Sexual selection on male vocal fundamental frequency in humans and other anthropoids.
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.
Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA Center for Brain, Behavior, and Cognition, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA dap27@psu.edu.
David A
DA
Puts
Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Alexander K
AK
Hill
School of Education, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
Drew H
DH
Bailey
Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
Robert S
RS
Walker
Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada T1 K 3M4.
Drew
D
Rendall
Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
John R
JR
Wheatley
Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309, USA.
Lisa L M
LL
Welling
Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Khytam
K
Dawood
Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Rodrigo
R
Cárdenas
Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK.
Robert P
0000-0002-5030-3638
RP
Burriss
Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Nina G
NG
Jablonski
Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Mark D
MD
Shriver
Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Daniel
D
Weiss
Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK Pongo Foundation, Papenhoeflaan 91, Oudewater 3421XN, The Netherlands.
Adriano R
AR
Lameira
Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Coren L
CL
Apicella
OSV Acoustical Associates and Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
Michael J
MJ
Owren
Sezione di Biodiversità Tropicale, Museo delle Scienze, Trento 38122, Italy.
Claudia
C
Barelli
Department of Anthropology, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA 95521, USA.
Mary E
ME
Glenn
CIIDIR Unidad Oaxaca, Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico and C3-Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Mexico 04510, Mexico.
Gabriel
G
Ramos-Fernandez
D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D049628:Body Size / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D000882:Haplorhini / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D052586:Mating Preference, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D010802:Phylogeny; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000502:physiology; D014828:Vocalization, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
D013739:Testosterone; D006854:Hydrocortisone
anthropoid primates; attractiveness; dominance; mating system; sexual selection; vocal fundamental frequency