People
Primate Reproductive Ecology and Evolution
New York University
James Higham
PI
Eve Cooper
Postdoc
Christina Costa
PhD student
Kandra Cruz
PhD student
Alex DeCasien
PhD student
Constance Dubuc
Affiliated Researcher
Jessica Gunson
PhD student
Clare Kimock
PhD student
Laís Moreira
PhD student
Laura Newman
PhD student
Sam Patterson
Postdoc
Megan Petersdorf
PhD student
Rachel Petersen
PhD student
Amber Eliza Trujillo
PhD student
Cassandra Turcotte
Postdoc
Alumni Lab Members
click name for website
(MA student, 2017-2020)
(MA student, 2017-2020)
(PhD student, 2013-2019)
(PhD student, 2012-2019)
Benjamin Ragen
(Postdoc, 2015-2017)
(MA student, 2013-2015)
(Postdoc, 2012-2014)
Undergraduate Students
Current* & Alumni
Ailin Xu*
Gabby Galindo
Ruby Mustill
Maddy Hillegas
Sofia Villegas
Varvy Rousseau
Deanna Hartog
Allegra DePasquale
Noelle Desir
Lisa Ramirez
Elise Blegen
Judy Dang
Flavia Stanton
Constanza Galindo
Paul Brown
High School Students
Current & Alumni
Giana Adote*
Xinyi Gilda Gao*
Tahsin Uddin
Emily Willett
Gabrielle Piña
Yovanna Smith
Djemila Campaore
Madison Mushnick
Etta Harshaw
Zofia Caes
Grace Passannante
Kelly Heinzerling
Cayo Santiago Research Assistants
Current* & Alumni
Amy Sutley
Anita Montero
Yasmina Ahdab
Maddy Hillegas
Laura Gomez
Angelica Cruz
Becky LaVictoire
Gisela Crespo
Connie Rojas
Louisa Radosevich
Victoria Johnson
James Higham
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Publications
As Editor
Higham, J.P. & Roney, J. (Eds). 2017. Field endocrinology of nonhuman and human primates.
Hormones and Behavior 91.
Higham, J.P. & Hebets, E.A. (Eds). 2013. Multimodal communication.
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 67 (9)
Higham, J.P. & Semple, S. (Eds). 2013. Primate signals.
American Journal of Primatology 75 (7)
Higham, J.P. (Ed). 2009. Primate coloration: measurement, mechanisms and function.
International Journal of Primatology 30 (6)
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
Testard, C., Larson, S.M., Watowich, M., Kaplinsky, C.H., Bernau, A., Faulder, M., Marshall, H.H., Lehmann, J., Ruiz-Lambides, A., Higham, J.P., Montague, M., Snyder-Mackler, N., Platt, M.L., Brent, L.J.N. 2021. Rhesus macaques build new social connections after a natural disaster.
Current Biology 31: 2299-2309
Melin, A.D., Orkin, J.D., Janiak, M.C., Valenzuela, A., Kuderna, L., Marrone III, F., Ramangason, H., Horvath, J.E., Roos, C., Kitchener, A.C., Khor, C.C., Lim, W.K., Lee, J.G.H., Tan, P., Umapathy, G., Raveendram, M., Harris, R.A., Gut, I., Gut, M., Lizano, E., Nadler, T., Zinner, D., Le, M.D., Manu, S., Rabarivola, C.J., Zaraomody, A., Andriaholinirina, N., Johnson, S.E., Jarvis, E.D., Fredigo, O., Wu, D., Zhang, G. Farh, K.K-H., Rogers, J., Marques-Bonet, T., Navarro, A., Juan, D., Arora, P.S. & Higham, J.P. 2021. Variation in predicted COVID-19 risk among lemurs and lorises.
American Journal of Primatology 83, e23255
Janiak, M.C., Montague, M.J., Villamil, C.I., Stock, M.J., Trujillo, A.E., DePasquale, A., Orkin, J., Bauman Surratt, S., Gonzalez, O., Platt, M.L., Martinez, M., Antón S., Dominguez-Bello, M.G., Melin, A.D., Higham, J.P. 2021. Age and sex-associated variation in the multi-site microbiome of an entire social group of free-ranging rhesus macaques.
Microbiome 9: 68
Higham, J.P., Heistermann, M., Agil, M., Perwitasari-Farajallah, D., Widdig, A. & Engelhardt, A. 2021. Female fertile phase synchrony, and male mating and reproductive skew, in the crested macaque.
Scientific Reports 11: 4251
Colby, A.E., Kimock, C.M. & Higham, J.P. 2021. Endocranial volume is variable and heritable, but not related to fitness, in a free-ranging primate.
Scientific Reports 11: 4235
Higham, J.P., Kimock, C.M., Mandalaywala, T.M., Heistermann M., Cascio, J., Petersdorf, M., Winters, S., Allen, W.L., & Dubuc, C. 2021. Female ornaments: is red skin color attractive to males and related to condition in rhesus macaques?
Behavioral Ecology 32: 236-247
Ghazanfar, A.A., Kelly, L.M., Takahashi, D.Y., Winters, S., Terrett, R. & Higham, J.P. 2020. Domestication phenotype linked to vocal communication in a nonhuman primate.
Current Biology 30: 5026-5032
Melin, A.D., Janiak, M.C., Marrone, F., Arora, P.S. & Higham, J.P. 2020. Comparative ACE2 variation and primate COVID-19 risk.
Communications Biology 3: 641
DeCasien, A.R. & Higham, J.P. 2020. Relative cerebellum size is not sexually dimorphic across primates.
Brain, Behavior and Evolution 95: 93-101
Chiou, K.L., Montague, M.J., Goldman, E.A., Watowich, M.M, Sams, S.N., Song, J., Horvath, J.E., Sterner, K.N., Ruiz-Lambides, A.V., Martínez, M.I., Higham, J.P., Brent, L.J.N, Platt, M.L. & Snyder-Mackler, N. 2020. Rhesus macaques as a tractable physiological model of human ageing .
