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Aung T, Hill AK, Pfefferle D, McLester E, Fuller J, Lawrence JM, Garcia-Nisa I, Kendal RL, Petersdorf M, Higham JP, Galat G, Lameira AR, Apicella CL, Barelli C, Glenn ME, Ramos-Fernandez G, Puts DA. Group size and mating system predict sex differences in vocal fundamental frequency in anthropoid primates. Nat Commun 2023; 14:4069. [PMID: 37429846 PMCID: PMC10333282 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39535-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Accepted: 06/16/2023] [Indexed: 07/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Vocalizations differ substantially between the sexes in many primates, and low-frequency male vocalizations may be favored by sexual selection because they intimidate rivals and/or attract mates. Sexual dimorphism in fundamental frequency may be more pronounced in species with more intense male mating competition and in those with large group size, where social knowledge is limited and efficient judgment of potential mates and competitors is crucial. These non-mutually exclusive explanations have not been tested simultaneously across primate species. In a sample of vocalizations (n = 1914 recordings) across 37 anthropoid species, we investigated whether fundamental frequency dimorphism evolved in association with increased intensity of mating competition (H1), large group size (H2), multilevel social organization (H3), a trade-off against the intensity of sperm competition (H4), and/or poor acoustic habitats (H5), controlling for phylogeny and body size dimorphism. We show that fundamental frequency dimorphism increased in evolutionary transitions towards larger group size and polygyny. Findings suggest that low-frequency male vocalizations in primates may have been driven by selection to win mating opportunities by avoiding costly fights and may be more important in larger groups, where limited social knowledge affords advantages to rapid assessment of status and threat potential via conspicuous secondary sexual characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Toe Aung
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
- Psychology and Counseling Department, Immaculata University, Immaculata, PA, USA
| | - Alexander K Hill
- Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Dana Pfefferle
- Welfare and Cognition Group, Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, German Primate Center - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Goettingen, Germany & Leibniz-ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, German Primate Center & University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Edward McLester
- Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany
| | - James Fuller
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jenna M Lawrence
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | | | | | | | - James P Higham
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, 25 Waverly Place, New York, NY, USA
| | - Gérard Galat
- IRD (French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development), Montpellier, France
| | | | - Coren L Apicella
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Claudia Barelli
- Department of Biology, University of Florence, Sesto Fiorentino, Florence, Italy
| | - Mary E Glenn
- Department of Anthropology, California State Polytechnic University Humboldt, Arcata, CA, USA
| | - Gabriel Ramos-Fernandez
- Institute for Research on Applied Mathematics and Systems and C3-Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - David A Puts
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
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Caro T, Stankowich T. A roadmap for comparative primate coloration research: a response to comments on Caro et al. Behav Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Tim Caro
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol BS8 1TQ, UK
- Center for Population Biology, University of California, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Theodore Stankowich
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, 1250 Bellflower Boulevard, Long Beach, CA 90840, USA
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