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The function of female copulation calls (Master thesis of Teija Nugraha Febranouva, Bogor Agricultural University) |
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Little is known about the functional significance of female primate copulations calls. One of the current hypothesis is that these calls reliably indicate the fertile phase of a female reproductive cycle. Another one suggests that these calls play an important role in post-copulatory sexual selection processes, depending on the degree of promiscuity in the species. Empirical evidence in support of any of the assumptions, however, is still largely missing. The aim of this project is to investigate the use and information content of female copulation calls in order to test the two hypotheses, and to compare these signals with female sexual swellings. For this, we combine behavioural observations with acoustic analysis and playback experiments, and with an objective measurement of female sexual swellings using digital pictures.
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