Research trio finds bluebird mothers give sons extra dose of androgen when antagonized

[PhysOrg]

(Phys.org)—A trio of researchers has found that western bluebird mothers add a little extra androgen to clutches of eggs during times when there is competition for nest cavities. In their paper published in the journal Science, University of Arizona biologists Renée Duckworth, Virginia Belloni and Samantha Anderson describe how they conducted a ten year field study of the bird species and also carried out some experiments to learn more about induced maternal effects on the cycle of species replacement. Ben Dantzer, with the University of Michigan, offers a Perspectives piece on the work by the team in the same journal edition.

 

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