Mh. Ferkin et al., ATTRACTIVENESS OF MALE ODORS TO FEMALES VARIES DIRECTLY WITH PLASMA TESTOSTERONE CONCENTRATION IN MEADOW VOLES, Physiology & behavior, 55(2), 1994, pp. 347-353
We examined the hypothesis that differences in androgen concentrations
may cause differences in the attractiveness of male odors to female m
eadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus. Males that were to be used as od
or donors were castrated and implanted with Silastic capsules filled w
ith no hormone or one of four different amounts of testosterone. Four
different odors from males were assessed for each comparison; the odor
s were from the anogenital area, feces, urine, and posterolateral regi
on. Treatment of scent donor males with the lowest dosage of testoster
one was not sufficient to increase the attractiveness of their odors a
bove that of males receiving no hormone. The three higher dosages incr
eased attractiveness in a dose-dependent manner. The shape of the dose
-response curve differed across scents: two scents reached maximum att
ractiveness in the middle of the dose range and remained there at high
er doses, whereas the other two scents continued to increase in attrac
tiveness as testosterone titers increased. The results suggest that sc
ent glands produce graded signals that reflect circulating testosteron
e titers.