© Caroline Deimel

Martin Surbeck

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Department of Primatology
Deutscher Platz 6
D-04103 Leipzig, Germany

phone: +49 341 3550 202
email: surbeck (at) eva.mpg.de

Current research

Reproductive strategies are believed to be one of the major forces that shape the variability we observe in social organization among mammals. The bonobo society is special among group living primates regarding the social status of females, which are observed to dominate males in various contexts. This is one of the reasons why in bonobos research so far has focused on female social behaviour, resulting in a lack of data on the male perspective.
In my PhD work I focus on the competition between the bonobo males and on their role in the society. I use behavioural observations and endocrinological data to look at the correlates and acquisition of male rank in a society which seems to be controlled by females.

 

The work is sponsored by:

 

• Basler Stiftung für biologische Forschung
• Swiss National Science Foundation.