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 375: 20190612
Lee, D.S., Mandalaywala, T., Dubuc, C., Widdig, A., Higham, J.P. 2020. Higher early life mortality with lower infant body mass in a free‐ranging primate.
Journal of Animal Ecology 89: 2300-2310
Petersen, R.M. & Higham, J.P. 2020. The role of sexual selection in the evolution of facial displays in male nonhuman primates and men.
Adaptive Human Behavior & Physiology 6: 249–276
DeCasien, A.R., Sherwood C.C., Schapiro, S.J. & Higham, J.P. 2020. Greater variability in chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) brain structure among males.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B 287: 20192858
Higham, J.P., Stahl-Hennig, C., & Heistermann, M. 2020. Urinary suPAR: a non-invasive biomarker of infection and tissue inflammation for use in studies of large free-ranging mammals.Royal Society Open Science 7: 191825
Thompson, N.A., Higham, J.P., Heistermann, M., Vogel, E.R., & Cords, M. 2020. Energy balance but not competitive environment corresponds with allostatic load during development in an Old World monkey.
Hormones and Behavior 119: 104664
Winters, S., Allen, W.L., Higham, J.P. 2020.The structure of species discrimination signals across a primate radiation.
eLife 9: e47428
Young, M.I.M., Winters, S., Young, C., Weiß, B.M., Troscianko, J., Ganswindt, A., Barrett, L., Henzi, S.P., Higham, J.P., Widdig, A. 2020. Male characteristics as predictors of genital color and display variation in vervet monkeys.
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 74:14.
Kimock, C., Dubuc, C., Brent, L.J.N., Higham, J.P. 2019. Male morphological traits are heritable but do not predict reproductive success in a sexually-dimorphic primate.
Scientific Reports 9: 19794
Fischer, J.*, Higham, J.P.*, Alberts, S.C., Barrett, L., Beehner, J.C., Bergman, T.J., Carter, A.J., Collins A., Elton, S., Fagot, J., Ferreira da Silva, M.J., Hammerschmidt, K., Henzi, P., Jolly, C., Knauf, S., Kopp, G.H., Rogers, J., Roos, C., Ross, C., Seyfarth, R.M., Silk, J., Snyder-Mackler, N., Städele, V., Swedell, L., Wilson, M.L, Zinner, D. 2019. Insights into the evolution of social systems and species from baboon studies. *These authors contributed equally to this work
eLife 8: e50989
Higham, J.P. 2019. A comparative perspective on measures of cycle phase, and how they relate to cues, signals, and mating behavior: a commentary on Gangestad et al.Evolution and Human Behavior 40: 533-536
Moreira, L.A.A., Duytschaever, G., Higham, J.P. Melin, A.D. 2019. Platyrrhine color signals: New horizons to pursue.
Evolutionary Anthropology 28: 236-248
DeCasien, A.R., Higham, J.P. 2019. Primate mosaic brain evolution reflects selection on sensory and cognitive specialization.
Nature Ecology and Evolution 3: 1483–1493.
Petersdorf, M., Weyher, A.H., Kamilar, J.M., Dubuc, C., Higham, J.P. 2019. Sexual selection in the Kinda baboon.
Journal of Human Evolution 135: 102635.
Rigaill, L., Higham, J.P., Winters, S., Garcia, C. 2019. The redder the better? Information content of red skin coloration in female Japanese macaques.
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 73: 103.
Lee, D.S., Ruiz-Lambides, A.V., Higham, J.P. 2019. Higher offspring mortality with short interbirth intervals in free-ranging rhesus macaques
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 116: 6057-6062
Rosenfield, K.A., Semple, S., Georgiev, A.V., Maestripieri, D., Higham, J.P., Dubuc, C. 2019. Experimental evidence that female rhesus macaques Macaca mulattaperceive variation in male facial masculinity
Royal Society Open Science 6: 181415.
Ma, W.J. & Higham, J.P. 2018. The role of familiarity in signaler-receiver interactions.
Journal of the Royal Society Interface 15: 20180568Higham J.P., Dominy N.J. 2018. The promise of primatology fulfilled?
American Journal of Physical Anthropology 166: 783–790.
Dominy, N.J., Winters, S., Pease, D.E., Higham, J.P. 2018. Dr Seuss and the real Lorax.
Nature Ecology and Evolution 2: 1196–1198.
Mandalaywala, T.M., Petrullo, L., Parker, K., Maestripieri, D. & Higham, J.P. Vigilance for threat accounts for inter-individual variation in physiological responses to adversity in rhesus macaques: a cognition x environment approach.
Developmental Psychobiology 59: 1031-1038.
Petersdorf, M., Dubuc, C., Georgiev, A., Winters, S. & Higham, J.P. 2017. Is the red facial coloration of male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) subject to intrasexual selection?
Behavioral Ecology 28: 1472-148.
Hiramatsu, C., Melin, A.D., Allen, W.L., Dubuc, C. & Higham, J.P. 2017. Experimental evidence that primate trichromacy is well suited for detecting primate social colour signals.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B 284: 20162458.
Roney, J.R. & Higham, J.P. 2017. Synthesizing research on field endocrinology of nonhuman primates and humans.
Hormones and Behavior 91: 1-2.
DeCasien, A.R., Williams, S.A. & Higham, J.P. 2017. Primate brain size is predicted by diet but not sociality.
Nature Ecology and Evolution 1:0112.
Hammond, A.S., Johnson, V.P. & Higham, J.P. 2017. Hip joint mobility in free-ranging rhesus macaques.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology 58: 83-91
Rigaill, L., MacIntosh, A.J.J., Higham, J.P., Winters, S., Shimizu, K., Mouri, K., Suzumura, T., Furuichi, T., Garcia, C. 2017. Testing for links between face color and age, dominance status, parity, weight, and intestinal nematode infection in a sample of female Japanese macaques.
