Embryonic exposure to an antiestrogen masculinizes behavior of female quail
Adkins, E.K.
Physiology and Behavior 17(2): 357-359
1976
ISSN/ISBN: 0031-9384 PMID: 996168 Document Number: 430572
Japanese quail [Coturnix coturnix japonica] eggs were injected on day 9 of incubation with the antiestrogen CI-628. When sexually mature, treated and control birds were given exogenous testosterone and tested for sexual behavior. Unlike control females, females treated with CI-628 before hatching displayed the male mating pattern. Males were unaffected by CI-628. Previous research has shown that male quail treated with sex steroids before hatching are permanently feminized behaviorally, and as adults fail to copulate. Normal female quail also fail to show male sexual behavior, even when given exogenous testosterone as adults. These findings suggest that the male quail is the neutral (anhormonal) sex with respect to behavioral sex differentiation, and that estrogen produced by female embryos results in female behavioral differentiation by eliminating the capacity for male sexual behavior.