Male-female Interactions Research Articles

Brief Mating Behavior at Dawn and Dusk\xa0and Long Nocturnal Matings in the Butterfly Melanitis leda

Information on the mating system of an insect species is necessary to gain insight into sexual selection and population structure. Male territoriality of the common evening brown butterfly Melanitis leda has been studied in the wild, but other aspects of its mating system remain largely unknown. For a population of M. leda in South India, we observed male-male and male-female interactions in captivity, measured mating duration and spermatophore mass, and also determined the degree of polyandry in the wild. We found that mating behavior takes place for short periods of time around dawn and dusk. Our observations corroborate that males compete in aerial combats (twirling) and interfere with mating pairs. In the morning, they may use shivering to warm up. Females can twirl with males and refuse mating by pointing their abdomens upwards or by flying away. Males court females by fluttering their wings while perched behind females, and then initiate copulation by curling their abdomens ca. 180 degrees sideways to make genital contact. While in the morning, matings lasted on average one hour and twenty-three minutes and never exceeded three hours, in the evening, matings could be of similar duration, but 42% of butterflies only separated when dawn was approaching. However, such long nocturnal matings did not result in heavier spermatophores. The first spermatophore of a male tended to be larger than subsequent spermatophores. Together with previous studies on this species, our findings suggest that males compete mainly through territorial defense (as reported before), courtship performance, and interference, and to a lesser extent by providing spermatophores, while females exert some control over the mating system by the timing of their receptivity and mate choice.

Using reintroduction to elucidate breeding system, breeding phenology, and infanticide for a solitary carnivore (fisher, Pekania pennanti)

Breeding systems affect the timing of reproduction, spacing patterns and social organization, individual fitnesses, and population sizes. For many species, information on breeding systems and mating is limited or untested in wild populations, resulting in management actions that are incompletely informed. We used photographic data collected on a reintroduced fisher (Pekania pennanti (Erxleben, 1777)) population in northern California, USA, to test hypotheses about the breeding system, the timing of breeding, and the potential for male infanticide. We documented fishers of both sexes breeding with multiple partners in the same year, demonstrating polygynandry. We use logistic and linear regression to evaluate the timing and frequency of male visitation at 262 reproductive dens used by 50 individual females. Of 46 documented copulations and 577 male visits, 100% and 95%, respectively, occurred while females had kits in their natal dens. Seventy-five percent of documented male visits occurred before 31 March and 95% occurred before 17 April. Observed breeding occurred within 3.1 ± 1.6 days (mean ± SD) of locating females’ natal dens. We found no evidence for male-directed infanticide. Our results add precision to the timing of the reproductive cycle and provide the first descriptions of male–female interactions for wild fishers.

Erzähltes Recht oder Erzählen vom Recht? Praxis, Theorie und Gender in isländischen Sagatexten

AbstractThe society depicted in the Icelandic family sagas has often been characterised as the archetype of a ‘feuding society’. The disputing strategies found in the sagas have therefore served as an argument that the prescriptions of the laws which curb revenge were irrelevant in socio-legal practice. This dominance of the feud as the actual ‘law’ crystallising in saga disputes is questioned through a close analysis of gender roles. While ‘classical’ sagas frequently apply the motif of the female whetter who forces a male character to take action or lose his manly honour, thus stabilising the feuding mechanism, the contemporary sagas and non-canonical family sagas display a wide variety of male-female interaction in the negotiation of social resources and legal obligations. The systematic look at non-canonical passages reveals a discourse of counsel, in which gender roles are fluid and interchangeable. This fluidity reveals an implicit theory of ‘law’ in the sense of doing conflict which stresses the stabilising forces supporting written law opposed to the motif of the whetter, which comes to form a central element of the imagination of the Icelandic heroic age.

