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Free-ranging red deer hinds show greater attentiveness to roars with formant frequencies typical of young males

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 19:04 authored by Benjamin D Charlton, Karen Mccomb, David Reby
Acoustic cues present in the reproductive calls of many animal species potentially encode important information about the caller. Here, we test the response of a free-ranging population of peri-oestrus red deer hinds to variation in a specific acoustic cue to body size in the male roar, the formant frequencies. Our results revealed: (1) that hinds showed greater overall attention (judged by longer looking responses and lower response latencies) to roars simulating males of sub-adult body size than to those simulating a large adult male and (2) that hinds without dependent off- spring had greater looking responses to male roars and lower response latencies than hinds with dependent offspring to roars simulating sub- adult males. These findings indicate that free-ranging red deer hinds may use formants as acoustic cues to gauge the body size and maturity of males in their natural environment, possibly to facilitate earlier detection and avoidance of young stags that are known to harass them.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Ethology

ISSN

0179-1613

Publisher

Blackwell Publishing

Issue

10

Volume

114

Page range

1023-1031

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

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    University of Sussex (Publications)

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