Research group: "Primate Behavioural Ecology"

The department of Behavioral Ecology at the Institute of Biology of the University of Leipzig is linked through a bridge professorship to the Department of Primate Behavior and Evolution of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

Our research is centred around understanding social evolution, with a specific focus on primate sociality. We study social behavior in various species of non-human primates to better understand the social evolution in humans.

Primarily, we are interested in the interplay between behavior, ecology, genetics and fitness. We use a comparative approach looking at several macaque species living in different socio-ecological conditions (e.g., rhesus macaques, crested macaques, Southern pig-tailed macaques, Barbary macaques) but also work on other primates (e.g. white-faced capuchin monkeys, tamarins, vervet monkeys, Sumatran orangutans, chimpanzees and humans). Finally, we also conduct studies on other mammals (e.g. meerkats, Damaraland mole-rats, sloths) and birds (e.g. barn swallows).