Monika Albers
Position: Diploma Student

Jr. Research Group of Primate Kin Selection
Humboldt University Berlin and Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Department of Primatology
Deutscher Platz 6
D-04103 Leipzig
Germany

email: monikalbers (at) yahoo.de

Current research

For my diploma thesis I am investigating whether natal dispersal is affected by kin selection in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). To reduce the costs of migration, males can migrate with peers whom they grow up with, and/or into social groups, which include kin or familiar males from their natal group. Previous behavioral studies suggest that peers frequently migrate together and recent genetic data indicates that age-mates tend to be paternal half-siblings. Males dispersing with related animals or familiar peers and/or joining a group containing kin or familiar males are expected to integrate more successfully into the new group, than males migrating with non-kin or alone. Furthermore, males transferring with kin or familiar males are expected to form coalitions with familiar individuals, especially kin, and therefore experience less aggression.
To test these hypotheses, I am combining behavioral data collection (Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico) with paternal analyses and demographic data.