The development of aggressive and marking behavior in intact and castrated male hamsters

Abstract

In pairs consisting of two intact or two castrated male hamsters, the level of aggressive and flank-marking behavior increased with age. Dominance relationships were established early and remained stable. Castration prevented the appearance of the flank gland but did not alter the development of aggression, dominance, and marking. After the formation of intact-castrate pairs, the level of performance of the intacts was significantly higher than the castrates only for marking behavior. In a second experiment involving 49 intact-castrate pairs, there were no differences between intacts and castrates for any behavioral variables measured. Although testicular integrity may influence agonistic behavior in certain situations, these data indicate that it must be only one of several influences in determining the occurrence and outcome of an agonistic encounter.