The Neural Distribution of Vasotocin, Oxytocin, Dopamine, and Serotonin in Two Australian Skinks With Contrasting Social Lives.

Overview

1. School of Natural Sciences Macquarie University Sydney New South Wales Australia
2. School of Natural Sciences University of Tasmania Hobart Tasmania Australia
3. Department of Biological Sciences Thompson Rivers University Kamloops British Columbia Canada
4. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology Columbia University New York City New York USA

Abstract

The neurotransmitters vasotocin, oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin are widely involved in vertebrate social behavior, and changes in their abundance and distribution in the brain have been linked to the evolution of complex sociality. Reptiles provide an excellent system in which to investigate the neural mechanisms of social living. Using immunohistochemistry, we compare distributions of these transmitters in two skinks differing primarily in social ecology: the family‐living Liopholis whitii and the solitary Eulpamrus quoyii. We describe patterns of immunopositive signal for both cell bodies and fibers across the entire brain (excluding the olfactory bulbs). In both species, vasotocin and oxytocin were found in the preoptic area, paraventricular nucleus, supraoptic nucleus, dorsomedial hypothalamus, and supraoptic decussation, as well as surrounding the lateral forebrain bundle. Tyrosine hydroxylase (a marker for dopamine) was found in the paraventricular organ nucleus, substantia nigra, and ventral tegmental area, and serotonin was found in the raphe nuclei and superior reticular field. We found novel oxytocin cell groups in the dorsomedial hypothalamus and cerebellum of L. whitii, and novel serotonin signal in the red nucleus of E. quoyii. Immunopositive signals found only in L. whitii also include vasotocin in the ventral tegmental area, tyrosine hydroxylase in the interpeduncular nucleus, and serotonin in the suprachiasmatic nucleus. The qualitatively greater abundance of these transmitters in the family‐living L. whitii suggests that these molecules may have played an important role in the evolution of social behavior in these skinks and provides a foundation for broader comparisons across the social skinks.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Data

Datasets cited

• zenodo:20341095, at Zenodo; found in “Data Availability Statement”

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20341095. This openly accessible data repository contains all of the slide scanned images, as well as data Tables S1–S4 detailing the distribution of immunoreactive cells and fibers in other lizards.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Version 2, 28 September 2026

• Publisher: n/a → Wiley

Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 6 authors, 6 keywords, 14 MeSH terms, 1 funder, 99 references.

Cite

This paper

Lake, J., Whiting, M. J., While, G. M., Kabelik, D., Rubenstein, D. R., & Hoops, D. (2026). The Neural Distribution of Vasotocin, Oxytocin, Dopamine, and Serotonin in Two Australian Skinks With Contrasting Social Lives. The Journal of comparative neurology, 534(7), e70184. https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.70184

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