Screeching wallabies call to attract mates using vocal sounds that sound similar to air horns. Males with louder screeches sire more offspring than males with softer screeches.
(1) Screeching wallabies call to attract mates using vocal sounds
that sound similar to air horns. Males with louder screeches sire more offspring than males with softer screeches. Three experiments were conducted to examine their communication behavior:
(a) In a field population, 30 wallabies were collected and for every wallaby, size and screeching loudness were measured. The results demonstrate that larger wallabies called more loudly than smaller wallabies.
(b) In the same wallabies, gonad size was examined using x-rays. The results from this experiment revealed that larger wallabies had more gonad tissue than smaller wallabies. In wallabies, the size of gonad tissue is correlated with the amount of offspring sired.
(c) In previous work, it was shown that concentrations of testosterone were elevated when wallabies screeched. Testosterone concentrations reduce survival in this species. No significant correlations however were found between wallaby size and testosterone concentration.
-Why do larger males call louder?
-is this an honest signal?
-what maintains honesty?
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