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PLoS One

Title:		Love is blind: indiscriminate female mating responses to male courtship pheromones in newts (Salamandridae)
Author(s):		Treer D; Van Bocxlaer I; Matthijs S; Du Four D; Janssenswillen S; Willaert B; Bossuyt F;
Address:		"Amphibian Evolution Lab, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium"
Journal Title:		PLoS One
Year:		2013
Volume:		20130215
Issue:		2
Page Number:		e56538 -
DOI:		10.1371/journal.pone.0056538
ISSN/ISBN:		1932-6203 (Electronic) 1932-6203 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Internal fertilization without copulation or prolonged physical contact is a rare reproductive mode among vertebrates. In many newts (Salamandridae), the male deposits a spermatophore on the substrate in the water, which the female subsequently takes up with her cloaca. Because such an insemination requires intense coordination of both sexes, male newts have evolved a courtship display, essentially consisting of sending pheromones under water by tail-fanning towards their potential partner. Behavioral experiments until now mostly focused on an attractant function, i.e. showing that olfactory cues are able to bring both sexes together. However, since males start their display only after an initial contact phase, courtship pheromones are expected to have an alternative function. Here we developed a series of intraspecific and interspecific two-female experiments with alpine newt (Ichthyosaura alpestris) and palmate newt (Lissotriton helveticus) females, comparing behavior in male courtship water and control water. We show that male olfactory cues emitted during tail-fanning are pheromones that can induce all typical features of natural female mating behavior. Interestingly, females exposed to male pheromones of their own species show indiscriminate mating responses to conspecific and heterospecific females, indicating that visual cues are subordinate to olfactory cues during courtship"
Keywords:		"Animals Cloaca/drug effects *Courtship Cues Female Insemination/drug effects *Love Male Olfactory Perception/drug effects Salamandridae Sex Attractants/*pharmacology Sexual Behavior, Animal/*drug effects/physiology Species Specificity Spermatogonia/cytolo;"
Notes:		"MedlineTreer, Dag Van Bocxlaer, Ines Matthijs, Severine Du Four, Dimitri Janssenswillen, Sunita Willaert, Bert Bossuyt, Franky eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2013/03/05 PLoS One. 2013; 8(2):e56538. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0056538. Epub 2013 Feb 15"