Primates 58: 83-91.
Petrullo, L., Mandalaywala, T.M., Parker, K., Maestripieri, D. & Higham, J.P. 2016. Effects of early-life adversity on cortisol/salivary alpha-amylase symmetry in free-ranging juvenile rhesus macaques.
Hormones and Behavior 86: 78-84.
Higham, J.P. 2016. Field endocrinology of nonhuman primates: past, present and future.
Hormones and Behavior 84: 145-155
Dubuc, C., Allen, W.L., Cascio, J., Lee, D.S., Maestripieri, D., Petersdorf, M., Winters, S. & Higham, J.P. 2016. Who cares? Experimental attention biases provide new insights into a mammalian sexual signal.
Behavioral Ecology 27: 68-74
Grueter, C.C., Zhu, P., Allen, W.L., Higham, J.P., Ren, B. & Li, M. 2015. Sexually-selected lip colour indicates male group-holding status in the mating season in a multi-level primate society.
Royal Society Open Science 2: 150490
Heistermann, M. & Higham, J.P. 2015 Urinary neopterin, a non-invasive marker of mammalian cellular immune activation, is highly stable under field conditions.
Scientific Reports 5: 16308
Fischer, J., Wheeler, B.C., & Higham, J.P. 2015. Is there any evidence for vocal learning in chimpanzee food calls?
Current Biology 25, R1-R2
Rigaill, L., MacIntosh, A.J.J., Higham, J.P., Winters, S., Shimizu, K., Mouri, K., Takeshi, F. & Garcia, C. Multimodal advertisement of pregnancy in free-ranging female Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata).
PLOS One 10(8): e0135127
Higham, J.P., Kraus, C., Stahl-Hennig, C., Engelhardt, A., Fuchs, D. & Heistermann, M. 2015. Evaluating non-invasive markers of non-human primate immune activation and inflammation.
American Journal of Physical Anthropology 158: 673-684
Winters, S., Dubuc, C. & Higham, J.P. 2015. The looking time experimental paradigm in studies of animal visual perception and cognition.
Ethology 121: 625-640
Allen, W.L. & Higham, J.P. 2015. Assessing the potential information content of multicomponent visual signals: A machine learning approach.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B 282: 20142284
MacLarnon, A.M., Sommer, V., Goffe, A.S., Higham, J.P., Lodge, E., Tkaczynski, P. & Ross, C. 2015. Assessing adaptability and reactive scope: a new measure and a case study of environmental stress in forest-living baboons.
General and Comparative Endocrinology 215: 10-24Dubuc, C., Winters, S., Allen, W.L., Brent, L.J.N., Cascio, J., Maestripieri, D.M., Ruiz-Lambides, A., Widdig, A. & Higham, J.P. 2014. Sexually-selected skin color is heritable and related to fecundity in a non-human primate.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B 281: 20141602
Mandalaywala, T.M., Higham, J.P., Heistermann, M., Parker, K.J. & Maestripieri D. 2014. Physiological and behavioral stress responses to weaning conflict in free-ranging primate infants.
Animal Behaviour 91: 241-247
Hughes, K.D., Higham, J.P., Allen, W.L., Elliot, A.J. & Hayden, B.Y. 2015. Extraneous red drives female macaques’ gaze toward photographs of male conspecifics.
Evolution and Human Behavior 36: 25-31
Allen, W.L., Stevens, M & Higham, J.P. 2014. Character displacement of Cercopithecini primate visual signals.
Nature Communications 5: 4266
Higham, J.P. & Maestripieri, D. 2014. The costs of reproductive success in Cayo Santiago male rhesus macaques.
International Journal of Primatology 35: 661-676
Dubuc, C., Allen, W.L., Maestripieri, D. & Higham, J.P. 2014. Is male rhesus macaque red colour ornamentation attractive to females?
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 68: 1215-1224
Higham, J.P. 2014. How does honest costly signaling work?Behavioral Ecology 25: 8-11
Higham, J.P. & Hebets, E.A. 2013. An introduction to multimodal communication.
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 67: 1381-1388
Wilson A., Dean, M. & Higham, J.P. 2013. A game theoretic approach to multimodal communication.
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 67: 1399-1415
Higham, J.P., Pfefferle, D., Heistermann, M., Maestripieri, D. & Stevens, M. 2013. Signaling in multiple modalities in male rhesus macaques: barks and sex skin coloration in relation to androgen levels, social status and mating behavior.
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 67: 1457-1469
Semple, S. & Higham, J.P. 2013. Primate signals: Current issues and perspectives.
American Journal of Primatology 75: 613-620
Allen, W.L. & Higham, J.P. 2013. Analyzing visual signals as visual scenes.
American Journal of Primatology 75: 664-682
Rigaill, L., Higham, J.P., Lee, PC., Blin, A. & Garcia, C. 2013. Multimodal sexual signaling and mating behavior in olive baboons (Papio anubis).
American Journal of Primatology 75: 774-787
Higham, J.P., Heistermann, M. & Maestripieri, D. 2013. The endocrinology of male rhesus macaque social and reproductive status: a test of the challenge and social stress hypotheses.
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 67: 19-30
Higham, J.P., Heistermann, M., Saggau, C., Agil, M., Perwitasari-Farajallah, D. & Engelhardt, A. 2012. Sexual signaling in the crested macaque and the evolution of primate fertility signals.
BMC Evolutionary Biology 12: 89
Mandalaywala, T.M., Higham, J.P., Heistermann, M. & Maestripieri, D. 2011. Infant bystanders modulate the effects of ovarian hormones on socio-sexual behaviour in free-ranging female rhesus macaques.