Courtship and copula duration influence paternity success in a spider

Courtship can have multiple, nonexclusive, functions, and it often plays a central role in mate choice. In the polyandrous, cannibalistic spider Argiope keyserlingi , males perform vibratory courtship that suppresses female aggression. Although females appear to have a preference (i.e. they shorten their latency to mate) for males performing courtship displays with specific characteristics (i.e. many shudders with consistent shudder duration), they are not more likely to mate with them. Here, we asked whether in this species courtship quality plays a role in postcopulatory sexual selection, by affecting male fertilization success via cryptic female choice. We quantified male courtship performance in a standardized thread assay with no male–female interactions, which simulates male approach to the female on the web. We allowed each unmated adult female to mate with two males. Prior to mating, one male from each pair was sterilized using an irradiation treatment and offspring paternity was assigned using the sterile male technique. Unexpectedly, we found that irradiated males had a fertilization advantage over nonirradiated males. When we controlled for that bias, males performing courtship with a large number of shudders and long copula durations gained the largest paternity shares. Together with evidence from previous studies, our results suggest that courtship quality mediates cryptic female choice, but further investigations are needed to parse out the influence of female control and sperm competition on paternity. • Argiope keyserlingi males perform vibratory courtship to suppress female aggression. • Females perceive variation in courtship quality but mating success is not affected. • Males performing many shudders and long copulations sire more offspring. • Females may cryptically bias paternity based on male courtship performance. • The sterilizing treatment by irradiation conferred a paternity advantage.

Beneficial Effects of Fingolimod on Social Interaction, CNS and Peripheral Immune Response in the BTBR Mouse Model of Autism

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by social communication deficits and repetitive/stereotyped behaviours. We evaluated the effects of a chronic treatment with the immunomodulator drug Fingolimod (FTY720 – a non-selective Sphingosine 1-Phosphate Receptor ligand) in an ASD model, the BTBR T+tf/J (BTBR) mouse strain. In adult BTBR males, chronic FTY720 treatment (4 weeks) increased social and vocal response during a male–female interaction and hippocampal expression of BDNF and Neuregulin 1, two trophic factors reduced in BTBR when compared to control C57 mice. FTY720 also re-established the expression of IL-1β and MnSOD in the hippocampus, whereas it did not modify IL-6 mRNA content. In addition to its central effect, FTY720 modulated the activation state of peripheral macrophages in the BTBR model, both in basal conditions and after stimulation with an immune challenge. Furthermore, IL-6 mRNA colonic content of BTBR mice, reduced when compared with C57 mice, was normalized by chronic treatment with FTY720. Our study, while indicating FTY720 as a tool to attenuate relevant alterations of the BTBR neurobehavioural phenotype, emphasizes the importance of gut mucosal immune evaluation as an additional target that deserve to be investigated in preclinical studies of anti-inflammatory therapeutic approaches in ASD.

The intensity of sexual selection, body size and reproductive success in a mating system with male–male combat: is bigger better?

Body size is a key selected trait in many animal systems: larger size is sexually selected for in males because it confers a reproductive advantage during contest competition for access to females, and larger females are naturally selected for fecundity. Herein, we used radio‐telemetry to gather a large dataset of male–female interactions and DNA paternity analyses to characterize the intensity of sexual selection and the link between two body size metrics (body length and condition, the latter manipulated experimentally for males) and reproductive success in a population of puff adders Bitis arietans. Our multiple estimates of the intensity of sexual selection generally indicated that males experienced stronger sexual selection than females. However, the Bateman gradients did not differ by sex, despite the fact that males increased reproductive success by mating with multiple females while females did not. We also found no strong evidence that females experienced indirect fitness benefits through multiple matings. Body size was not a key predictor of male reproductive success, and for females, body condition – but not body length – was the critical fecundity trait. Altogether, a combination of factors suggests that post‐copulatory mechanisms of sexual selection (e.g. sperm competition, cryptic female choice) may play critical roles in this mating system and perhaps that of other snakes. We interpret our findings in the context of sexual conflict – a ubiquitous and potent driver of mating strategy evolution – to propose a scenario for the evolution of female promiscuity that is applicable to many other animal systems where males roam widely to locate females at high costs.

FERONIA controls pectin- and nitric oxide-mediated male-female interaction.

Species that propagate by sexual reproduction actively guard against the fertilization of an egg by multiple sperm (polyspermy). Flowering plants rely on pollen tubes to transport their immotile sperm to fertilize the female gametophytes inside ovules. In Arabidopsis, pollen tubes are guided by cysteine-rich chemoattractants to target the female gametophyte1,2. The FERONIA receptor kinase has a dual role in ensuring sperm delivery and blocking polyspermy3. It has previously been reported that FERONIA generates a female gametophyte environment that is required for sperm release4. Here we show that FERONIA controls several functionally linked conditions to prevent the penetration of female gametophytes by multiple pollen tubes in Arabidopsis. We demonstrate that FERONIA is crucial for maintaining de-esterified pectin at the filiform apparatus, a region of the cell wall at the entrance to the female gametophyte. Pollen tube arrival at the ovule triggers the accumulation of nitric oxide at the filiform apparatus in a process that is dependent on FERONIA and mediated by de-esterified pectin. Nitric oxide nitrosates both precursor and mature forms of the chemoattractant LURE11, respectively blocking its secretion and interaction with its receptor, to suppress pollen tube attraction. Our results elucidate a mechanism controlled by FERONIA in which the arrival of the first pollen tube alters ovular conditions to disengage pollen tube attraction and prevent the approach and penetration of the female gametophyte by late-arriving pollen tubes, thus averting polyspermy.

