University of Sussex
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

Vocal cues to male androgen levels in giant pandas

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 13:24 authored by Benjamin D Charlton, Jennifer L Keating, David Kersey, Li Rengui, Yan Huang, Ronald R Swaisgood
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

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Biology Letters

ISSN

1744-9561

Issue

1

Volume

7

Page range

71-74

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-11-14

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC