Specialized signals emitted by competing males often convey honest information about
fighting ability. It is generally believed that receivers use these signals to directly assess their …

Highlights•We explored spatial, social and communicative behaviour in male elephant
seals.•Subadults (< 6 years) showed high variability in spatial, social and vocal …

The evolutionary origin of rhythm perception, a cognitive ability essential to musicality,
remains unresolved [1–5]. The ability to perceive and memorize rhythmic sounds is widely …

Animals often produce sounds that are focused in a particular direction relative to the caller's
orientation. Although many studies have suggested ways in which directional signal design …

Aggressive interactions are costly for individuals in time, energy, or physical damage, and in
polygynous mating systems, there is high variability in the rates and intensity of aggression …

In the most common models of communication, it is assumed that animals provide reliable
information about phenotype, and hence can settle competitive contests without physical …

Sex-specific phenotypic differences are widespread throughout the animal kingdom.
Reproductive advantages provided by trait differences come at a cost. Here, we link sex …

Coalitions and alliances exemplify the core elements of conflict and cooperation in animal
societies. Ecological influences on alliance formation are more readily attributed to within …

The evolution of resource specializations is poorly understood, especially in marine
systems. The southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) is the largest of the phocid seals …

Female southern elephant seals are expected to adopt behaviours that reduce the costs of
male harassment. We studied the strategies and tactics of harassment reduction in two …