Androgen-armoured amazons: reversed sex roles in coucals are associated with testosterone in females but not males

Abstract

In some species, sexual selection is stronger in females than males. In classically polyandrous birds, for instance, females compete for mating opportunities and males care for offspring. Sex steroids such as testosterone have been suggested to regulate the behaviours of ‘role-reversed’ females and males, but comparative studies did not find evidence for a role of testosterone in relation to sex roles. However, the large variability of hormone measurements across laboratories may prevent detecting subtle differences in hormone levels. To circumvent this caveat, I compared sex steroid concentrations of females and males of two closely related and cohabiting species with different mating systems: the classically polyandrous black coucal ( Centropus grillii ) and the monogamous white-browed coucal ( C. superciliosus ). Baseline and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)-induced testosterone concentrations were twice as high in female black coucals than female white-browed coucals, and the low pre-breeding progesterone concentrations of female black coucals were consistent with progesterone's modulatory role during agonistic interactions in this species. Baseline and GnRH-induced testosterone and progesterone concentrations did not differ between males of both species. This study provides first evidence that elevated testosterone is associated with sex-role-reversed traits in females, whereas low levels of testosterone may not be necessary to facilitate sex-role reversal in males.