Effects of hypothalamic lesions on courtship and copulatory behavior in sexual and unisexual whiptail lizards

Abstract

Lesions of the anterior hypothalamus-medial preoptic area (AH-MPOA) impair courtship and copulatory behavior in male Cnemidophorus inornatus, a sexually reproducing species of whiptail lizard, and male-like pseudosexual behaviors in C. uniparens, an all-female species. These results suggest that, since C. inornatus is a direct ancestor to C. uniparens, the neural structures responsible for mediating male-typical courtship and copulatory behavior in male whiptails are conserved in the evolution of the all-female parthenogen.