Can I read Knee-clicks and Visual Traits Indicate Fighting Ability in Eland Antelopes: Multiple Messages and Back-up Signals on EtoBox?

Knee-clicks and Visual Traits Indicate Fighting Ability in Eland Antelopes: Multiple Messages and Back-up Signals by Jakob Bro-Jørgensen; Torben Dabelsteen is a Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology article available to read on EtoBox.

What is Knee-clicks and Visual Traits Indicate Fighting Ability in Eland Antelopes: Multiple Messages and Back-up Signals about?

## Background Given the costs of signalling, why do males often advertise their fighting ability to rivals using several signals rather than just one? Multiple signalling theories have developed largely in studies of sexual signals, and less is known about their applicability to intra-sexual communication. We here investigate the evolutionary basis for the intricate agonistic signalling system in eland antelopes, paying particular attention to the evolutionary phenomenon of loud knee-clicking. ## Results A principal components analysis separated seven male traits into three groups. The dominant frequency of the knee-clicking sound honestly indicated body size, a main determinant of fighting ability. In contrast, the dewlap size increased with estimated age rather than body size, suggesting that, by magnifying the silhouette of older bulls disproportionately, the dewlap acts as an indicator of age-related traits such as fighting experience. Facemask darkness, frontal hairbrush size and body greyness aligned with a third underlying variable, presumed to be androgen-related aggression. A longitudinal study provided independent support of these findings. ## Conclusion The results show

Who reads Knee-clicks and Visual Traits Indicate Fighting Ability in Eland Antelopes: Multiple Messages and Back-up Signals?

Author

Jakob Bro-Jørgensen; Torben Dabelsteen

Publisher

BioMed Central; Springer (Biomed Central Ltd.); [London]: BioMed Central, c2003-; Springer Science and Business Media LLC; Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration Inc.; Research Square (ISSN 1741-7007)

Published

2008

Language

EN

Field

Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (Life Sciences)