Behaviour 148: 1137-1155
Higham, J.P., Girard-Buttoz, C., Engelhardt, A. & Heistermann, M. 2011 Urinary C-peptide of insulin as a non-invasive marker of nutritional status: some practicalities.
PLoS One 6: e22398
Higham, J.P., Hughes, K.D., Brent, L.J.N., Dubuc, C., Engelhardt, A., Heistermann, M., Maestripieri, D., Santos, L.R & Stevens, M. 2011. Familiarity affects assessment of facial signals of female fertility by free-ranging male rhesus macaques.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B 278: 3452-3458
Hoffman, C.L., Higham, J.P., Heistermann, M., Prendergast, B., Coe, C. & Maestripieri, D. 2011. Immune function and HPA axis activity in free-ranging rhesus macaques.
Physiology and Behavior 104: 507-514
Girard-Buttoz, C., Higham, J.P., Heistermann, M., Wedegärtner, S., Maestripieri, D. & Engelhardt, A. 2011. Urinary c-peptide measurement as a marker of nutritional status in macaques.
PLoS One 6: e18042
Higham, J.P., Heistermann, M. & Maestripieri, D. 2011. The energetics of male-male endurance rivalry in rhesus macaques.
Animal Behaviour 81: 1001-1007
Higham, J.P., Barr, C.S., Hoffman, C.L., Mandalaywala, T.M., Parker, K.J. & Maestripieri, D. 2011. Mu-opioid receptor (OPRM1) variation, oxytocin levels and maternal behavior in free-ranging rhesus macaques.
Behavioral Neuroscience 125: 131-136
De Vere, R., Warren, Y., Nicholas, A., MacKenzie, M.E. & Higham, J.P. 2011. Nest site ecology of the Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) in the Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary, Cameroon, with special reference to anthropogenic influence.
American Journal of Primatology 73: 253-261
Higham, J.P. & Maestripieri, D. 2010. Revolutionary coalitions in male rhesus macaques.
Behaviour 147: 1889-1908
Higham, J.P., Vitale, A.B., Mas-Rivera, A., Ayala, J.E. & Maestripieri, D. 2010. Measuring salivary analytes from free-ranging monkeys.
Physiology & Behavior 101: 601-607
Hoffman, C.L., Higham, J.P., Mas-Rivera, A., Ayala, J.E. & Maestripieri, D. 2010. Terminal investment and senescence in rhesus macaques on Cayo Santiago.
Behavioral Ecology 21: 972-978
Higham, J.P., Brent, L.J.N., Dubuc, C., Accamando, A,K., Engelhardt, A., Gerald, M.S., Heistermann, M. & Stevens, M. 2010. Color signal information content and the eye of the beholder: a case study in the rhesus macaque.
Behavioral Ecology 21: 739-746
Higham, J.P. MacLarnon, A.M., Heistermann, M., Ross, C. & Semple, S. 2009. Self-directed behaviours and faecal glucocorticoid levels are not correlated in female wild olive baboons.
Stress 12: 526-532
Higham, J.P. Primate Coloration – An introduction to the special issue. 2009.
International Journal of Primatology 30: 749-751
Marty, J.M., Higham, J.P., Gadsby, E.L., & Ross, C. 2009 Color, dominance and social and sexual behavior in male drills.
International Journal of Primatology 30: 807-823
Stevens, M., Stoddard, M.C., & Higham, J.P. 2009. Studying primate color: towards visual system dependent methods.
International Journal of Primatology 30: 893-917
Higham, J.P., Semple, S. MacLarnon, A., Heistermann, M. & Ross, C. 2009. Female reproductive signals, and male mating behavior, in the olive baboon.
Hormones and Behavior 55: 60-67
Higham, J.P., Warren, Y., Adanu, J. Bubu, U. MacLarnon, A., Sommer, V. & Ross, C. 2009. Living on the edge: Life-history of olive baboons at Gashaka-Gumti National Park, Nigeria.
American Journal of Primatology 71: 293-304
Higham, J.P., MacLarnon, A., Ross, C., Heistermann, M. & Semple, S. 2008 Baboon sexual swellings: Information content of size and color.
Hormones and Behavior 53: 452-462
Higham, J.P. Heistermann, M., Ross, C., Semple, S. & MacLarnon, A. 2008. The timing of ovulation with respect to sexual swelling detumescence in wild olive baboons.
Primates 49: 295-299
Higham, J.P., Ross, C., Warren, Y., Heistermann, M. & MacLarnon, A. 2007 Reduced reproductive function in wild baboons (Papio hamadryas anubis) related to natural consumption of the African black plum (Vitex doniana).
Hormones and Behavior 52: 384-390
Asakura, T., Umemura, K., Nakazawa, Y., Hirose, H., Higham, J.P. & Knight, D. 2007 Some observations on the structure and function of the spinning apparatus in the silkworm Bombyx mori.
Biomacromolecules 8: 175-181
Higham, J.P. & Gosler, A.G. 2006 Speckled eggs: water loss and incubation behaviour in the Great tit Parus major.
Oecologia 149: 561-570
Gosler, A.G., Higham, J.P. & Reynolds, S.J. 2005 Why are birds’ eggs speckled?
Ecology Letters 8: 1105-1113
Book Chapters & Encyclopedia Entries
Winters S, Petersdorf M, Higham JP. 2019. Charles Darwin and selection in relation to sex in colors of monkeys.
In: Darwin’s Roadmap to the Curriculum: Evolutionary Studies in Higher Education. Eds DS Wilson, G Geher, H Mativetsky, AC Gallup. Oxford University Press: New York.
Petersen R.M., Dubuc C., Higham J.P. 2018. Facial displays of dominance in non-human primates.
In: The Facial Displays of Leaders. Ed Senior, C. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Petersdorf, M. & Higham, J.P. 2017. Mating systems, Primates.
In: International Encyclopedia of Biological Anthropology John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Hoboken: New Jersey.
