002-0427-6317 Not set HOLSW2015-1-F057 HOLSW2016-R1-F003 100006313 Blubber Hormone Humpback whale Reproductive behaviour 1310 Endocrinology 2802 Behavioral Neuroscience 2807 Endocrine and Autonomic Systems Journal Article 2020 ftunivqespace https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.104606 2020-12-08T07:11:18Z For most cetacean species, there is little known about how an individual's physiology influences its behaviour. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are a good candidate to examine such links as they have a well-described distribution and behaviour, can be consistently sampled using remote biopsy systems, and have been the subject of several previous endocrine studies. The objective here was to examine whether a female humpback whale's social state (i.e. escorted by a male or not) is related to her endocrine condition, and whether male dominance ranking is related to testosterone levels. Skin and blubber biopsies were collected from the east and west Australian humpback whale populations in 2010–2016 (n = 252) at multiple times throughout the winter-spring breeding season. Steroid hormones were extracted from blubber and concentrations of progesterone (a marker for pregnancy), testosterone (a marker of male testicular activity) and oestradiol (a potential marker of ovarian activity) measured using enzyme-immunoassays. Principal escorts—the dominant males in mixed sex groups—had significantly higher blubber testosterone levels (mean ± SE; 1.43 ± 0.20 ng/g wet weight) than subordinate, secondary escorts (0.69 ± 0.06 ng/g wet weight). Females that were escorted by males typically possessed elevated blubber oestradiol levels (1.96 ± 0.25 ng/g wet weight; p = 0.014); few were considered to be pregnant (p = 0.083). ‘Unescorted’ females displayed characteristically lower blubber oestradiol levels (0.56 ± 0.06 ng/g wet weight). Together, these results are consistent with ‘challenge hypothesis’ theory and suggest the existence of associated reproductive patterns in humpback whales. Article in Journal/Newspaper Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae The University of Queensland: UQ eSpace Hormones and Behavior 117 104606 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
The University of Queensland: UQ eSpace |
op_collection_id |
ftunivqespace |
language |
English |
topic |
Blubber Hormone Humpback whale Reproductive behaviour 1310 Endocrinology 2802 Behavioral Neuroscience 2807 Endocrine and Autonomic Systems |
spellingShingle |
Blubber Hormone Humpback whale Reproductive behaviour 1310 Endocrinology 2802 Behavioral Neuroscience 2807 Endocrine and Autonomic Systems Mingramm, F. M.J. Keeley, T. Whitworth, D. J. Dunlop, R. A. The influence of physiological status on the reproductive behaviour of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) |
topic_facet |
Blubber Hormone Humpback whale Reproductive behaviour 1310 Endocrinology 2802 Behavioral Neuroscience 2807 Endocrine and Autonomic Systems |
description |
For most cetacean species, there is little known about how an individual's physiology influences its behaviour. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are a good candidate to examine such links as they have a well-described distribution and behaviour, can be consistently sampled using remote biopsy systems, and have been the subject of several previous endocrine studies. The objective here was to examine whether a female humpback whale's social state (i.e. escorted by a male or not) is related to her endocrine condition, and whether male dominance ranking is related to testosterone levels. Skin and blubber biopsies were collected from the east and west Australian humpback whale populations in 2010–2016 (n = 252) at multiple times throughout the winter-spring breeding season. Steroid hormones were extracted from blubber and concentrations of progesterone (a marker for pregnancy), testosterone (a marker of male testicular activity) and oestradiol (a potential marker of ovarian activity) measured using enzyme-immunoassays. Principal escorts—the dominant males in mixed sex groups—had significantly higher blubber testosterone levels (mean ± SE; 1.43 ± 0.20 ng/g wet weight) than subordinate, secondary escorts (0.69 ± 0.06 ng/g wet weight). Females that were escorted by males typically possessed elevated blubber oestradiol levels (1.96 ± 0.25 ng/g wet weight; p = 0.014); few were considered to be pregnant (p = 0.083). ‘Unescorted’ females displayed characteristically lower blubber oestradiol levels (0.56 ± 0.06 ng/g wet weight). Together, these results are consistent with ‘challenge hypothesis’ theory and suggest the existence of associated reproductive patterns in humpback whales. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mingramm, F. M.J. Keeley, T. Whitworth, D. J. Dunlop, R. A. |
author_facet |
Mingramm, F. M.J. Keeley, T. Whitworth, D. J. Dunlop, R. A. |
author_sort |
Mingramm, F. M.J. |
title |
The influence of physiological status on the reproductive behaviour of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) |
title_short |
The influence of physiological status on the reproductive behaviour of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) |
title_full |
The influence of physiological status on the reproductive behaviour of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) |
title_fullStr |
The influence of physiological status on the reproductive behaviour of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) |
title_full_unstemmed |
The influence of physiological status on the reproductive behaviour of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) |
title_sort |
influence of physiological status on the reproductive behaviour of humpback whales (megaptera novaeangliae) |
publisher |
Academic Press |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:b52f698 |
genre |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_relation |
doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.104606 issn:1095-6867 issn:0018-506X orcid:0000-0001-7001-3366 orcid:0000-0003-2327-5958 orcid:0000-0002-9097-0240 orcid:0000-0002-0427-6317 Not set HOLSW2015-1-F057 HOLSW2016-R1-F003 100006313 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.104606 |
container_title |
Hormones and Behavior |
container_volume |
117 |
container_start_page |
104606 |
_version_ |
1766026270500454400 |