COMPARATIVE SOCIOECOLOGY OF MONOGAMOUS PRIMATES

In collaboration with my colleague Dr. Anthony Di Fiore, in 2002 we began a long-term comparative project on the behavioral and ecological strategies of four different species of pair-living primates living in two different habitats.  We are comparing the behavior and ecology of owl monkeys (Aotus azarai) in the gallery forests of the Argentine Chaco with those in the Amazon forest of Yasuní National Park in Ecuador (A. vociferans, Callicebus cupreus and Pithecia monachus).  The goal is to evaluate the relative importance of paternal care, food resource distribution, and male and female reproductive strategies in favoring the evolution and maintenance of monogamy in primates.

Comparative Monogamy Project
 The South American Gran Chaco and the Ecuadorian Amazon are very different habitats. Thus, we can compare similar species (Aotus vociferans vs. A. azarai) in very different habitats and different species (Aotus vs. Pithecia vs. Callicebus) in the same habitat Amazon and Chaco habitats