Gelada males—a close relative to baboons—pay attention to the loud calls of a rival to gain information about his relative fighting ability compared to themselves, a new study indicated.
Gelada males—a close relative to baboons—pay attention to the loud calls of a rival to gain information about his relative fighting ability compared to themselves, a new study indicated.
Researchers at the University of Michigan, Georgia State University and Princeton University found evidence that gelada males decide to escalate contests with their opponents based on their own condition relative to the condition of their opponent.
They appear to do this by using the acoustic quality of the loud calls of their rivals—long-distance vocalizations that carry honest information about the fighting ability of the caller.
There has been much debate on specifically how animals make competitive decisions during contests. Game theoretical models predict that animals should assess an opponent's condition relative to their own condition prior to engaging in combat to avoid costly fights they are unlikely to win, a strategy known as mutual assessment.
Read more at University of Michigan
Photo credit: sannse via Wikimedia Commons
