Charlton, Benjamin D, Keating, Jennifer L, Kersey, David, Rengui, Li, Huang, Yan and Swaisgood, Ronald R (2011) Vocal cues to male androgen levels in giant pandas. Biology Letters, 7 (1). pp. 71-74. ISSN 1744-9561

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Little is known about the potential of non-human mammal vocalizations to signal information on the hormonal status of the caller. In the current study, we used endocrine data and acoustic analyses to determine whether male giant panda bleats provide reliable information about the caller's current androgen levels. Our results revealed significant relationships between acoustic features of male giant panda bleats and the caller's faecal androgen metabolite concentrations. To our knowledge, this constitutes the first demonstration that the acoustic structure of a non-human mammal call has the potential to yield information about the caller's current androgen levels. We go on to discuss the anatomical basis for our findings and the potential functional relevance of signalling information on male androgen levels in giant panda sexual communication

Item Type:	Article
Schools and Departments:	School of Psychology > Psychology
Subjects:	Q Science > QL Zoology > QL0750 Animal behaviour
Depositing User:	Benjamin Charlton
Date Deposited:	14 Nov 2012 11:27
Last Modified:	14 Nov 2012 11:27
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/41868

📧 Request an update