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Presented By: Department of Psychology

Biopsychology Colloquium: The male gelada chest patch: a visual signal of male quality

Patricia Delacey, Grad student Biopsychology

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The most striking feature of the gelada (Theropithecus gelada) is a flame-red patch of skin on the chest. Dominant males exhibit the brightest chest patches, suggesting this signal may function as a sexually selected handicap signal to ward off potential male competitors. However, little is known about the mechanism linking color intensity to male quality or the potential physiological costs to maintaining chest redness. In most systems, testosterone links signal intensity and the quality of the signaler as testosterone is metabolically costly and prevents low quality males from falsely signaling high quality. Despite a large sample size of chest patch photos and hormone samples, our research group has been unable to find a link between fecal testosterone levels and chest color in geladas. Here, I investigate the potential driving mechanisms and associated costs of chest patch coloration in a group of habituated geladas living in the Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia.
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