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Sexual dimorphism in African elephant social rumbles

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  • Anton Baotic
  • Angela S Stoeger

Abstract

This study used the source and filter theory approach to analyse sex differences in the acoustic features of African elephant (Loxodonta africana) low-frequency rumbles produced in social contexts (‘social rumbles’). Permuted discriminant function analysis revealed that rumbles contain sufficient acoustic information to predict the sex of a vocalizing individual. Features primarily related to the vocalizer’s size, i.e. fundamental frequency variables and vocal tract resonant frequencies, differed significantly between the sexes. Yet, controlling for age and size effects, our results indicate that the pronounced sexual size dimorphism in African elephants is partly, but not exclusively, responsible for sexual differences in social rumbles. This provides a scientific foundation for future work investigating the perceptual and functional relevance of specific acoustic characteristics in African elephant vocal sexual communication.

Suggested Citation

  • Anton Baotic & Angela S Stoeger, 2017. "Sexual dimorphism in African elephant social rumbles," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(5), pages 1-14, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0177411
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177411
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Benjamin D. Charlton & David Reby, 2016. "The evolution of acoustic size exaggeration in terrestrial mammals," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-8, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Evelyn Fuchs & Veronika C Beeck & Anton Baotic & Angela S Stoeger, 2021. "Acoustic structure and information content of trumpets in female Asian elephants (Elephas maximus)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(11), pages 1-19, November.

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