Higham, J.P. 2017. Sperm competition.
In: The International Encyclopedia of Primatology. Wiley Blackwell. Hoboken: New Jersey. In Press
Higham, J.P. & Petersdorf, M. 2017. Sexual swellings.
In: The International Encyclopedia of Primatology. Wiley Blackwell. Hoboken: New Jersey. In Press
Petersdorf, M. & Higham, J.P. 2017. Mating systems.
In: The International Encyclopedia of Primatology. Wiley Blackwell. Hoboken: New Jersey. In Press
Higham, J.P. 2016. Multimodal Communication.
In: The missing lemur link: an ancestral step in human evolution (Palagi, E. & Norscia I.) Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
Higham, J.P. & Dubuc, C. 2015. The evolution of female fertility signals in macaques.
In: eLS (Encyclopedia of Life Sciences). Wiley Blackwell. Hoboken: New Jersey.Higham, J.P. & Winters, S. 2015. Color and mate choice in nonhuman animals.
In: The handbook of color psychology Eds Elliot, A.J. & Fairchild, M.D. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK. pp 502-530. ISBN: 978-1-107-04323-7
Higham, J.P. 2013. Primate visual signals.
In: McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science and Technology 2014. McGraw-Hill Professional: New York
Warren, Y., Higham, J.P., MacLarnon, A. & Ross, C. 2011. Crop-raiding and commensalism: the costs and benefits of living with humans.
In: Primates of Gashaka Eds. Sommer, V & Ross, C. Developments in primatology: progress and prospects. Springer. Series Ed. Tuttle, R.H.
Ross, C., Warren, Y., MacLarnon, A. & Higham, J.P. 2011. How different are Gashaka’s baboons? A comparison of forest-living and open-country populations.
In: Primates of Gashaka Eds. Sommer, V & Ross, C. Developments in primatology: progress and prospects. Springer. Series Ed. Tuttle, R.H.
Other journal publications
Setchell, J.M., Fernandez-Duque, E. Higham, J.P., Rothman, J.M., Schulke, O. 2016. Editorial: Changes and clarifications to the policies of the International Journal of Primatology to promote transparency and open communication.
International Journal of Primatology 37: 617-627.
Petersdorf, M. & Higham, J.P. 2015. Katja Liebal, Bridget M. Waller, Anne M. Burrows, Katie E. Slocombe: Primate Communication: A Multimodal Approach.
International Journal of Primatology 36: 1055-1059
Winters, S. & Higham, J.P. 2015. Martin Stevens: Sensory Ecology, Behaviour, and Evolution.
International Journal of Primatology 36: 205-208
Dubuc, C. & Higham, J.P. 2014. Quite the complexion: rhesus monkey face redness is passed on to their offspring, and affects their reproductive fitness.
Biosphere 2: 50-55
Higham, J.P., Amann, A.L., Bryer, M.A.H., Thompson, N.A. & Winters, S. 2013. Review of “The Evolution of Primate Societies” (Eds. John C. Mitani, Josep Call, Peter M. Kappeler, Ryne A. Palombit & Joan B. Silk).
International Journal of Primatology 34: 1298-1303
Higham, J.P. 2011. Review of “The Japanese Macaques” (Eds., Naofumi, N., Nakamichi, N. & Sugiura, H.).
International Journal of Primatology 32: 1033-1036
Semple, S., Higham, J.P., MacLarnon, A., Ross, C. & Lehmann, J. 2010. Comment on ‘Pan Thanatology’.
Current Biology http://www.cell.com/current-biology/comments/S0960-9822(10)00145-4
Wiseman, R., Warren, Y., Nicholas, A., MacKenzie, M., & Higham, J.P. 2008. A GIS habitat map for the Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary, Cameroon.
Gorilla Journal 37: 12-14
Eve Cooper
Postdoctoral Researcher, 2020-present
Research Interests
I am broadly interested in understanding the proximate and ultimate mechanisms driving between-individual variation in aging and senescence. As a member of the NYU Primatology lab, I’ll be investigating how social connectedness and social status influence the aging process, and especially immunosenescence (age-related deterioration of the immune system) using the free-ranging population of rhesus macaques in Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico.Education
2020 Ph.D. Biology, Australian National University
2016 B.S. (honours) Environmental Science, University of Guelph
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
EB Cooper, T Bonnet, H Osmond, A Cockburn, LEB Kruuk. (2020) “Do the ages of parents or helpers affect offspring fitness in a cooperatively breeding bird?” Journal of Evolutionary Biology.
EB Cooper, T Bonnet, H Osmond, A Cockburn, LEB Kruuk. (2020) “Ageing and senescence across reproductive traits and survival in superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus)” American Naturalist.
S Nakagawa, AG Dunn, M Lagisz, A Bannach-Brown, EM Grames, A Sánchez-Tójar, RE O’Dea, DWA Noble, MJ Westgate, PA Arnold, S Barrrow, A Bethel, EB Cooper, YZ Foo, SR Geange, E Hennessy, W Mapanga, K Mengersen, C Munera, MJ Page, V Welch, NR Haddaway. (2020) “A new ecosystem for evidence synthesis” Nature Ecology & Evolution.
EB Cooper, and LEB Kruuk. (2018) “Ageing with a silver‐spoon: A meta‐analysis of the effect of developmental environment on senescence” Evolution Letters.
EB Cooper, RW Taylor, AD Kelley, AR Martinig, S Boutin, MM Humphries, B Dantzer, JE Lane, AG McAdam. (2017) “Personality is correlated with natal dispersal in North American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)” Behaviour.
Digests
EB Cooper. (2020) “Digest: Indirect genetic effects of males on female reproductive traits in the wild” Evolution.
