Why women are more attracted to men with deep voices

Scientists have found that men who speak deeply are likely to father more children than their squeaky rivals.

The news will be no surprise to fans of big Barry, who died in 2003. His subterranean tones apparently helped him to father eight children.

It is thought women use a man's voice to judge his masculinity, with deep-voiced men being rated more attractive.

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As a result, these men have a better chance of getting the girl and are therefore

more likely to have children. The study by Canadian and American scientists follows other work showing women rate men with deep voices as being more dominant, older, healthier and more masculine.

Men, in turn, believe women with higherpitched voices are better looking, subordinate, feminine, healthier and younger.

The latest research was set up specifically to look at whether the added attractiveness of deep-voiced men led to them fathering more children.

A Tanzanian tribe without access to modern-healthcare was used to produce results untainted by any access to contraception or fertility treatment.

Around 100 men and women had their voices recorded and were asked how many children they had.

There was a clear link between voice pitch and family size for men, with the deepestvoiced individuals having the most children.

Writing in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, the scientists said it was likely deep-voiced men had more access to fertile women.

But researcher Dr David Feinberg, of McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, warned men could not improve their luck by affecting a deeper voice.

He added: "It's really easy to tell when somebody's faking these things."

Dr Feinberg said he couldn't rule out the possibility the results could be explained by more masculine men simply having more confidence to boast about their virility.

No link was found between the pitch of a woman's voice and the number of children she had. But other studies have shown that when a woman's chances of becoming pregnant are highest, they are most attracted to deep-voiced types.

But at other times of the month, when libido and fertility are low, they are more at home with those with higher tones, who despite their lack of masculinity are judged as better material for a long-term partner.