
PolisCommov
Old Gen Ruined The Earth
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Female mice seek refuge from castrated males, suggesting they avoid males with low levels of testosterone
Highlights:
• Female mice housed with castrated males have higher stress levels.
• Female mice housed with castrated males actively avoid their housing partner when provided with a refuge.
• We suggest that females actively avoid males with low levels of testosterone, and that their surrounding social partners can affect their physiology.
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Interesting notes:
Highlights:
• Female mice housed with castrated males have higher stress levels.
• Female mice housed with castrated males actively avoid their housing partner when provided with a refuge.
• We suggest that females actively avoid males with low levels of testosterone, and that their surrounding social partners can affect their physiology.
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Interesting notes:
- There should be little reproductive cost with being around infertile males - the females have no risk of getting pregnant and the male rats were not acting sexually towards them. But the females still were stressed out by their presence.
- The study looked at 3 groups of rats: fertile, totally castrated, and vasectomised. Despite having no way of knowing (pheromones might be coming into play), the female rats were also stressed out by vasectomised male rats with no visible castration.
- They measure 'cost-of-reproduction' to females as amount of stress hormones they experience. Femaels around alphas had low stress, and females around low-rank males had higher stress. Just by observing stress levels of females around you one might be able to observe your perceived rank. Additionally shit tests could be considered a stress-relief mechanism for the female; if you pass then their stress (cortisol) will go down.