Research Interests
I am interested in the molecular mechanisms underlying non-human primate response to change and stress across the lifespan. My focus is on the genetic basis of gene regulation and relative contributions of epigenetic and environmental factors to differences in gene expression and its downstream biological consequences (immediate and long-term). Using functional genomics, I hope to identify genetic associations with regulatory phenotypes and variants mediating response to large natural disturbances like hurricanes, focusing on immune and stress response pathways, as well as age-associated processes.
Education
2018 B.S. Biology, B.A. Anthropology, Syracuse University
Published Abstracts
Fuchs, A. J., Kitrinos, C. and Costa, C. E. (2020) ‘The fifth annual Northeastern Evolutionary Primatologists meeting at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst’, Evolutionary Anthropology, 29(1), pp. 3–5.
Costa, CE., Braun, DR., Matsuzawa, T., Carvalho, S., Almeida‐Warren, K. (2019). Water Sources and Tool Site Distributions: Hominins and Chimpanzees Compared (abstract). PaleoAnthropology.
Kandra Cruz
PhD student, 2021-present
Contact Information
e-mail: kcruz@gmail.com
Research Interests
I am interested in studying the mechanisms supporting energetically costly reproduction in primates and analyzing how different hormonal pathways are interacting and influencing life history trade offs between reproduction and maintenance in females.
Education
2020 B.A. Anthropology, B.A. Human Biology, Hunter College
Alex DeCasien
PhD candidate, 2014-2021
Contact Information
e-mail: alex.decasien@nyu.edu
web: alex-decasien.strikingly.com
twitter: @AlexDeCasien
Research Interests
I am interested in how sexual selection has shaped primate cognitive evolution. Sex differences in behavior and cognitive abilities have been demonstrated in humans and non-human primates, but the specific neurobiological underpinnings of such differences remain unknown.Education
2021 Ph.D Biological Anthropology, New York University2016 M.A. Biological Anthropology, New York University
2014 B.S. Economics & Biological Anthropology, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of BusinessPublications
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
Cerrito, P. & DeCasien, A.R. (2021). The expression of care: Alloparental care frequency predicts neural control of facial muscles in primates. Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.14275
DeCasien, A.R. & Higham, J.P. (2020). Relative cerebellum size is not sexually dimorphic across primates. Brain, Behavior and Evolution 95: 93-101
DeCasien, A.R., Sherwood C.C., Schapiro, S.J. & Higham, J.P. (2020). Greater variability in chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) brain structure among males. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 287: 20192858
DeCasien, A.R., & Higham, J.P. (2019). Primate mosaic brain evolution reflects selection on sensory and cognitive specialization. Nature Ecology and Evolution 3:1483–1493.
Williamson, C.M., Lee, W., DeCasien, A.R., Lanham, A., Romeo, R.D., Curley, J.P. (2019). Social hierarchy position in female mice is associated with plasma corticosterone levels and hypothalamic gene expression. Scientific Reports 9:7324.
DeCasien, A.R., Thompson, N.A., Williams, S.A., Shattuck, M.R. (2018). Encephalization and longevity evolved in a correlated fashion in Euarchontoglires but not in other mammals. Evolution 72: 2617-2631.
DeCasien, A.R., Williams, S.A., Higham, J.P. (2017). Primate brain size evolution is predicted by diet but not sociality. Nature Ecology and Evolution 1:0112.
Published Abstracts
DeCasien, A.R., Yim, A. (2017). Megelencephaly and macrocephaly genes are associated with comparative variation in primate brain size [abstract]. American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
DeCasien, A.R., Higham, J.P., Williams, S.A. (2016). Hard-tissue markers of face flanges in male Pongo [abstract]. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 159(S62): 128.
Book Chapters
DeCasien, A.R., Brown, M., Ross, S., Pontzer, H. (In press). Primate energy requirements: brains, babies, or behavior?. In Primate Diet & Nutrition (Eds. Lambert, J., Rothman, J.) University of Chicago Press.
Book Reviews
DeCasien, A.R., Evans, K.D., Fuong, H., Lee, D.S., Petersdorf, M., Petersen, R.M., Shackelford, C.M. (2016). Crickette M. Sanz, Josep Call, and Christophe Boesch (Eds.): Tool Use in Animals: Cognition and Ecology. International Journal of Primatology 37: 608-611.
Other Publications
DeCasien, A.R. (2016). Revisiting the social vs. ecological determinants of primate brain size [Master's thesis]. New York: New York University.
Constance Dubuc
Affiliated Researcher, 2014-present
Postdoctoral Researcher, 2012-2014
Contact Information
e-mail: constance.dubuc@umontreal.ca
Publications
Higham, J.P., Kimock, C.M., Mandalaywala, T.M., Heistermann, M., Cascio, J., Petersdorf, M., Winters, S., Allen, W.L., Dubuc, C. (2021). Female ornaments: is red skin color attractive to males and related to condition in rhesus macaques? Behavioral Ecology 32: 236-247
Lee, D.S., Mandalaywala, T., Dubuc, C., Widdig, A., Higham, J.P. (2020). Higher early life mortality with lower infant body mass in a free‐ranging primate. Journal of Animal Ecology 89: 2300-2310
Kimock, C., Dubuc, C., Brent, L.J.N., Higham, J.P. (2019) Male morphological traits are heritable but do not predict reproductive success in a sexually-dimorphic primate. Scientific Reports 9: 19794
Petersdorf, M., Weyher, A.H., Kamilar, J.M., Dubuc. C., Higham, J.P. (2019). Sexual selection in the Kinda baboon. Journal of Human Evolution 135: 102635.
Dantzer, B., Dubuc, C., Goncalves, I.B., Cram, D.L., Bennett, N.C., Ganswindt, A., Heistermann, M., Duncan, C., Gaynor, C., Clutton-Brock, T.H. (2019). The development of individual differences in cooperative behaviour: maternal glucocorticoid hormones alter helping behaviour of offspring in wild meerkats. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 374: 20180117.
Dubuc, C., Clutton-Brock, T.H. (2019). Male immigration triggers increased growth in subordinate female meerkats. Ecology and Evolution 9:1127–1134.
Rosenfield, K.A., Semple, S., Georgiev, A.V., Maestripieri, D., Higham, J.P., Dubuc, C. 2019. Experimental evidence that female rhesus macaques Macaca mulatta perceive variation in male facial masculinity. Royal Society Open Science 6: 181415.
Petersen R.M., Dubuc C., Higham J.P. (2018). Facial displays of dominance in non-human primates. In: The Facial Displays of Leaders. Ed Senior, C. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Dantzer, B., Goncalves, I.B., Spence-Jones, H.C., Bennett, N.C., Heistermann, M., Ganswindt, A., Dubuc, C., Gaynor, D., Manser, M.B., Clutton-Brock, T.H., 2017. The influence of stress hormones and aggression on cooperative behaviour in subordinate meerkats. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 284: 20171248.
Petersdorf, M., Dubuc, C., Georgiev, A., Winters, S. & Higham, J.P. (2017). Is the red facial coloration of male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) subject to intrasexual selection? Behavioral Ecology 28: 1472-1481.
Dubuc, C., English, S., Thavarajah, N., Dantzer, B., Sharp, S. P., Spence-Jones, H. C., ... & Clutton-Brock, T. H. (2017). Increased food availability raises eviction rate in a cooperative breeding mammal. Biology Letters, 13(4): 20160961.
Hiramatsu, C., Melin, A.D., Allen, W.L., Dubuc, C. & Higham, J.P. (2017). Experimental evidence that primate trichromacy is well suited for detecting primate social colour signals. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 284: 20162458.
Dubuc, C., Allen, W.L., Cascio, J., Lee, S., Maestripieri, M., Petersdorf, M., Winters, S. & Higham, J.P (2016). Who cares? Experimental attention biases provide new insights into a mammalian sexual signal. Behavioral Ecology 27 (1): 68-74
Winters, S., Dubuc, C. & Higham, J.P. (2015). The looking time experimental paradigm in studies of animal visual perception and cognition. Ethology 121:625-640
Higham, J.P. & Dubuc, C. (2015). The evolution of female fertility signals in macaques. In: eLS (Encyclopedia of Life Sciences). Wiley Blackwell. Hoboken: New Jersey. DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0024968
Dubuc, C., Winters, S., Allen, W.L., Brent, L.J.N., Cascio, J., Maestripieri, D.M., Ruiz-Lambides, A.V., Widdig, A., & Higham, J.P. (2014). Sexually-selected skin colour is heritable and linked to fecundity in a non-human primates. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 281: 20141602
Dubuc, C., Ruiz-Lambides, A., & Widdig, A. (2014). Variance in male lifetime reproductive success and estimation of the degree of polygyny in a primate. Behavioral Ecology, 25:878-889.
Dubuc, C., Allen, W.L., Maestripieri, D., & Higham, J.P. (2014). Is male rhesus macaque red color ornamentation attractive to females? Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 68:1215-1224.
Dubuc, C., Coyne, S.P., & Maestripieri, D. (2013). Effect of mating activity and dominance rank on male masturbation among free-ranging male rhesus macaques. Ethology, 119:1-8.
Dubuc, C., Muniz, L., Heistermann, M., Widdig, A., & Engelhardt, A. (2012). Do males time their mate-guarding effort with the fertile phase in order to secure fertilisation in Cayo Santiago rhesus macaques? Hormones and Behavior, 61: 696-705.
Dubuc, C., Hughes, K.D, Cascio, J., & Santos, L. (2012). Social tolerance in a despotic primate: co-feeding between consortship partners in rhesus macaques. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 148: 73-80.
Dubuc, C., Muniz, L., Heistermann, M., Engelhardt, A., & Widdig, A. (2011). Testing the priority-of-access model in a seasonally breeding primate species. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 65: 1615-1627.
Brent, L.J.N., Semple, S., Dubuc, C., Heistermann, M., & MacLarnon, A. (2011). Social capital and physiological stress levels in adult female rhesus macaques. Physiology and Behavior, 102: 76-83.
Bélisle, P., Prud’homme, J., & Dubuc, C. (2012). The impact of kinship, defence cost and priority of access on food competition. In: The Monkeys of Stormy Mountain: 60 Years of Primatological Research on the Japanese Macaques of Arashiyama. Jean-Baptiste Leca, Michael A. Huffman & Paul L. Vasey, Eds. Cambridge University Press. pp. 331-355.
Higham, J.P, Hughes, K.D, Brent, L.J.N., Dubuc, C., Engelhardt, A., Heistermann, M., Maestripieri, D, Santos, L.R., & Stevens, M. (2011). Familiarity affects the assessment of facial signals in free-ranging rhesus macaques. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 278: 3452-3458.
Neumann, C., Duboscq, J., Dubuc, C., Ginting, A., Maulana Irwan, A., Agil, M., Widdig, A., & Engelhardt, A. (2011). Assessing dominance hierarchies: validation and advantages of progressive evaluation with Elo rating. Animal Behaviour, 82: 911-921.
Higham, J.P., Brent, L.J.N., Dubuc, C., Accamando, A., Engelhardt, A., Gerald, M.S., Heistermann, M., & Stevens, M. (2010). Color signal information content and the eye of the beholder: a case study in the rhesus macaque. Behavioral Ecology, 21: 739-746.
Dubuc, C., Brent, L.J.N., Accamando, A.K., Gerald, M.S., MacLarnon, A., Semple, S., Heistermann, M., & Engelhardt, A. (2009). Sexual skin color contains information about the timing of the fertile phase in free-ranging rhesus macaques. International Journal of Primatology, 30: 777-789.
