naa a22 4500 510745229 CHVBK 20180411083043.0 cr unu---uuuuu 180411e20130401xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s13364-012-0101-1 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s13364-012-0101-1 Reproductive endocrinology of zoo-housed aardwolves [Elektronische Daten] [David Marneweck, Andre Ganswindt, Stephanie Rhodes, Astrid Bellem, Jocelyn Bryant, Nadja Wielebnowski, Fredrik Dalerum] Knowledge regarding the relationship between endocrine parameters and reproductive activity can offer important insights into how social and environmental factors influence the reproductive success of mammals. Although components of both the physical and social environment affect endocrine regulation of reproduction, less is understood about the potential role of interactions between different endocrine axes on reproductive activity. We evaluated temporal patterns of reproductive and adrenocortical steroids in two male and three female aardwolves (Proteles cristata) housed in captivity at Brookfield Zoo, Chicago, IL, USA. We found seasonal variation in faecal androgens, estrogens, and progestagens, which provide support for previous observations of the aardwolf as a seasonal breeder. However, the timing of peak endocrine activity did not correspond to observations from wild populations. Our interpretation is that this discrepancy is caused by photoperiodic regulation of reproductive activity. We found a positive relationship between faecal androgens and faecal glucocorticoid metabolites in males and a positive relationship between faecal estrogens and faecal glucocorticoid metabolites in females when housed with conspecifics but not when housed alone. We also found a positive but asymptotic relationship between faecal progestagens and faecal glucocorticoid metabolites. We argue that these observations indicate a potential effect of reproductive endocrine activity on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which could result in interesting physiological trade-offs in male reproductive tactics and female pre-partum maternal investment because of the negative effects of long-term glucocorticoid elevation on reproductive performance. Finally, our results suggest that social and environmental factors interact in regulating many aspects of endocrine fluctuations in this mostly solitary species. Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Białowieża, Poland, 2012 Aardwolf nationallicence Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis nationallicence Seasonality nationallicence Stress nationallicence Reproductive timing nationallicence Marneweck David Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, 0028, Pretoria, South Africa aut Ganswindt Andre Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, 0028, Pretoria, South Africa aut Rhodes Stephanie Animal Programs, Chicago Zoological Society, 3300 Golf Road, 60513, Brookfield, IL, USA aut Bellem Astrid Department of Conservation Science, Chicago Zoological Society, 3300 Golf Road, 60513, Brookfield, IL, USA aut Bryant Jocelyn Department of Conservation Science, Chicago Zoological Society, 3300 Golf Road, 60513, Brookfield, IL, USA aut Wielebnowski Nadja Department of Conservation Science, Chicago Zoological Society, 3300 Golf Road, 60513, Brookfield, IL, USA aut Dalerum Fredrik Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, 0028, Pretoria, South Africa aut Acta Theriologica Springer-Verlag 58/2(2013-04-01), 223-232 0001-7051 58:2<223 2013 58 13364 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-012-0101-1 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-012-0101-1 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Marneweck David Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, 0028, Pretoria, South Africa aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Ganswindt Andre Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, 0028, Pretoria, South Africa aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Rhodes Stephanie Animal Programs, Chicago Zoological Society, 3300 Golf Road, 60513, Brookfield, IL, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Bellem Astrid Department of Conservation Science, Chicago Zoological Society, 3300 Golf Road, 60513, Brookfield, IL, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Bryant Jocelyn Department of Conservation Science, Chicago Zoological Society, 3300 Golf Road, 60513, Brookfield, IL, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Wielebnowski Nadja Department of Conservation Science, Chicago Zoological Society, 3300 Golf Road, 60513, Brookfield, IL, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Dalerum Fredrik Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, 0028, Pretoria, South Africa aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Acta Theriologica Springer-Verlag 58/2(2013-04-01), 223-232 0001-7051 58:2<223 2013 58 13364 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer