Heritability and cross-sex genetic correlations of early life circulating testosterone levels in a wild mammal

Testosterone is an important hormone that has been shown to have sex-specific links to fitness in numerous species. Although testosterone concentrations vary substantially between individuals in a population, little is known about its heritable genetic basis or between-sex genetic correlations that determine its evolutionary potential. We found circulating neonatal testosterone levels to be both heritable (0.160 ± 0.064 s.e.) and correlated between the sexes (0.942 ± 0.648 s.e.) in wild red deer calves (Cervus elaphus). This may have important evolutionary implications if, as in adults, the sexes have divergent optima for circulating testosterone levels.

睾酮（Testosterone）是一类重要激素，已被证实与多个物种的性别特异性适合度（fitness）存在密切关联。尽管种群内个体间的睾酮浓度差异显著，但学界对其可遗传的遗传基础，以及决定其进化潜力的性别间遗传相关（between-sex genetic correlations）却鲜有深入研究。我们在野生马鹿（Cervus elaphus）幼崽中发现，其循环系统中的新生睾酮水平既具有可遗传性（0.160 ± 0.064 标准误），又存在性别间相关（0.942 ± 0.648 标准误）。倘若如同成年个体那般，两性的循环睾酮水平存在不同的最优值，这一发现或将具有重要的进化生物学意义。