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Biology

Swarthmore College

Biology Faculty Works

2021

Choosiness

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Moderately Elevated Glucocorticoids Increase Mate Choosiness But Do Not Affect Sexual Proceptivity Or Preferences In Female Gray Treefrogs, Alexander T. Baugh, M. D. Gall, Stewart C. Silver , '20, M. A. Bee Apr 2021

Moderately Elevated Glucocorticoids Increase Mate Choosiness But Do Not Affect Sexual Proceptivity Or Preferences In Female Gray Treefrogs, Alexander T. Baugh, M. D. Gall, Stewart C. Silver , '20, M. A. Bee

Biology Faculty Works

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are rarely studied in the context of female mate choice, despite the expression of receptors for these products in sexual, sensory and decision-making brain areas. Here we investigated the effects of GC concentrations on three aspects of female sexual behavior in breeding Cope's gray treefrogs (Hyla chrysoscelis): proceptivity—a measure of sexual motivation, intraspecific mate preferences, and mate choosiness. To our knowledge this is the first experimental study on the endocrine basis of mate choosiness. We predicted that mate choosiness—forfeiting an initial mate preference to pursue a suddenly more attractive mate—would be particularly impacted by elevated GCs with moderate …