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Development of mound-building in Australian brush-turkeys ( Alectura lathami ): the role of learning, testosterone and body mass

Development of mound-building in Australian brush-turkeys ( Alectura lathami ): the role of... Australian brush-turkeys ( Alectura lathami ) hatch in incubation mounds of organic material and have no parental role models to learn from. When raised in outdoor aviaries, without adults, four of six males built incubation mounds at an early age of 4.5–9 months. The two males without mounds were the only ones without detectable levels of testosterone (T) at 4.5 months, whereas body mass did not explain the presence or absence of mound building. At the age of 11 months, all males had detectable T, including those without mounds. This study also investigated the development of social dominance in males kept in mixed-sex groups for 4.5 months. At this latter age, higher-ranked males tended to have higher T levels ( P = 0.076), whereas dominance ranks at 4.5 months were not correlated with body mass or size, either at this age or at hatching. Overall, these results suggest that mound building develops without learning, and there is a relationship between T levels and dominance status as well as the absence or presence of mound building. These findings contribute to discussions on the role of learning in behavioural development and the role of T and body mass in avian life history. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Australian Journal of Zoology CSIRO Publishing

Development of mound-building in Australian brush-turkeys ( Alectura lathami ): the role of learning, testosterone and body mass

Göth Ann A.; Astheimer Lee L.
Australian Journal of Zoology , Volume 54 (2) – May 11, 2006
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References (37)

Publisher
CSIRO Publishing
Copyright
CSIRO
ISSN
0004-959X
eISSN
1446-5698
DOI
10.1071/ZO06007
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Australian brush-turkeys ( Alectura lathami ) hatch in incubation mounds of organic material and have no parental role models to learn from. When raised in outdoor aviaries, without adults, four of six males built incubation mounds at an early age of 4.5–9 months. The two males without mounds were the only ones without detectable levels of testosterone (T) at 4.5 months, whereas body mass did not explain the presence or absence of mound building. At the age of 11 months, all males had detectable T, including those without mounds. This study also investigated the development of social dominance in males kept in mixed-sex groups for 4.5 months. At this latter age, higher-ranked males tended to have higher T levels ( P = 0.076), whereas dominance ranks at 4.5 months were not correlated with body mass or size, either at this age or at hatching. Overall, these results suggest that mound building develops without learning, and there is a relationship between T levels and dominance status as well as the absence or presence of mound building. These findings contribute to discussions on the role of learning in behavioural development and the role of T and body mass in avian life history.

Journal

Australian Journal of Zoology – CSIRO Publishing

Published: May 11, 2006

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