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Sexual selection on male vocal fundamental frequency in humans and other anthropoids

Puts, David A.; Hill, Alexander K.; Bailey, Drew H.; Walker, Robert S.; Randall, Drew; Wheatley, John R.; Welling, Lisa L.M.; Dawood, Khytam; Cárdenas, Rodrigo; Burris, Robert P.; Jablonski, Nina G.; Shriver, Mark D.; Weiss, Daniel; Lameira, Adriano R.; Apicella, Coren L.; Owren, Michael J.; Barelli, Claudia; Glenn, Mary E.; Ramos-Fernandez, Gabriel

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Authors

David A. Puts

Alexander K. Hill

Drew H. Bailey

Robert S. Walker

Drew Randall

John R. Wheatley

Lisa L.M. Welling

Khytam Dawood

Rodrigo Cárdenas

Robert P. Burris

Nina G. Jablonski

Mark D. Shriver

Daniel Weiss

Adriano R. Lameira

Coren L. Apicella

Michael J. Owren

Claudia Barelli

Mary E. Glenn

Gabriel Ramos-Fernandez



Contributors

A Reis e Lameira qfbl63@durham.ac.uk
Other

Abstract

In many primates, including humans, the vocalizations of males and females differ dramatically, with male vocalizations and vocal anatomy often seeming to exaggerate apparent body size. These traits may be favoured by sexual selection because low-frequency male vocalizations intimidate rivals and/or attract females, but this hypothesis has not been systematically tested across primates, nor is it clear why competitors and potential mates should attend to vocalization frequencies. Here we show across anthropoids that sexual dimorphism in fundamental frequency (F0) increased during evolutionary transitions towards polygyny, and decreased during transitions towards monogamy. Surprisingly, humans exhibit greater F0 sexual dimorphism than any other ape. We also show that low-F0 vocalizations predict perceptions of men's dominance and attractiveness, and predict hormone profiles (low cortisol and high testosterone) related to immune function. These results suggest that low male F0 signals condition to competitors and mates, and evolved in male anthropoids in response to the intensity of mating competition.

Citation

Puts, D. A., Hill, A. K., Bailey, D. H., Walker, R. S., Randall, D., Wheatley, J. R., …Ramos-Fernandez, G. (2016). Sexual selection on male vocal fundamental frequency in humans and other anthropoids. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 283(1829), Article 20152830. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2830

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Apr 5, 2016
Online Publication Date Apr 27, 2016
Publication Date Apr 27, 2016
Deposit Date Apr 28, 2016
Publicly Available Date Apr 27, 2017
Journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Print ISSN 0962-8452
Electronic ISSN 1471-2954
Publisher The Royal Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 283
Issue 1829
Article Number 20152830
DOI https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2830

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