page_title: Female copulatory vocalizations
section_title: Occurrence, frequency and form
hierarchical_section_title: Female copulatory vocalizations / In non-human primates / Occurrence, frequency and form
caption_attribution_description: English: Sonograms of female copulatory vocalizations of a human female (top), female baboon (middle), and female gibbon (bottom)[1].
context_page_description: Female copulatory vocalizations, also called female copulation calls or coital vocalizations, are produced by female primates, including human females, and female non-primates. Copulatory vocalizations usually occur during copulation and are hence related to sexual activity. Vocalizations that occur before intercourse, for the purpose of attracting mates, are known as mating calls.
  In primates, copulation calling is typically observed at the end of mating and there are vast variations between species regarding its occurrence, frequency and form. It is agreed that coital vocalizations fulfill an evolutionary purpose and that they serve as adaptive solutions to problems that the females face, such as infanticide, as well as obtaining high quality sperm.
  In non-primates, copulatory calling predominantly occurs before copulation in order to attract mates. Calls vary in frequency and function. One of the main purposes of females vocalizing is the induction of mate guarding behavior in males. Conversely, calls may also be used in order to attract high ranking mates who can prevent intercourse with the initial partner. This is done to incite male mate competition.
context_section_description: In non-human primates, copulatory vocalizations begin towards the end of the copulatory act or even after copulation. The percentage of vocalizations after copulation varies dependent on the non-human primate species studied. In long-tail macaques, for instance, 80% of copulations are followed by copulation calls. In contrast, the percentage for chimpanzees and Tonkean macaques has been found to be 78.8% and 6%, respectively. There is little consensus on what causes these inter-specific differences, given the lack of consistent findings within the literature. The typical quantity of specimen that are tested in experimental settings is often too low in order to allow any general conclusions about the species as a whole.
  Another aspect of coital vocalization that varies according to species is the form of the call: in macaques and baboons they manifest themselves as grunts, whereas other species such as talapoins and chimpanzees typically emit screaming sounds. The quality and structure of copulatory calls are analyzed by comparing their respective spectrograms in terms of their frequency. Accordingly, some species produce calls that are structurally more complex than that of others. This is linked to the amount of promiscuity exhibited, in a way that more promiscuous species emit more faceted calls in order to convey more information about themselves and hence render self-advertisement more efficient.
caption: Sonograms of female copulatory vocalizations of a human female (top), female baboon (middle), and female gibbon (bottom),[10] with time being plotted on the x-axis and the pitch being represented on the y-axis.
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