Flanged males are characterized by cheek pads around their faces as well as big throat sacks. They are much bigger, much stronger and have longer hair than unflanged males.
At Suaq, there is usually one dominant flanged male. He defends his territory against other males by long-distance calls, so called long calls. These long calls can be heard over distances of up to 1 kilometer and are usually enough to keep other flanged males away. If this is not the case, the locally dominant male will actively displace the challenging male, which sometimes includes physical fighting.
The locally dominant flanged male will take care of the females in his territory by passively offering them protection and actively warding off other males if need be. Females voluntarily associate with the locally dominant flanged male and actively seek his protection if needed.
At Suaq, Arno was the local dominant flanged male in the 90’s. When the research activities were resumed in 2007 Islo was the new, exceptionally peaceful and friendly boss. Islo was pushed from his throne in 2014 when he was repeatedly badly injured in fights with other males. Since then, the dominance hierarchy is unclear. Titan and Dian are among the most promising candidates for the position of the new dominant flanged male at Suaq.