In reptiles, arginine vasotocin (AVT) impacts the performance of and response to visual social signals, but whether AVT also operates within the chemosensory system as arginine vasopressin (AVP) does in mammals is unknown, despite social odors being potent modifiers of competitive and appetitive behavior in reptiles. Here, we ask whether elevated levels of exogenous AVT impact rates of chemical display behavior (e.g. tongue flicks) in adult males, and whether conspecific males or females can chemically discriminate between competitor males based on differing levels of exogenous AVT in green anoles (Anolis carolinensis). We injected wild-caught green anole males with either AVT (AVT-Males) or a vehicle control (CON-Males) solution, then presented treated males with a conspecific stimulus (Intruder-Male or Intruder-Female) and filmed 30-minute interactions. We found that AVT-Males were faster than CON-Males to perform a tongue flick to conspecifics, and faster to chemically display toward Intruder-Females, suggesting AVT increased male interest in available chemical information during social encounters. Intruders performed more lip smack behavior when interacting with AVT-Males than with CON-Males, and Intruder-Males performed more tongue flick behavior when interacting with AVT-Males than with CON-Males, suggesting anoles can discriminate between conspecifics based on exogenous AVT levels. We also found a reduction in Intruder movement behavior when Intruders were paired with AVT-Males. This study provides empirical support for AVT-mediated chemosensory behavior in reptilian social interactions, in a microsmatic lizard species, suggesting the mechanism by which mammalian AVP and non-mammalian AVT mediate chemosensory behavior during social interactions may be evolutionarily conserved.

中文翻译：

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精氨酸vasotocin影响Anolis carolinensis蜥蜴的社会互动过程中的化学感应行为。

在爬行动物中，精氨酸血管收缩素（AVT）影响视觉社交信号的性能并对其做出响应，但是，尽管社交气味是​​竞争性和食欲的有效调节剂，但精氨酸加压素（AVP）是否也能在哺乳动物的精氨酸加压素（AVP）中起作用。爬行动物的行为。在这里，我们询问成年雄性中外源AVT的水平是否会影响化学展示行为（例如甩舌），以及是否可以基于绿色小茴香（Anolis carolinensis）中不同水平的外源AVT对同种雄性或雌性进行化学区分？ ）。我们用AVT（AVT-Males）或媒介物对照（CON-Males）溶液给野外捕获的绿色Anole雄性注射，然后向受治疗的男性提供特定刺激（入侵者-男性或入侵者-女性）并拍摄30分钟的互动。我们发现，AVT-雄性比CON-雄性对特定物种的挥动要快，并且向入侵者-雌性进行化学展示的速度也更快，这表明AVT增强了男性在社交场合对可用化学信息的兴趣。与AVT-Males互动时，入侵者的嘴唇轻击行为比CON-Males多；与AVT-Males互动时，Intruder-Males的嘴唇甩动行为多于CON-Males，这表明Anoles可以根据外源性AVT水平区分同种异体。 。当入侵者与AVT-Males配对时，我们还发现入侵者的移动行为有所减少。