Why Do Gorillas Beat Their Chest?

There are many sounds one might hear in the wild. The sound of a gorilla chest beating, however, is clearly in category all its own. For one thing, chest beating is a non-vocal act that can both seen and heard. 

Why does a gorilla chest beat? The initial assumption was that chest beats were used to scare off rival mates and attract females. Scientists curious about these non-vocal signals have begun to dig deeper. They wanted to know exactly how a chest beat was able to scare other males.  New research has uncovered that chest beat sounds revealed the body size of the chest beater. The larger the body size, the lower the peak frequency of the chest beat.

Gorillas appear to be able to differentiate this difference in peak frequencies. A rival male, hearing the sound of another's chest beat, would be able to assess their opponent. The sound would help them determine if they should fight or flee the chest beater.

Image: Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund

#Gorilla #ChestBeating #PeakFrequency #Mating #animalbehavior

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