mesotocin

English edit

mesotocin (uncountable)

(biochemistry) A neurohormone found in nonmammalian vertebrates with properties similar to oxytocin.
- 2022 October 24, Hannah Thomasy, “They May Have Love on Their Lizard Brains”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:
  In mammals, vasopressin and oxytocin play important roles in social behaviors, and reptiles have structurally similar hormones called vasotocin and mesotocin. […] Dr. Campos’s research indicates that vasotocin may alter chemical communication between green anole lizards, and other researchers found that mesotocin may be related to courtship behaviors in brown anoles.