Male Call Frequency as a Criterion for Female Choice in Hyla cinerea

Asquith, Adam; Altig, Ronald

doi:10.2307/1564229

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…In fact, past research has repeatedly found no correlation between F 0 and body size in humans when sex and age are controlled [González, 2004;Hollien et al, 1994;Künzel, 1989;Lass and Brown, 1978;van Dommelen, 1993], or even in red deer [Reby and McComb, 2003] and some amphibian species [Asquith and Altig, 1990]. However, Evans et al [2006] did find significant negative correlations between F 0 of male humans and measures of their body shape including shoulder and chest circumferences, and shoulder-to-hip ratio.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Encoding Emotions in Speech with the Size Code

Chuenwattanapranithi

Thipakorn

et al. 2009

Phonetica

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Our current understanding of how emotions are expressed in speech is still very limited. Part of the difficulty has been the lack of understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Here we report the findings of a somewhat unconventional investigation of emotional speech. Instead of looking for direct acoustic correlates of multiple emotions, we tested a specific theory, the size code hypothesis of emotional speech, about two emotions – anger and happiness. According to the hypothesis, anger and happiness are conveyed in speech by exaggerating or understating the body size of the speaker. In two studies consisting of six experiments, we synthesized vowels with a three-dimensional articulatory synthesizer with parameter manipulations derived from the size code hypothesis, and asked Thai listeners to judge the body size and emotion of the speaker. Vowels synthesized with a longer vocal tract and lower F0 were mostly heard as from a larger person if the length and F0 differences were stationary, but from an angry person if the vocal tract was dynamically lengthened and F0 was dynamically lowered. The opposite was true for the perception of small body size and happiness. These results provide preliminary support for the size code hypothesis. They also point to potential benefits of theory-driven investigations in emotion research.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Encoding Emotions in Speech with the Size Code

Chuenwattanapranithi

Thipakorn

et al. 2009

Phonetica

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“…First, the robust and consistent correlations we found between body size and vocalization frequencies stand in contrast to intra specific acoustic allometry, where a relationship between size and call frequency has been found in some species (e.g. Davies & Halliday, ) but not in others (Sullivan, ; Asquith & Altig, ). This suggests that the development and anatomy of the larynx is consistent and constrained, enough to reveal strong physically based correlations across a large range of body sizes (in this study, from 1 g for Hyla allenorum to 300 g for Bufo marinus ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, body size often plays a crucial role in selection and thus can be of great importance in mate choice and territoriality (e.g. Davies & Halliday, 1978;Asquith & Altig, 1990;Wagner, 1992;Fitch & Hauser, 2002). Therefore, acoustic allometry provides an excellent arena in which to investigate interactions between selection and constraints in vocal evolution.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Call acoustics reflect body size across four clades of anurans

et al. 2012

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An inverse relationship between body size and advertisement call frequency has been found in several frog species. However, the generalizability of this relationship across different clades and across a large distribution of species remains underexplored. We investigated this relationship in a large sample of 136 species belonging to four clades of anurans (Bufo, Hylinae, Leptodactylus and Rana) using semi‐automatic, high‐throughput analysis software. We employed two measures of call frequency: fundamental frequency (F0) and dominant frequency (DF). The slope of the relationship between male snout‐vent length (SVL) and frequency did not differ significantly among the four clades. However, Rana call at a significantly lower frequency relative to size than the other clades, and Bufo call at a significantly higher frequency relative to size than Leptodactylus. Because the relationship between F0 and body size may be more straightforwardly explained by biomechanical constraints, we confirmed that a similar inverse relationship was observed between F0 and SVL. Finally, spectral flatness, an indicator of the tonality of the vocalizations, was found to be inversely correlated with SVL, contradicting an oft‐cited prediction that larger animals should have rougher voices. Our results confirm a tight and widespread link between body size and call frequency in anurans, and suggest that laryngeal allometry and vocal fold dimensions in particular are responsible.

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“…However, such a relationship between body size and vocal fold size does not seem to be typical in other vertebrates. For instance, there is no correlation between F 0 and body size in adult humans ͑ Lass and Brown, 1978;Künzel, 1989;Cohen et al, 1980;van Dommellen, 1993͒, red deer ͑McComb, 1991͒, and other amphib-ian species ͑Asquith and Altig, 1990;Sullivan, 1984͒. This lack of correlation in adult humans is particularly surprising given the widespread assumption that a ''deep'' or lowpitched voice indicates large body size.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vocal tract length and formant frequency dispersion correlate with body size in rhesus macaques

Fitch

1997

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

601

411

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Body weight, length, and vocal tract length were measured for 23 rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) of various sizes using radiographs and computer graphic techniques. linear predictive coding analysis of tape-recorded threat vocalizations were used to determine vocal tract resonance frequencies ("formants") for the same animals. A new acoustic variable is proposed, "formant dispersion," which should theoretically depend upon vocal tract length. Formant dispersion is the averaged difference between successive formant frequencies, and was found to be closely tied to both vocal tract length and body size. Despite the common claim that voice fundamental frequency (F0) provides an acoustic indication of body size, repeated investigations have failed to support such a relationship in many vertebrate species including humans. Formant dispersion, unlike voice pitch, is proposed to be a reliable predictor of body size in macaques, and probably many other species.

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Male Call Frequency as a Criterion for Female Choice in Hyla cinerea

Cited by 12 publications

References 0 publications

Encoding Emotions in Speech with the Size Code

Encoding Emotions in Speech with the Size Code

Call acoustics reflect body size across four clades of anurans

Vocal tract length and formant frequency dispersion correlate with body size in rhesus macaques

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