I was born in Argentina where I obtained my first biology degree at the
University of Buenos Aires. In 1990 I left Argentina to do my Ph.D. in the
Animal Behavior Group at the University of California in Davis, USA.
Since completing my doctorate, I have spent time as a fellow or associate at
Harvard University (
David Rockefeller
Center for Latin American Studies and
Department of Anthropology), the
Zoological Society of San Diego (
Center
for Conservation and Research),
and the
Center for Applied Ecology (Cecoal-Argentina). In 2006 I joined the
Department of Anthropology in the University of Pennsylvania.
I am a behavioral ecologist with a general interest in
understanding the evolution and maintenance of social systems. My main research
interest is to examine the mechanisms that maintain social monogamy in mammals
and the role that sexual selection may have had in the evolution of this
unusual mating system. I am also motivated to study living primates as an
approach to understanding the evolution of human behavior. I am
particularly interested in male-female relationships, pair bonding and paternal
care in humans and non-human primates.
Sakis, titis, and owl monkeys,
the three monogamous genera that I study have some fascinating differences in
their degree of physical sexual dimorphism, the extent of affiliation between
partners and in the amount of paternal care provided that make them an
excellent group to evaluate alternative hypotheses for the evolution and
maintenance of monogamy in primates and early humans.
The
Owl Monkey Project and the
Comparative
Socioecology of Monogamous Primates Project are providing unvaluable data to
examine those questions through field research in the Ecuadorian Amazon and the
Argentinean Chaco.
The
research on the demography, population biology and life-history of howler
monkeys in
Venezuela and
Argentina is another
attempt at understanding mating systems and sexual selection by focusing this time
of a very different taxon that lives in multi-female groups.
Finally, I have very recently began a
collaborative examination of Human Mate Choice by focusing on human populations
in the Argentinean Chaco.
Through my
field work I have become very aware of the urgent need to take action regarding
the conservation and ecology of the fauna and flora of the region in a way that
is totally compatible with the human populations in those habitats.
The
Conservation and Ecology of Mammals Project in the Argentinean Chaco, as well
as the numerous
outreach and education activities that I have conducted over
the years are a step in that direction.
Recent Publications (2005-2007)
E. Fernandez-Duque
& S.P. Mendoza (2009). The
Biology of Paternal Care. Annual Review
of Anthropology Volume 38 (invited contribution, in preparation).
E. Fernandez-Duque, A. Di Fiore & G.
Carrillo-Bilbao. Behavior, ecology and demography of Aotus
vociferans in Yasuní National Park,
Ecuador. International Journal of Primatology
(in press).
E. Fernandez-Duque, C. Juárez & A. Di
Fiore. Adult Male Replacement and Subsequent Infant Care by Male
and Siblings in Socially Monogamous Owl Monkeys (Aotus azarai). Primates (in press).
C.K. Wolovich, J.P. Perea-Rodriguez, E. Fernandez-Duque (2007). Food sharing as a form of paternal care in wild owl monkeys (Aotus azarai). American Journal of Primatology 69:1-16.
Macdonald, E.; E. Fernandez-Duque, L. Hagey & S. Evans (2007). Sex, Age and Family Differences in the chemical composition of owl monkey (Aotus nancymaae) subcaudal scent marks. American Journal of Primatology 69:1-11.
Fernandez-Duque, E. (2007). Aotinae: Social Monogamy in
the Only Nocturnal Haplorhynes. In:
Primates in Perspective (Eds: S. Bearder et al.), Oxford University
Press. 139-154
Di Fiore, A.; Fernandez-Duque, E. & Hurst, D. (2007). Male Adult Replacement in a Group of Socially Monogamous Saki Monkeys in Ecuadorian Amazon. Folia Primatologica, 78:88-98.
Levenson, D.;
Fernandez-Duque, E.; Evans, S. and G. H. Jacobs, (2007). Mutational Changes in
S-Cone Opsin Genes Common to Both Nocturnal and Cathemeral
Aotus Monkeys. American Journal of Primatology, 69: 1-9
Fernandez-Duque, E. & Erkert, H. (2006). Cathemerality and lunar periodicity of activity rhythms in owl monkeys of the Argentinian Chaco. Folia Primatologica, 77: 123-138
Juárez, C.; Dvoskin, R., & E. Fernandez-Duque (2005). Structure and Composition of Wild Black Howler Troops (Alouatta caraya) in Gallery Forests of the Argentinean Chaco. Neotropical Primates, 13(1):19-22.
Carrillo, G.; Di Fiore, A. & E. Fernandez-Duque (2005). Dieta, Forrajeo y Presupuesto de Tiempo en Cotoncillos (Callicebus discolor) del Parque Nacional Yasuní en la Amazonia Ecuatoriana. Neotropical Primates 13 (2): 7-11
Rotundo, M., Fernandez-Duque, E. & Dixson, A.F. (2005). Infant Development and Parental Care in Owl Monkeys (Aotus azarai azarai) of Formosa, Argentina. International Journal of Primatology: 26 (6): 1459-1473.
