Meeting Abstract
3.8 Saturday, Jan. 4 09:45 Arginine vasotocin and social behavior in Anolis carolinensis DUNHAM, LA*; WILCZYNSKI, W; Georgia State Univ, Atlanta ldunham2@student.gsu.edu
Arginine vasotocin (AVT) is a potent regulator of social behavior in a variety of species but little is known about its role in reptilian behavior. Our goal was to examine the effect of exogenous AVT on aggressive responding and courtship behavior in the green anole lizard. Aggressive behavior was examined in two ways: 1) stimulated by the animal’s own mirrored reflection (no status formed) and 2) within the context of a size-matched pair (where a social status is formed). To elicit courtship behavior, a novel female was introduced into the home cage of a male. Regardless of the behavior condition, male anoles were injected IP with either reptile ringer’s solution (VEH) or AVT 30 minutes prior to testing. Behavior tests were taped for 30 minutes and scored for latency to first display and number of display bouts. Treatment with AVT significantly reduced the number of aggressive displays performed toward a mirror (t=4.511, p<0.001). Administration of AVT did not, however, significantly affect the status outcome of paired interactions (dominant vs. subordinate; p=1.000) nor did it significantly affect the overall number of aggressive display bouts to a conspecific male (F=0.397, p=0.541). A significant interaction between injection type and status was observed in which AVT injected males that became dominant had a longer latency to first display than those that became subordinate (q=3.603, p=0.027). AVT injection did not significantly affect the number of courtship displays toward a novel female (t=-0.349, p=0.732). Overall, we found that AVT reduced aggressive behavior as has been reported for other territorial species. The effect was not observed in a paired aggression condition, suggesting that AVT is not a critical factor in determining social status. Unlike data from many other species, AVT does not affect courtship behavior in the green anole.
