Spotted hyena cubs mounting adults.

Jan 20, 2008 14:16

Okay, the spotted hyena is quite well known by the particularities of the female anatomy and the reproduction, for more info's check http://www.geocities.com/hyaenaresearch/IntrotoSpottedHyaena.html for example.

But the amount of male hormones on alpha females, e.g. when they're pregnant, have some consequences on the behavior of male cubs of the alpha females: see http://www.livescience.com/animals/060426_hyena_cubs.html :

After studying hyenas in Kenya for nearly two decades, researchers discovered that in the final stages of pregnancy, high-ranking females provide their developing offspring with higher levels of androgen - a male sex hormone associated with aggression - than lower-ranking mothers provide to their developing young. (...) Since the sons of alpha females are born hyper-aggressive, they start trying to mount females at just a few months old, giving them a better shot at sealing the deal later in life.

Weird enough to be WTF'ed.

androgen, ethology, mammal, sex, hyena, spotted hyena, crocuta crocuta

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