Dominance signal

Animals have developed conflict management strategies to reduce frequency of aggressive incidents in competitive matters.

[2] These facial signals help maintain dominance or "status" relationships by allowing species to predict the outcome of their encounter, and calculate the cost of their own fitness.

Acoustic sounds can vary substantially in amplitude, duration, and frequency structure which can influence how the signal is received.

[8] Northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris), for example, have a polygynous breeding system in which adult males establish dominance hierarchies that facilitates copulation with females.

Tactile signals occur when physical contact is made between two competing animals and can only be transmitted over very short distances.

[10] During competition, the male snakes will exert pressures through pushing, flipping or entwining, which will result in one physically subduing the other.

Electric signalling can minimize fighting costs and allow dominance to be exerted in low visibility conditions.

[11] Dominance signals, like other animal behaviours, have internal underlying mechanisms that allow for the external display to occur.

Underlying mechanisms may include hormones, sensory organs, cognitive maps, spatial memory, associative learning, brain structure, mental representations and neural morphology.

It has been found that altering a bird's badge can actually change androgen circulation and can cause feedback effects on the individuals physiology.

Wild turkeys fundamentally follow a dominant hierarchy as a way to increase their inclusive fitness.

Such hierarchies arise when a member of social group elicits a dominance signal to initiate competitive interaction.

[16] Dominance signals that reinforce hierarchy are crucial for survival for animals like gorillas who are extremely aggressive.

The darkening is a sign of submission and is beneficial for both males as it minimizes the risk of potential injury during prolonged fights.

Human voice pitch is one of the most prevalent dominance signal and has evolutionary ties to non-human primates.

[20] These differences are not fully clear from an evolutionary perspective; However, it has been suggested that voice pitch is linked to male dominance competition.

[20] Empirical evidence shows that women perceive deep-voiced men to be more dominant and desirable for mating.

Height, weight, bulk, and muscularity send signals of strength and can hold power over subordinate males.

[20] Other non-verbal signals that are perceived as signs of dominance are rapid gait, straight postures, firm and strong stances, animated gesturing, and clothing or hair styles that create a bulkier appearance.

[23] When observing the male wrestling competitions of the indigenous Mehinaku tribe of the Amazon rainforest, anthropologist Thomas Gregor noted that males who are "heavily muscled" and "imposingly built" have higher mating access to females, while small men, who are derogatorily referred to as peristsi, "fare badly".

[24] More subtle dominance signals have also been suggested such as head nods, less arm wrap, increasing gestures, and more left leg lean.