Arginine vasopressin plasma levels change seasonally in African striped mice but do not differ between alternative reproductive tactics.
Arginine vasopressin (AVP) is an important hormone for osmoregulation, while as a neuropeptide in the brain it plays an important role in the regulation of social behaviors. Dry habitats are often the home of obligately sociable species such as meerkats and Damaraland mole-rats, leading to the hypothesis that high plasma AVP levels needed for osmoregulation might be associated with the regulation of social behavior. We tested this in a facultative sociable species, the African striped mouse (Rhabdomys pumilio). During the moist breeding season, both solitary- and group-living reproductive tactics occur in this species, which is obligatory sociable in the dry season. We collected 196 plasma samples from striped mice following different reproductive tactics both during the moist and the dry season. Solitary mice did not have lower AVP levels than sociable mice, rejecting the hypothesis that peripheral AVP is involved in the regulation of alternative reproductive tactics. However, we found significantly higher AVP levels during the dry season, with AVP levels correlated with the abundance of food plants, the main source of water for striped mice. Plasma AVP levels were not correlated with testosterone or corticosterone levels. Our study underlines the important role that AVP plays in osmoregulation, particularly for a free ranging mammal living under harsh arid conditions.
Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland; School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Ivana
I
Schoepf
Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland; School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Université de Strasbourg, IPHC-DEPE, 23 rue Becquerel, 67087 Strasbourg, France; CNRS, UMR7178, 67087 Strasbourg, France. Electronic address: carsten.schradin@iphc.cnrs.fr.
Carsten
C
Schradin
D000818:Animals; D001127:Arginine Vasopressin / Q000097:blood*; D001947:Breeding; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood; D017753:Ecosystem; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology*; D012621:Seasons; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D012919:Social Behavior; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood
D001127:Arginine Vasopressin; D013739:Testosterone; D003345:Corticosterone
Communal breeding; Cooperative breeding; Drought; Helper; Intra-specific variation; Social flexibility