Data from: Steroid hormones in hair reveal sexual maturity and competition in wild house mice (Mus musculus domesticus)

This dataset belongs to the following article: Carlitz, E.H.D., Runge,
J.-N., König, B., Winkler, L., Kirschbaum, C., Gao, W., Lindholm, A.K.,
2019. Steroid hormones in hair reveal sexual maturity and competition in
wild house mice ( Mus musculus domesticus ). Sci Rep 9, 1–10.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-53362-4 Abstract: Endocrine data from
wild populations provide important insight into social systems. However,
obtaining samples for traditional methods involves capture and restraint
of animals, and/or pain, which can influence the animal’s stress level,
and thereby undesirable release of hormones. Here, we measured
corticosterone, testosterone and progesterone in the hair of 482
wild-derived house mice that experienced sexual competition while living
under semi-natural conditions. We tested whether sex, age, weight and
indicators of sexual maturity, reproduction and social conflicts predict
hormone concentrations measured in hair (sampling at endpoint). We show
that body weight, sex and age significantly predict cumulative
testosterone and progesterone levels, allowing the differentiation between
subadults and adults in both sexes. Corticosterone was only slightly
elevated in older males compared to older females and increased with the
level of visible injuries or scars. Testosterone in males positively
correlated with body weight, age, testes size, and sperm number.
Progesterone in females significantly increased with age, body weight, and
the number of embryos implanted throughout life, but not with the number
of litters when controlled for age and weight. Our results highlight the
biological validity of hair steroid measurements and provide important
insight into reproductive competition in wild house mice. Please find a
more precise description in the methods section of this article.