Digit ratio, color polymorphism and egg testosterone in the Australian painted dragon.

Variation in exposure to sex hormones during early development contributes to phenotypic plasticity in vertebrate offspring. As a proposed marker for prenatal sex hormone exposure and because of their association with various physiological and behavioral characteristics, digit ratio and/or digit len...

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Autores principales:	Michael Tobler, Mo Healey, Mats Olsson
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2011
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/bc3e3010d98c4befbc09d3fbea8874d7
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:bc3e3010d98c4befbc09d3fbea8874d72021-11-18T06:59:58ZDigit ratio, color polymorphism and egg testosterone in the Australian painted dragon.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0016225https://doaj.org/article/bc3e3010d98c4befbc09d3fbea8874d72011-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/21283539/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203Variation in exposure to sex hormones during early development contributes to phenotypic plasticity in vertebrate offspring. As a proposed marker for prenatal sex hormone exposure and because of their association with various physiological and behavioral characteristics, digit ratio and/or digit length have received notable interest within the field of evolutionary ecology. However, the validity of digit measures as a proxy of prenatal sex hormone exposure is controversial and only few studies have provided direct evidence for the link between digit development and prenatal sex hormones. Here, we report morph- and sex-specific variation in digit ratio in wild painted dragon lizards (Ctenophorus pictus). Lizards expressing a yellow bib have significantly larger third-to-fourth toe ratios (3D:4D) than lizards without a bib. Males have significantly smaller 3D:4D than females. Furthermore, we show that experimental elevation of yolk testosterone significantly increases 3D:4D in hatchling painted dragon lizards, but has no influence on hatchling size. Our results provide direct and indirect evidence for the involvement of prenatal sex steroids in digit development and it is suggested that digit ratio may be used as a biomarker for prenatal steroid exposure in this reptilian species. As such, digit ratio may provide a useful tool to study temporal or spatial differences in the proximate hormonal mechanisms modulating physiological and behavioural phenotypes.Michael ToblerMo HealeyMats OlssonPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 6, Iss 1, p e16225 (2011)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Michael Tobler Mo Healey Mats Olsson Digit ratio, color polymorphism and egg testosterone in the Australian painted dragon.
description	Variation in exposure to sex hormones during early development contributes to phenotypic plasticity in vertebrate offspring. As a proposed marker for prenatal sex hormone exposure and because of their association with various physiological and behavioral characteristics, digit ratio and/or digit length have received notable interest within the field of evolutionary ecology. However, the validity of digit measures as a proxy of prenatal sex hormone exposure is controversial and only few studies have provided direct evidence for the link between digit development and prenatal sex hormones. Here, we report morph- and sex-specific variation in digit ratio in wild painted dragon lizards (Ctenophorus pictus). Lizards expressing a yellow bib have significantly larger third-to-fourth toe ratios (3D:4D) than lizards without a bib. Males have significantly smaller 3D:4D than females. Furthermore, we show that experimental elevation of yolk testosterone significantly increases 3D:4D in hatchling painted dragon lizards, but has no influence on hatchling size. Our results provide direct and indirect evidence for the involvement of prenatal sex steroids in digit development and it is suggested that digit ratio may be used as a biomarker for prenatal steroid exposure in this reptilian species. As such, digit ratio may provide a useful tool to study temporal or spatial differences in the proximate hormonal mechanisms modulating physiological and behavioural phenotypes.
format	article
author	Michael Tobler Mo Healey Mats Olsson
author_facet	Michael Tobler Mo Healey Mats Olsson
author_sort	Michael Tobler
title	Digit ratio, color polymorphism and egg testosterone in the Australian painted dragon.
title_short	Digit ratio, color polymorphism and egg testosterone in the Australian painted dragon.
title_full	Digit ratio, color polymorphism and egg testosterone in the Australian painted dragon.
title_fullStr	Digit ratio, color polymorphism and egg testosterone in the Australian painted dragon.
title_full_unstemmed	Digit ratio, color polymorphism and egg testosterone in the Australian painted dragon.
title_sort	digit ratio, color polymorphism and egg testosterone in the australian painted dragon.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2011
url	https://doaj.org/article/bc3e3010d98c4befbc09d3fbea8874d7
work_keys_str_mv	AT michaeltobler digitratiocolorpolymorphismandeggtestosteroneintheaustralianpainteddragon AT mohealey digitratiocolorpolymorphismandeggtestosteroneintheaustralianpainteddragon AT matsolsson digitratiocolorpolymorphismandeggtestosteroneintheaustralianpainteddragon
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Digit ratio, color polymorphism and egg testosterone in the Australian painted dragon.

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