Abstract
A male rat will usually kill newborn rat pups that are placed with him whereas a female usually will not. In past experiments with male rats neonatal castration almost completely blocked killing behavior whereas castration in adulthood had no effect. The present experiment was designed to further evaluate the role of testosterone in the development of pup-killing behavior by manipulating the age at castration and the schedule of replacement therapy. Within the prepubertal (Day 30) castrates, those which received replacement therapy with testosterone killed more than the placebo-treated animals. Also, the sham-castrated controls killed more than the Day 30 placebo-treated castrates but did not differ from the testosterone treated castrates. A similar pattern of results was obtained for the postpubertal (Day 60) castrates except that the castrates which received replacement therapy did not kill more than the placebo-treated animals. It was concluded that castration either before or after puberty will reduce the incidence of pup-killing in adulthood, and replacement therapy with testosterone is sufficient to maintain the behavior.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