ROS in the Male-Female Interactions During Pollination: Function and Regulation.

The male–female interactions in pollination mediate pollen hydration and germination, pollen tube growth and fertilization. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) derived from both male and female tissues play regulatory roles for the communication between the pollen/pollen tube and female tissues at various stages, such as pollen hydration and germination on the stigma, pollen tube growth in the pistil and pollen tube reception in the female gametophyte. In this minireview, we primarily summarize the recent progress on the roles of ROS signaling in male–female interactions during pollination and discuss several ROS-regulated downstream signaling pathways for these interactions. Furthermore, several ROS-involved downstream pathways are outlined, such as Ca2+ signaling, cell wall cytomechanics, the redox modification of CRP, and cell PCD. At the end, we address the roles of ROS in pollen tube guidance and fertilization as future questions that merit study.

Effect of a Condom Cover on Vaginal Photoplethysmographic Responses

IntroductionThe vaginal photoplethysmograph (VPP) is a reusable intravaginal device often employed in sexual psychophysiology studies to assess changes in vaginal blood flow, an indicator of sexual arousal. AimTo test whether placing a disposable cover on the VPP probe impacts the acquired data. A condom cover would reduce risk of disease transmission and likely increase participant comfort but may negatively impact the VPP signal. MethodThe genital responses of 25 cisgender women (mean age = 21.3 years, standard deviation = 2.6) were assessed with VPP in a within-subjects design with 2 conditions—with and without a polyisoprene condom cover. Sexual responses were elicited by audiovisual film clips that varied in erotic intensity: nonsexual (nonsexual male-female interaction), low-intensity sexual (nude exercise), and high-intensity sexual (male-female intercourse). Women continuously rated their sexual arousal during stimulus presentations. Main Outcome MeasureChange in vaginal pulse amplitude and also self-reported sexual arousal. ResultsThe magnitude of sexual response to each stimulus category and the overall pattern of results were found to be highly similar in the cover-off and cover-on conditions. The high-intensity sexual stimulus category elicited a greater sexual response than all other categories. The low-intensity sexual category elicited a (small) genital response in only the cover-on condition, although we suspect this is a spurious finding. There was no difference in the average number of edited movement artifacts across conditions. Clinical ImplicationsPotential benefits of encasing the VPP probe with a protective cover include enhanced participant safety and comfort, especially if assessing genital responses of high-risk or immunocompromised samples. The use of a cover complies with current guidelines for reprocessing semi-critical medical devices (eg, vaginal ultrasound probes) in many regions. Strengths & LimitationsAlthough the idea of a VPP probe cover had been discussed among sexual psychophysiology researchers, this is the first study to empirically test whether a cover could jeopardize VPP data. Potential limitations include the use of a 10-Hz VPP sampling rate and a cover that was not tailored to the size of the VPP probe. ConclusionPlacing a protective cover on the VPP probe did not appear to meaningfully impact sexual arousal or the VPP data. Based on these results and the potential advantages of a protective cover, researchers may wish to integrate the use a condom cover in their experiment protocols and clinical applications.Sawatsky ML, Lalumière ML. Effect of a Condom Cover on Vaginal Photoplethysmographic Responses. J Sex Med 2020; 17:702–715.

How Preschoolers Associate Power with Gender in Male-Female Interactions: A Cross-Cultural Investigation

Interactions between males and females often display a power imbalance. Men tend to adopt more dominant physical postures, lead conversations more, and are more likely to impose their will on women than vice versa. Furthermore, social representations typically associate males with a higher power than females. However, little is known about how those representations emerge in early childhood. The present study investigated whether preschool children from different countries assign more power to males than to females in the context of mixed-gender interactions. In Experiments 1a (n = 148) and 1b (n = 403), which implemented power through body postures, 4–6 year-old children from France, Lebanon, and Norway strongly associated power with a male character. Experiment 2 (n = 160) showed that although both French boys and girls identified themselves more with a dominant than with a subordinate posture, girls were less likely to do so in a mixed-gender context. In Experiment 3 (n = 213), which no longer used body postures, boys from Lebanon and France attributed more decision power and resource control to a male puppet than did girls. By investigating gender representations through interactions, the present study shows that children associate gender and power at an early age.

