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Experimental evidence that female rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) perceive variation in male facial masculinity

View ORCID ProfileKevin A. Rosenfield, Stuart Semple, Alexander V. Georgiev, Dario Maestripieri, James P. Higham, Constance Dubuc
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/222810
Kevin A. Rosenfield
1Centre for Research in Evolutionary, Social and Interdisciplinary Anthropology, University of Roehampton, Holybourne Avenue, London SW15 4JD, UK
2Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, 409 Carpenter Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA
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  • For correspondence: kar61@psu.edu
Stuart Semple
1Centre for Research in Evolutionary, Social and Interdisciplinary Anthropology, University of Roehampton, Holybourne Avenue, London SW15 4JD, UK
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Alexander V. Georgiev
3School of Biological Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK
4Institute for Mind and Biology, The University of Chicago, 940 East 57th St, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
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Dario Maestripieri
4Institute for Mind and Biology, The University of Chicago, 940 East 57th St, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
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James P. Higham
5Department of Anthropology, New York University, 25 Waverly Place, New York, NY 10003, USA
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Constance Dubuc
5Department of Anthropology, New York University, 25 Waverly Place, New York, NY 10003, USA
6Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
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Abstract

Among many primate species, face shape is sexually dimorphic, and male facial masculinity has been proposed to influence female mate choice and male-male competition. However, whether conspecifics pay attention to facial masculinity has only been assessed in humans. In a study of free-ranging rhesus macaques, Macaca mulatta, we used a two-alternative look-time experiment to test whether females perceive male facial masculinity. We presented 107 females with pairs of images of male faces – one with a more masculine shape and one more feminine – and recorded their looking behaviour. Females looked at the masculine face longer than at the feminine face in more trials than predicted by chance. Although there was no overall difference in average look-time between masculine and feminine faces across all trials, females looked significantly longer at masculine faces in a subset of trials for which the within-pair difference in masculinity was most pronounced. Additionally, the proportion of time subjects looked toward the masculine face increased as the within-pair difference in masculinity increased. This study provides evidence that female macaques perceive variation in male facial shape, a necessary condition for intersexual selection to operate on such a trait. It also highlights the potential impact of perceptual thresholds on look-time experiments.

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Posted November 24, 2017.
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Experimental evidence that female rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) perceive variation in male facial masculinity
Kevin A. Rosenfield, Stuart Semple, Alexander V. Georgiev, Dario Maestripieri, James P. Higham, Constance Dubuc
bioRxiv 222810; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/222810
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Experimental evidence that female rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) perceive variation in male facial masculinity
Kevin A. Rosenfield, Stuart Semple, Alexander V. Georgiev, Dario Maestripieri, James P. Higham, Constance Dubuc
bioRxiv 222810; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/222810

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