ABSTRACT
Prolactin (PRL) plays an essential role in post-mating reproductive functions in many species. Obvious examples are lactation, metabolic adaptations, migrations, behavioral adaptations (broodiness, suppression of aggression), and (seasonal) gonadal suppression (1,2). From this perspective, PRL is the reproductive hormone that takes over where the gonadotropins leave off, driving reproductive functions that are segregated, both in time and type, from those of the pre-mating phase (3).