Courtship interference by neighboring males potentially prevents pairing in fiddler crab Austruca lactea

Courtship interference occurs when dominant males hinder female assessment of prospective males during female mate choice, leading to a more complex distribution of mating success. In this study, we describe and evaluate courtship interference in underground mating of the fiddler crab Austruca lactea. When a mate-searching female enters the burrow of a courting male, neighboring males frequently interfere in the female-male interaction. We thus identified mate-searching females and observed their interactions until pairing. The duration until females’ final decision for pairing increased with the number of interferences by neighboring males. The females reappeared more frequently from the burrow of the finally selected male when neighboring males interfered. These results suggest that courtship interference by neighboring males delays pairing between the mate-searching female and the finally selected male in this species. The number of interferences by neighboring males increased with female size, implying that large females with high fecundity potential induce interference by neighboring males. Moreover, in approximately half of the cases in which interference occurred at the burrow of the immediate last male before the finally selected male, the finally selected male was the interfering one. The distribution of mating success was therefore biased toward males that combined attractiveness (according to female preference) and dominance (which is associated with courtship interference) in this species. Courtship interference is a type of male-male competition and it may hamper female mate choice. In Austruca lactea, neighboring males often interfere in the interaction between a courting male and a mate-searching female. We demonstrated the effect of courtship interference by neighboring males in these interactions. The interferences prolonged the duration of female decision-making for pairing and temporarily expelled the female from the burrow of the finally selected male. These results imply that these interferences may potentially prevent pairing. Moreover, the finally selected males had often succeeded in interfering in the courtship interaction between the female and another male. Therefore, males with high mating success were not only attractive to the females of this species but also dominant in courtship interference.

Size Does Not Matter: Same-Sex Sexual Behavior Occurred Regardless of Mandible Size in Male Stag Beetle Aegus chelifer chelifer (Coleoptera: Lucanidae)

Male Aegus chelifer chelifer stag beetles are normally equipped with long mandibles as a weapon to compete with rival males over females, where fighting or aggressive behavior is generally expected during the encounter between two male stag beetles. However, three main patterns were observed between 164 pairings of male stag beetles. Besides the predominant aggressive or fighting behavior (107 pairings), male stag beetles also exhibited disregarding behavior (29 pairings) and same-sex sexual behavior (28 pairings). For sexual interactions, active males exhibited courting and mating behavior as found in male-female interactions, but the insemination process was unsuccessful. Responses of passive males varied from totally passive to resisting and running away. Visual confusion of short-mandible males for females by active males was not likely to be responsible for the same-sex sexual behavior because the correlation between body size and the sexual behavior or sexual role between male-male pairs was not significant. Rather, sexual recognition via chemicals on the cuticle surface might be responsible for the same-sex sexual behavior.

Males, the Wrongly Neglected Partners of the Biologically Unprecedented Male-Female Interaction of Schistosomes.

Schistosomes are the only platyhelminths that have evolved separate sexes, and they exhibit a unique reproductive biology because the female’s sexual maturation depends on a constant pairing contact with the male. In the female, pairing leads to gonad differentiation, which is associated with substantial morphological changes, and controls among others the expression of gonad-associated genes. In the male, no morphological changes have been observed after pairing, although first data indicated an effect of pairing on gene transcription. Comprehensive transcriptomic approaches have revealed an unexpected high number of genes that are differentially transcribed in the male after pairing. Their identities suggest roles for the male that are not restricted to feeding and enhanced muscular power to transport paired female and, as assumed before, to induce its sexual maturation by one “magic” factor. Instead, a more complex picture emerges in which both partners live in a reciprocal sender-recipient relationship that not only affects the gonads of both genders but may also involve tactile stimuli, transforming growth factor β signaling, nutritional parts, and neuronal processes, including neuropeptides and G protein-coupled receptor signaling. This review provides a summary of transcriptomics including an overview of genes expressed in a pairing-dependent manner in schistosome males. This may stimulate further research in understanding the role of the male as the recipient of the female’s signals upon pairing, the male’s “capacitation,” and its subsequent competence as a sender of information. The latter process finally transforms a sexually immature, autonomous female without completely developed gonads into a sexually mature, partially non-autonomous female with fully differentiated gonads and enormous egg production capacity.

