Vasotocin is an oligopeptide homologous to oxytocin and vasopressin found in all non-mammalian vertebrates (including birds fishes and amphibians) and possibly in mammals during the fetal stage of development. Arginine vasotocin (AVT) a hormone produced by neurosecretory cells within the posterior pituitary gland (neurohypophysis) of the brain is a major endocrine regulator of water balance and osmotic homoeostasis and is involved in social and sexual behavior in non-mammalian vertebrates.
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