Journal
GENERAL AND COMPARATIVE ENDOCRINOLOGY
Volume 178, Issue 2, Pages 363-371Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2012.06.020
Keywords
Skink; Reproductive cycle; Testosterone; 17 beta-estradiol; Climate
Categories
Funding
- Natural Science Foundation of China [30670281, 31060064]
- Innovative Team Project of Nanjing Normal University [0319PM0902]
- Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions [CXLX11_0885]
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Gonadal activity and plasma steroid hormone (testosterone and 17 beta-estradiol) levels in males and females of a viviparous skink (Eutropis multifasciata) were investigated. Changes in the hormone profiles were then correlated to changes in environmental factors such as temperature and rainfall and were found to vary seasonally in both sexes. Gonadal activity, calculated using testicular mass and volume, seminiferous tubule diameter and epithelial height in males and, in females, ovary mass and largest follicular volume also varied seasonally. Peak spermiogenesis was in synchrony with maximal vitellogenic activity, but reproductive synchronicity among females was low. Ovary mass and largest follicular volumes were negatively related to air temperature and rainfall. Testicular mass and volume were not related to air temperature, but both were negatively related to rainfall. Rainfall explained a greater proportion of variation in vitellogenic activity than temperature. As for the climatic correlates of seasonal variation in plasma steroid hormones, we found only in males that the plasma level of testosterone was negatively related to rainfall. Taken together, our data show that male and female reproductive activities are more tightly correlated with rainfall than temperature in E. multifasciata. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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