Temporal patterns and sex differences in dyadic interactions in a wild zebrafish population

Male-female interactions in several group living organisms, including some fish species tend to be dynamic and play a key role in determining their mating and courtship behavior. Laboratory-bred zebrafish (Danio rerio) strains are one of the most widely used model systems in various fields of biology. While research on wild zebrafish behavior is gaining ground, our knowledge about their mating ecology and mating strategies is still limited. We investigated diel temporal patterns in inter-sex dyadic interactions among wild zebrafish and the occurrence of behavioral dimorphism in their interactive behaviors. We observed randomly paired male and female individuals at three distinct time intervals (early morning, morning and afternoon sessions) in the day and collected occurrence data for six discrete inter-individual interactive behaviors that were associated with mating, aggression, and display. We used generalized linear mixed models to examine the effect of time, sex of the individual and presence of oviposition substrate on these behavioral traits. We found a higher incidence of mating-associated behavior during the early parts of the day which declined by the afternoon. These mating-associated behaviors were also dependent on the presence of gravel substrate for egg-laying compared to other behaviors. This work is the first of its kind that details patterns in behavioral dimorphism between sexes in zebrafish. Our results throw light on the complex dynamics of male-female interactions in a group living externally fertilizing species and can have implications in designing experiments involving behavioral testing of zebrafish which is increasingly being done in toxicological studies and laboratory breeding.

Arm-wave display in a Liolaemus lizard

Lizards show a great variety of visual displays. Among them, arm-waving is a behaviour that has received little attention and its role is still ontroversial. Here, I analyse the armwaves of Liolaemus pacha lizards in their natural habitat with the aim of determining their function. Arm-waving was performed by both sexes, usually with the ventral body surface in contact with the ground. Furthermore, it was more frequent when alone, and during female-male interactions. The results of this study are suggestive but not conclusive regarding the possible function of this behaviour.

Male collective identity in the People’s Liberation Army of Nepal

ABSTRACTThis paper examines how participation in insurgency during conflict impacts notions of collective gender identity among low-level male combatants, using Nepal as a critical case. In addressing the research question, the paper focuses on changes in attitudes toward gender-specific roles and conduct, notions of acceptable behavior within male–female interaction, and perceptions of gender hierarchies. Male low-level combatants are defined in terms of a collective identity and the analysis utilizes the concept of relational comparisons of other identity groups as a tool through which to explore gendered meanings and perceptions of the “masculine self,” “the collective,” and the “gendered other.” Using empirical data from qualitative interviews with former members of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), relational comparisons are applied to three out-groups: (1) state forces, (2) female PLA members, and (3) the rural population. Contrary to other studies on men and insurgency, this research strives to move beyond a focus only on masculinity and violence, and places particular emphasis on how men engage with a more gender-equal ideology within the movement than exists in society. By presenting fresh insights into this area of study, the paper also discusses normally disregarded possibilities for former combatants as agents for change in post-conflict transformative agendas.

Chemosensory sensilla of the Drosophila wing express a candidate ionotropic pheromone receptor

The Drosophila wing was proposed to be a taste organ more than 35 years ago, but there has been remarkably little study of its role in chemoreception. We carry out a differential RNA-seq analysis of a row of sensilla on the anterior wing margin and find expression of many genes associated with pheromone and chemical perception. To ask whether these sensilla might receive pheromonal input, we devised a dye-transfer paradigm and found that large, hydrophobic molecules comparable to pheromones can be transferred from one fly to the wing margin of another. One gene, Ionotropic receptor (IR)52a, is coexpressed in neurons of these sensilla with fruitless, a marker of sexual circuitry; IR52a is also expressed in legs. Mutation of IR52a and optogenetic silencing of IR52a+ neurons decrease levels of male sexual behavior. Optogenetic activation of IR52a+ neurons induces males to show courtship toward other males and, remarkably, toward females of another species. Surprisingly, IR52a is also required in females for normal sexual behavior. Optogenetic activation of IR52a+ neurons in mated females induces copulation, which normally occurs at very low levels. Unlike other chemoreceptors that act in males to inhibit male–male interactions and promote male–female interactions, IR52a acts in both males and females, and can promote male–male as well as male–female interactions. Moreover, IR52a+ neurons can override the circuitry that normally suppresses sexual behavior toward unproductive targets. Circuit mapping and Ca2+ imaging using the trans-Tango system reveals second-order projections of IR52a+ neurons in the subesophageal zone (SEZ), some of which are sexually dimorphic. Optogenetic activation of IR52a+ neurons in the wing activates second-order projections in the SEZ. Taken together, this study provides a molecular description of the chemosensory sensilla of a greatly understudied taste organ and defines a gene that regulates the sexual circuitry of the fly.

