Women can tell from other women's voices how much of a threat they pose to their relationships, anthropologists have claimed

In a study, men who were played recordings of a range of women's voices judged those with higher-pitched tones to be the most attractive – especially when asked to choose who they would favor for a one-night stand. When women listened to the same range of voices, they accurately predicted which would be the most appealing to the men. The researchers, at Pennsylvania State University, believe that higher voices in women may have evolved to sound youthful, flirty and attractive to prospective partners. The scientists found that women were most threatened by a high, youthful-sounding voice in another woman. The findings suggest that women's high voices may signal youth and fertility to men who are listening, in the same way that men's deep voices are believed to signal dominance.