A critical period for the organization of alternative male phenotypes of tree lizards by exogenous testosterone?

Abstract

Male tree lizards ( Urosaurus ornatus) exhibit permanent adult differences in color and size that are functionally linked with behavioral differences: males with a central blue throat patch are territorial, more aggressive, and smaller than males lacking the patch, who are nomads or satellites foregoing territory defense. Gonadectomy or long-lasting hormone implants in hatchlings affect the development of these permanent adult differences, but similar manipulations in adults are ineffective. Analogous early hormone actions in vertebrate sexual differentiation typically must occur during a critical period. Whether there is a critical period for early hormone actions affecting development of male types in tree lizards is unclear. We followed a protocol identical to our previous experiments on hatchlings, but we manipulated testosterone (T) in later-aged juveniles to determine if they remained sensitive to such hormone manipulations. Testosterone implants given at 60 days posthatching (day 60) did not alter adult throat color, indicating that sensitivity of throat color to T declines by day 60. This contrasts to our earlier work where adult color was affected by T manipulations on day 30. However, size and throat color responded differently to exogenous T, as juveniles given T implants at day 60 grew less than control-implanted males.