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  E-mail Message: I thought you might be interested in this item at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/116927926 Title: Pinealectomy, melatonin, and courtship behavior in male red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis). Publisher: ISBN/ISSN: 0022-104X OCLC:116927926

  
  

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Pinealectomy, melatonin, and courtship behavior in male red-sided garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis).

Author:	MT Mendonça; AJ Tousignant; D Crews
Edition/Format:	Article : English
Publication:	The Journal of experimental zoology, 1996 Jan 1; 274(1): 63-74
Database:	From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Summary:	Activation of courtship behavior in male red-sided garter snakes is independent of androgens. Only exposure to extended periods of low temperature with subsequent warming stimulates courtship in males. The pineal gland is thought to transduce temperature as well as photoperiodic information in reptiles. Therefore, we explored the relationship of the pineal and melatonin to sexual behavior in this species. Pinealectomy of male garter snakes disrupted sexual behavior upon emergence from a 17-week period of low temperature in approximately 60% of treated individuals in each of the 3 years of study. However, 40% of the males were unaffected by the pinealectomy, engaging in vigorous courtship. Administration of exogenous, chronic melatonin did not significantly modulate the effect of pinealectomy. Upon pinealectomy in the autumn (before hibernation), plasma levels of melatonin fell. However, upon emergence from hibernation, melatonin levels in pinealectomized (PINX) and sham-treated (SHAM) animals were equivalent, indicating extrapineal source(s) of melatonin. However, PINX males did not exhibit a diel cycle in melatonin levels upon emergence. Instead, melatonin remained elevated through the subsequent 24-hr period. SHAMs did exhibit a diel cycle. Ten days after emergence, PINX animals either had a disrupted/abnormal melatonin cycle and were non-courters or had a cycle similar to SHAM males and courted. Therefore, a normal diel cycle of melatonin appeared necessary for the proper expression of courtship behavior. These results suggest that the pineal in snakes 1) is part of a complex, multi-oscillator system as it is in birds and lizards and 2) may play a role in maintaining polymorphism in timing of reproductive behavior.  Read more...
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