{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,2]],"date-time":"2026-04-02T11:05:43Z","timestamp":1775127943366,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2012,5,1]],"date-time":"2012-05-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1335830400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/pages\/standard-publication-reuse-rights"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["rep.bioscientifica.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2012,5,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Knowledge of male reproductive status and activity in free-ranging animals is vital to understanding reproductive patterns and population dynamics. Until now, almost all information regarding reproductive behavior of the dugong, a cryptic marine mammal, has relied on post-mortem examination. We examined the relationships between body length, tusk eruption (secondary sexual characteristic), seasonality, and group association on fecal testosterone metabolite concentrations in 322 free-ranging dugongs (159 males, 163 females) in subtropical Moreton Bay, Australia. Fecal testosterone concentrations demonstrated biologically meaningful differences in testicular activity between sexes and across reproductive\/age classes, and were correlated with circulating concentrations in serum. Male dugongs have a pre-reproductive period that persists until a body length of 240\u200acm is achieved. Puberty apparently occurs between 240 and 260\u200acm body length when fecal testosterone levels increase fourfold (&amp;gt;500\u200ang\/g) over juvenile levels, and is associated with tusk eruption. However, social maturity may be delayed until male dugongs are larger than 260\u200acm with well-developed tusks. In mature males, the lowest (&amp;lt;500\u200ang\/g) fecal testosterone concentrations occur in the austral autumn months with maximal concentrations in September\u2013October, coincident with the onset of a spring mating season. During spring, solitary mature males had fecal testosterone concentrations double those of mature males sampled within groups, potentially suggesting a mating strategy involving roving of reproductively active males. This study demonstrates that single-point physiological data from individuals across a population have value as indicators of reproductive processes. Our approach provides an efficacious non-lethal method for the census of reproductive status and seasonality in live male dugongs.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1530\/rep-11-0434","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2012,3,5]],"date-time":"2012-03-05T23:28:08Z","timestamp":1330990088000},"page":"683-697","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1530\/crossmarkpolicy-1","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":43,"title":["Testosterone and tusks: maturation and seasonal reproductive patterns of live, free-ranging male dugongs (\n                    <i>Dugong dugon<\/i>\n                    ) in a subtropical population"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"143","author":[{"given":"Elizabeth A","family":"Burgess","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Janet 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