{"id":30278,"date":"2021-04-16T07:27:01","date_gmt":"2021-04-16T14:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.heuermontage.com\/?p=30278"},"modified":"2021-04-16T07:27:04","modified_gmt":"2021-04-16T14:27:04","slug":"size-sizzlers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heuermontage.com\/?p=30278","title":{"rendered":"Size Sizzlers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Remember all those times you were told size doesn’t matter? They lied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

No lies about size, though, when it comes to gorillas beating their chest. It turns out that those percussive sounds of gorillas drumming against their upper chest reveal accurate<\/em> information about their size. The bigger the gorilla the lower the frequency of the sounds, possibly because bigger gorillas have larger air sacs near their larynx. This means that chest-beating isn\u2019t just a visual display, but what a study<\/a> calls an \u201chonest signal of competitive ability.\u201d And wouldn’t you know it, the bigger males attract the females, after all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gorillas stand up and thump their chests with cupped hands, not fists, which allows for a sound that can be heard up to half a mile way, signaling to females from other troops where the best mating choices lie. Not only that, it also informs other males if and when to choose to get into dominance fights – thus actually preventing aggression, since it makes smaller gorillas think twice. Or whatever the equivalence is in gorilla decision making…. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They don’t thump all day; and apparently each one has a signature rhythm that allows them to be identified.And they are not the only ones. Honest acoustic cues to size can be found in the bellows of alligators<\/a> and the vocalizations of North American Bisons, to name just a few, with those who have longer vocal tracts mating more successfully. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n