Female red deer prefer the roars of larger males.

Oestrous red deer hinds prefer male roars with higher fundamental frequencies.

Across vertebrates, the observation that lower-pitched vocalizations are typically associated with larger and/or higher quality males has lead to the widespread belief that inter- and intra-sexual selection will produce male calls with low fundamental frequencies (F0). Here we investigated the response of oestrous red deer hinds to playback of re-synthesized male roars characterized by either h...

Variability of Female Responses to Conspecific vs. Heterospecific Male Mating Calls in Polygynous Deer: An Open Door to Hybridization?

Males of all polygynous deer species (Cervinae) give conspicuous calls during the reproductive season. The extreme interspecific diversity that characterizes these vocalizations suggests that they play a strong role in species discrimination. However, interbreeding between several species of Cervinae indicates permeable interspecific reproductive barriers. This study examines the contribution o...

Do Red Deer Stags (Cervus elaphus) Use Roar Fundamental Frequency (F0) to Assess Rivals?

It is well established that in humans, male voices are disproportionately lower pitched than female voices, and recent studies suggest that this dimorphism in fundamental frequency (F0) results from both intrasexual (male competition) and intersexual (female mate choice) selection for lower pitched voices in men. However, comparative investigations indicate that sexual dimorphism in F0 is not u...

Effect of combined source (F0) and filter (formant) variation on red deer hind responses to male roars.

Studying female response to variation in single acoustic components has provided important insights into how sexual selection operates on male acoustic signals. However, since vocal signals are typically composed of independent components, it is important to account for possible interactions between the studied parameter and other relevant acoustic features of vocal signals. Here, two key compo...

Do red deer hinds prefer stags that produce harsh roars in mate choice contexts?