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American Zoologist 1985 25(3):895-910; doi:10.1093/icb/25.3.895
© 1985 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
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Hormones and Paternal Behavior in Vertebrates1

RICHARD E. BROWN
Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4J1, Canada

This review examines the influence of hormonal stimulation on paternal care in selected species of fish, birds and mammals. Correlational studies of hormonal changes and the occurrence of paternal behavior as well as experimental studies are considered. Understanding the influence of hormones on paternal behavior is complicated by whether the species studied shows maternal, paternal or biparental care and by the interactions among hormonal changes, prior experience and responses to external stimuli. It is evident that hormonal changes may be the result as well as the stimulus for paternal care and that stimuli from nests, eggs and young may be important for inducing the hormonal conditions which maintain paternal care. Hormonal determinants of sexual differentiation and the neuroendocrine control of paternal behavior are discussed. Although there are few theories which include the role of hormones in paternal care, some hypotheses relating to the "association hypothesis" of Gross and Shine (1981) are considered and suggestions are made for future studies.


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