Quantifying the interactions between koalas in a high-density population during the breeding period

A species’ social structure influences its patterns of gene flow and disease transmission. Knowledge of social structure therefore is critical for understanding conservation challenges and informing management strategies. We examined the social structure of 33 free-ranging koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) in a high-density population (6.7 koalas per hectare) during the early and peak phase of the breeding period (August–December) at Cape Otway, Victoria. We used GPS and proximity loggers to quantify koala space use and interactions, and direct observations to determine behaviours associated with interactions. Our proximity loggers recorded 661 interactions (64% male–female, 28% male–male and 8% female–female). A peak in male–male interactions at the onset of the breeding period suggested that males may physically compete for mates at this time. Male–female interactions increased from the onset of the breeding period, and were mostly of short duration (median duration 5.5 min). From field observations of interactions, and the absence of pouch young in December, many of these interactions may have been unsuccessful copulation attempts. Space use and social network analyses revealed that most males had strong links (total interaction duration >30 min) with only one or two females, despite their spatial overlap and interactions with multiple females. Body mass did not influence a male’s mating success in terms of number of female mates. Our results contrast with those of a lower-density population in central eastern Queensland, suggesting that some aspects of koala social structure may be plastic relative to population density.

Pubertal Testosterone Programs Adult Behavioral Adaptations to Sexual Experience through Infralimbic Cortex ΔFosB.

Acquisition of social proficiency entails behavioral adaptations to social experience, including both behavioral flexibility and inhibition of behaviors inappropriate in specific social contexts. Here, we investigated the contributions of testosterone and ΔFosB, a transcription factor linked to experience-dependent neural plasticity, to the adolescent maturation of social proficiency in male-female social interactions. To determine whether pubertal testosterone organizes circuits underlying social proficiency, we first compared behavioral adaptations to sexual experience in male Syrian hamsters that were deprived of testosterone during puberty (prepubertal castration; NoT@P) to those of males deprived of testosterone for an equivalent period of time in adulthood (postpubertal castration; T@P). All males were given testosterone replacement in adulthood for two weeks before sexual behavior testing, where males were allowed to interact with a receptive female once per week for five consecutive weeks. T@P males showed the expected decrease in ectopic (mis-directed) mounts with sexual experience, whereas NoT@P males did not. In addition, sexual experience induced FosB gene products expression in the infralimbic cortex (IL) in T@P, but not NoT@P, males. Overexpression of ΔFosB via an adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector in the IL of NoT@P males prior to sexual behavior testing was sufficient to produce a behavioral phenotype similar to that of experienced T@P males. Finally, overexpression of ΔFosB in IL increased the density of immature spines on IL dendrites. Our findings provide evidence that social proficiency acquired through sexual experience is organized by pubertal testosterone through the regulation of ΔFosB in the IL, possibly through increasing synaptic lability.

Tauopathy in the periaqueductal gray, kölliker-fuse nucleus and nucleus retroambiguus is not predicted by ultrasonic vocalization in tau-P301L mice

Upper airway and vocalization control areas such as the periaqueductal gray (PAG), kölliker-fuse nucleus (KF) and nucleus retroambiguus (NRA) are prone to developing tauopathy in mice expressing the mutant human tau P301L protein. Consequently, impaired ultrasonic vocalization (USV) previously identified in tau-P301L mice at the terminal disease stage of 8–9 months of age, was attributed to the presence of tauopathy in these regions. Our aim was to establish whether the onset of USV disorders manifest prior to the terminal stage, and if USV disorders are predictive of the presence of tauopathy in the PAG, KF and NRA. USVs produced by tau-P301L and wildtype mice aged 3–4, 5–6 or 8–9 months were recorded during male-female interaction. Immunohistochemistry was then performed to assess the presence or degree of tauopathy in the PAG, KF and NRA of mice displaying normal or abnormal USV patterns. Comparing various USV measurements, including the number, duration and frequency of calls, revealed no differences between tau-P301L and wildtype mice across all age groups, and linear discriminant analysis also failed to identify separate USV populations. Finally, the presence of tauopathy in the PAG, KF and NRA in individual tau-P301L mice did not reliably associate with USV disorders. Our findings that tauopathy in designated mammalian vocalization centres, such as the PAG, KF and NRA, did not associate with USV disturbances in tau-P301L mice questions whether USV phenotypes in this transgenic mouse are valid for studying tauopathy-related human voice and speech disorders.