Perhaps because of their unusual social organization, gelada males have conspicuous traits that are good candidates for signals of fighting ability or quality. We are focusing on two of these candidates: a red patch of skin on the chest and neck, and a highly ritualized loud call used in male displays. We hypothesize that one or both of these traits are sexually selected signals that are used to assess future rivals or mates. Testing this hypothesis involves answering 3 questions: (1) Do these traits vary with status among males? (2) Do other geladas attend to these traits when assessing potential rivals or mates? (3) If so, are there costs associated with these signals to ensure that they remain “honest” indicators of quality? Thus far, our data suggest that male chest patches do vary with status, such that redder males are associated with greater reproductive opportunities (Bergman et al., 2009). We also have preliminary data to suggest that red chest patches are associated with at least two “costs” – high testosterone and high heat loss. We are conducting similar studies with respect to the male gelada loud call, which appears to be linked to male status and quality.