Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-2011

Publication Title

Physiological and Biochemical Zoology

DOI

10.1086/660850

ISSN

1537-5293

Abstract

Testosterone (T) is thought to affect a variety of traits important for fitness, including coloration, the size of sexual ornaments, aggression, and locomotor performance. Here, we investigated the effects of experimentally elevated T and locomotor training on muscle physiology and running performance in a nonterritorial male lizard species (Aspidoscelis sexlineata). Additionally, several morphological attributes were quantified to examine other characters that are likely affected by T and/or a training regimen. Neither training alone nor training with T supplementation resulted in increased locomotor performance. Instead, we found that T and training resulted in a decrease in each of three locomotor performance variables as well as in hematocrit, ventral coloration, and testis size. Strikingly, neither the size nor the fiber composition of the iliofibularis or gastrocnemius muscles was different among the two treatments or a group of untrained control animals. Hence, the relationships among T, training, and associated characters are not clear. Our results offer important insights for those hoping to conduct laboratory manipulations on nonmodel organisms and highlight the challenges of studying both training effects and the effects of steroid hormones on locomotor performance.

Comments

© 2011 by The University of Chicago. Authors retain their rights to post their articles on their departmental or institutional web site or institutional repository after a 12 month embargo period so long as the site is non-commercial and no fees are charged for access to the article.

This article was retrieved from the Physiological and Biochemical Zoology.

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