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

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., Welling, L. L. M., Dawood, K., Cárdenas, R., Burris, R. P., Jablonski, N. G., Shriver, M. D., Weiss, D., Lameira, A. R., Apicella, C. L., Owren, M. J., Barelli, C., Glenn, M. E., & 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
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1413657