TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of castration of male Golden hamsters on their aggression toward a restrained target
AU - Potegal, M.
AU - Blau, A. D.
AU - Black, M.
AU - Glusman, M.
PY - 1980
Y1 - 1980
N2 - The latency and topography of attack and flank marking by aggressive male hamsters against olfactory bulbectomized, muzzled, and restrained target hamsters resembled that seen in encounters between unrestrained animals. Subjects' attacks, which occurred ad libitum because the target was restrained, were distributed into bouts of 2-min mean duration. The frequency of agonistic postures and the latency to first attack were significantly affected by castration; these effects were not reversed by exogenous testosterone. The total duration and temporal distribution of attacks were not significantly affected by castration. Attack latency increases and agonistic posture reductions may be a direct effect of castration on aggressiveness, while other changes reported in the literature may reflect the indirect effects of the castrate's reduced aggression-eliciting characteristics on his opponent.
AB - The latency and topography of attack and flank marking by aggressive male hamsters against olfactory bulbectomized, muzzled, and restrained target hamsters resembled that seen in encounters between unrestrained animals. Subjects' attacks, which occurred ad libitum because the target was restrained, were distributed into bouts of 2-min mean duration. The frequency of agonistic postures and the latency to first attack were significantly affected by castration; these effects were not reversed by exogenous testosterone. The total duration and temporal distribution of attacks were not significantly affected by castration. Attack latency increases and agonistic posture reductions may be a direct effect of castration on aggressiveness, while other changes reported in the literature may reflect the indirect effects of the castrate's reduced aggression-eliciting characteristics on his opponent.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0163-1047(80)90202-2
DO - 10.1016/S0163-1047(80)90202-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 7191251
AN - SCOPUS:0019308102
SN - 0163-1047
VL - 29
SP - 315
EP - 330
JO - Behavioral and Neural Biology
JF - Behavioral and Neural Biology
IS - 3
ER -