Christof Neumann
Position: PhD student

Jr. Research Group of Primate Kin Selection
Max Planck Institute for
Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI EVA)
Department of Primatology
Deutscher Platz 6
D-04103 Leipzig
Germany

Department of Reproductive Biology
German Primate Centre,
Leibniz Institute for Primate Research
Kellnerweg 4
D-37077 Göttingen
Germany

email: cneumann (at) dpz.eu

Current research

Achievement and maintenance of dominance in male crested macaques
(Macaca nigra)

During my PhD project I will study a variety of factors that may contribute to achievement and maintenance of dominance status in crested macaque males. This species is an interesting model to study the processes of dominance acquisition since there is a strong bias towards high ranking males in siring more offspring than low ranking males. Taken together with a high rate of male migration events, a comparatively short tenure for alpha males, and the fact that male crested macaques express two conspicuous signals (loud calls and colourful scrota), this study will help to better understand the proximate mechanisms involved in individual male careers in primate species in which dominance rank affects reproductive success.

I will particularly investigate

• physical traits, i.e. body and canine size,
• utilization of coalitions among males,
• social support by females, especially shortly after male immigrations
• endocrine status (sex and stress hormones),
• personality, and
• the expression of male signals (loud calls and scrotum colouration).

At the moment I am conducting field work for my project in the Tangkoko–Batuangus Nature Reserve in North Sulawesi, Indonesia within the Macaca Nigra Project.