Cited by 58Animal Behavior and ReproductionPrimate Behavior and EcologyNeuroendocrine regulation and behavior

Endocrine and behavioral changes in male African elephants: linking hormone changes to sexual state and reproductive tactics

RASMUSSEN, H, GANSWINDT, A, DOUGLASHAMILTON, I, VOLLRATH, F·2008·Hormones and Behavior

Abstract

Hormones play a crucial role in mediating genetic and environmental effects into morphological and behavioral phenotypes. In systems with alternative reproductive tactics (ART) shifts between tactics are hypothesized to be under proximate hormonal control. Most studies of the underlying endocrine changes behind ART have focused on fish and amphibians rather than mammals and few have investigated the potential interaction between different endocrine axes in regulating shifts between conditional dependent tactics. Using a combination of endocrine and behavioral data from male African elephants we expand on our previously published analysis and show that the initial increase in androgens predates the behavioral shifts associated with reproductively active periods, supporting the role of androgens in activating sexually active periods in males. A strong interactive effect between androgens and glucocorticoids was found to determine the presence or absence of temporal gland secretion and urine dribbling, signals associated with the competitive reproductive tactic of musth, with elevated glucocorticoids levels suppressing the occurrence of musth signals. In addition external environmental conditions affected hormone levels. The presence of receptive females resulted in elevated androgens in dominant musth males but increased glucocorticoids in subordinate non-musth males. The presented data on hormones, behavior and reproductive tactics strongly support an underlying endocrine mechanism for mediating the translation of intrinsic as well as extrinsic local conditions into the conditional dependent reproductive tactics in male elephants via interactions between the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal and -adrenal axes.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2008.05.008

Cites

64 of 64 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • This heightened hormonal reactivity may be a physiological mechanism that supports older males' ability to gain or maintain high-status positions within the dynamic social hierarchy of male elephants.

    “This heightened hormonal reactivity may be a physiological mechanism that supports their ability to gain or maintain high-status positions within the dynamic social hierarchy of male elephants [60,71].”

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
RASMUSSEN, H., GANSWINDT, A., DOUGLASHAMILTON, I., & VOLLRATH, F.
Affiliations
  • University of Copenhagen (DK)
  • German Primate Center (DE)
  • Save the Elephants (KE)
Corresponding author
RASMUSSEN, H
Venue
Hormones and Behavior
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2008-09
Volume
54
Issue
4
Pages
539-548
ISSN
0018-506X (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2156300644
Cited by
58
References
64
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 5
FWCI
2.85
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Hormones and Behavior (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Nelson Mandela University Research Repository (submittedVersion)
  • Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Balliol College, University of Oxford
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
Keywords
Loxodonta africana, alternative reproductive tactics, musth, androgens, glucocorticoids, hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, reproductive behavior, dominance, reproductive status, environmental factors, female receptivity
MeSH terms
Animals, Behavior, Animal, Elephants, Endocrine System, Environment, Feces, Female, Male, Seasons, Sexual Behavior, Animal, Sexual Maturation, Time Factors, Gonadal Hormones

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review