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new bioacoustic articles in Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 95(12)

To: BIOACOUSTICS-L <>
Subject: new bioacoustic articles in Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 95(12)
From: Sonja Amoser <>
Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2012 10:32:47 +0100
R. Terry Bowyer, Janet L. Rachlow, Kelley M. Stewart & Victor Van Ballenberghe 
(2011): Vocalizations by Alaskan moose: female incitation of male aggression. 
Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 65 (12), 2251-2260.

Abstract: Evidence of female fomentation of male–male aggression as a mechanism 
of mate choice is rare, especially in mammals. Female choice of mates in 
polygynous species may be masked by intense male competition or by males 
attempting to restrict female choice. We studied protest moans of female 
Alaskan moose Alces alces gigas in interior Alaska, USA, from 1987 to 1990, to 
determine if moans incited male–male aggression. Alaskan moose exhibit a mating 
system in which one dominant male (the harem master) herds, defends, courts, 
and attempts to mate with females in his harem. Protest moans were given by 
females only in response to courtship. We hypothesized that if protest moans 
were related to females reducing harassment and exercising mate choice, females 
should give protest moans more frequently when courted by small males and less 
often when courted by large males, and that rates of male–male aggression would 
be elevated following protest moans. Harems were composed of one large male, 
with a mean of 4.4 females (median = 3 females); 10% of 132 harems included ≥10 
females. The temporal pattern of protest moans from late August through 
November was associated with, but tended to lag behind, mating behavior. The 
rate of protest moans given by females decreased with increasing size of males 
courting them. Male–male aggression was significantly less during periods 
without protest moans than during periods in which protest moans occurred. 
These results indicate that female moose gave protest moans to reduce 
harassment by smaller males, and assure a mating opportunity with the most 
dominant male. Such a subtle mechanism of indirect mate choice by females may 
occur in other vertebrates in which choice is limited by a mating system in 
which male–male combat and male dominance over females reduces opportunities 
for female choice. The importance of female choice may be undervalued in 
studies of sexual selection in mammals.

URL: http://www.springerlink.com/content/u4765576363t1107/
For reprints please contact R. T. Bowyer (email: 



Nathan W. Bailey (2011): ate choice plasticity in the field cricket 
Teleogryllus oceanicus: effects of social experience in multiple modalities. 
Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 95 (12), 2269-2278.

Abstract: Social experience can elicit phenotypically plastic changes in mate 
choice, but little is known about the degree to which social information from 
one modality can influence mating decisions based on information from a 
different modality. I used the field cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus to test 
whether experience of chemical cues mimicking a high density of sexually mature 
males causes changes in mate choice based on acoustic signals. T. oceanicus 
males produce long-range calling songs to attract females for mating, but they 
also produce waxy, non-volatile hydrocarbons on their cuticle (CHCs) which, 
when deposited on a substrate, can be detected by females and may provide 
demographic information. I manipulated female experience of substrate-bound 
male CHCs and then performed acoustic mate choice trials. When CHCs were 
present on the substrate during trials, females showed greater motivation to 
respond to male calling song. This effect diminished with repeated exposure to 
male songs, demonstrating that the importance of olfactory cues in altering 
acoustic mate choice decreased with increasing exposure to acoustic signals. 
However, the temporal nature of CHC experience mattered: previous experience of 
CHCs did not alter subsequent female choice for male calling song traits. 
Exposure to male song increased the threshold of mate acceptance over time, and 
individuals varied considerably in overall levels of responsiveness. Taken 
together, the results demonstrate that mate choice is dependent on social 
context mediated by multiple modalities in T. oceanicus, but they do not 
support the idea that prior experience of social cues in one modality 
necessarily influences later mating decisions based on other signalling 
modalities.

URL: http://www.springerlink.com/content/b2035275lr665r5g/
For reprints please contact N. W. Bailey (email: 



Frans A. Juola & William A. Searcy (2011): Vocalizations reveal body condition 
and are associated with visual display traits in great frigatebirds (Fregata 
minor). Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 95 (12), 2297-2303.

Abstract: Acoustic displays are known to advertise aspects of male quality and 
to affect female choice of mates in a variety of birds, including not only 
songbirds but some seabirds as well. Male great frigatebirds (Fregata minor) 
produce a rapid warble vocalization that forms a prominent part of their 
courtship display. We investigated the relationships between aspects of this 
vocalization and male quality and pairing success in 103 great frigatebirds 
from a population in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands. We found that across 
males, frequency bandwidth of the display was negatively related to repetition 
rate, enabling us to use deviation from the upper bound regression of bandwidth 
on rate (“vocal deviation”) as one measure of vocal performance. We used vocal 
consistency, defined as the coefficient of variation of the time interval 
between successive peaks in the warble, as a second measure of performance. 
Vocal deviation was significantly positively associated with body condition of 
male great frigatebirds, but vocal consistency was not. We found that peak 
frequency of the warble was not significantly associated with body size but was 
negatively associated with size of the gular pouch, the most prominent visual 
ornament. Male great frigatebirds showed significant individual differences in 
all three vocal measures—peak frequency, vocal deviation, and vocal 
consistency—but none of these measures was a significant predictor of pairing 
success in our study population. These results suggest that vocalizations 
provide honest information about male body condition and gular pouch size in 
great frigatebirds but do not influence male success in pairing with females.

URL: http://www.springerlink.com/content/q0w33143kg8m6760/
For reprints please contact Frans A. Juola (email: 


Kind regards

Sonja Amoser

**************************
Dr. Sonja Amoser
Steinrieglstraße 286
3400 Weidlingbach





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