Dubuc, C., & Chapais, B. (2007). Feeding competition in Macaca fascicularis: An assessment of the early arrival tactic. International Journal of Primatology, 28: 357-367.
Jessica Gunson
PhD student, 2019-present
Research Interests
I am broadly interested in primate behavioral ecology, sexual selection, and the evolution of mating strategies.Education
2016 B.S. Biology, University of Florida
Clare Kimock
PhD candidate, 2015-present
Co-Advised with Shara Bailey
Contact Information
e-mail: clare.kimock@nyu.edu
web: clarekimock.strikingly.com
twitter: @clare_kimock
Research Interests
I am interested in the evolution of sexually dimorphic traits in primates and other mammals. For my dissertation, I am studying the evolution and function of large male canine teeth in rhesus macaques from Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico. I am integrating morphological, genetic, and behavioral data to better understand how variation in canine tooth size is produced and maintained.
Education
2015 M.A. Anthropology, George Washington University
2013 B.A. Anthropology, American University
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
Colby AE, Kimock CM, Higham JP. 2021. Endocranial volume is variable and heritable, but not related to fitness, in a free-ranging primate. Scientific Reports 11: 4235
Higham JP, Kimock CM, Mandalaywala TM, Heistermann M, Cascio J, Petersdorf M, Winters S, Allen WL, Dubuc C. 2021. Female ornaments: is red skin color attractive to males and related to condition in rhesus macaques? Behavioral Ecology 32: 236-247
Locke EM, Benefit BR, Kimock CM, Miller ER, Nengo I. 2020. New dentognathic fossils of Noropithecus bulukensis (Primates, Victoriapithecidae) from the Late Early Miocene of Buluk, Kenya. Journal of Human Evolution 148:102886. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102886
Kimock CM, Dubuc C, Brent LJN, Higham JP. 2019. Male morphological traits are heritable but do not predict reproductive success in a sexually-dimorphic primate. Scientific Reports 9:19794. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-52633-4
Ortiz A, Zhang Y, Jin C, Wang Y, Zhu M, Yan Y, Kimock C, Villamil CI, He K and Harrison T. 2019. Morphometric analysis of fossil hylobatid molars from the Pleistocene of southern China. Anthropological Science. 127(2):190331. doi: 10.1537/ase.190331
Fan PF, He K, Chen X, Ortiz A, Zhang B, Zhao C, Li YQ, Zhang HB, Kimock C, Wang WZ, Groves C, Turvey ST, Roos C, Helgen KM, Jiang XL. 2017. Description of a new species of Hoolock gibbon (Primates: Hylobatidae) based on integrative taxonomy. American Journal of Primatology. 79(5):e22631. doi:10.1002/ajp.22631Other Publications
Kimock CM, Evans KD, and Petersen RM. 2017. The second meeting of the Northeastern Evolutionary Primatologists. Evolutionary Anthropology. 26(2):42-43. doi:10.1002/evan.21529
Research Interests
My research interest is in visual and chemical communication in Platyrrhines.
Education
2013 M.A. Psycobiology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
2010 B.A. Biology, Universidade de Brasília, BrazilPublications
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
Moreira, L.A.A., Duytschaever, G., Higham, J.P., & Melin, A.D. 2019. Platyrrhine color signals: A whole New World, with new horizons to pursue. Evolutionary Anthropology In Press
Moreira, L.A.A., de Oliveira, D.G.R., de Sousa, M.B.C., & Pessoa, D.M.A. 2015. Parturition signaling by visual cues in female marmosets (Callithrix jacchus). PLoS ONE 10(6): e0129319.
Moreira L.A.A., Pessoa D.M.A., & Sousa, M.B.C. 2013. Socio-sexual communication: A review of the sensory modalities used by non-human primates. Oecologia Australis, 17, 113-129.Published abstracts
Moreira, L.A.A., Pessoa, D.M.A., & Sousa, M.B.C. 2013. Chromatic signaling of reproductive condition in common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus). Sociedade Brasileira de Etologia.
Moreira, L.A.A., Saletti P.G., Pessoa V.F., & Pessoa D.M.A. 2011. Detecção de variação cromática em genitálias de fêmeas de macaco-prego (Cebus libidinosus). Sociedade Brasileira de Primatologia.Laura Newman
PhD candidate, 2017-present
Research Interests
I am broadly interested in molecular changes that occur over the aging process, how sex and social integration modulate these changes, and the impact of these changes on phenotypic markers of aging. I am also interested in primate behavioral endocrinology, especially the relationship between stress, sociality, and health.
Education
2015 B.S. Biology, Boston College
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
Ballard, E. D., Waldman, L., Yarrington, J. S., Gerlus, N., Newman, L. E., Lee, L., Sparks, M., Liberty, V., Pao, M., Park, L., & Zarate, C. A. (2020). Neurobiological research with suicidal participants: A framework for investigators. General Hospital Psychiatry, 62, 43–48.
Worley, N. B., Dumais, K. M., Yuan, J. C., Newman, L. E., Alonso, A. G., Gillespie, T. C., Hobbs, N.J., Breedlove, S. M., Jordan, C. L., Bredewold, R., & Veenema, A. H. (2019). Oestrogen and androgen receptor activation contribute to the masculinisation of oxytocin receptors in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis of rats. Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 31(8), e12760.
Richards, E. M., Zanotti-Fregonara, P., Fujita, M., Newman, L.E., Farmer, C., Ballard, E. D., ... & Henter, I. D. (2018). PET radioligand binding to translocator protein (TSPO) is increased in unmedicated depressed subjects. EJNMMI research, 8(1), 57.
Park M., Newman L.E., Gold P.W., Luckenbaugh D.A., Yuan P., Machado-Vieira R., Zarate C.A. Jr. (2016). Change in Cytokine Levels is Not Associated with Antidepressant Response to Ketamine in Patients with Treatment-Resistant Depression. The Journal of Psychiatric Research 84:113-118.
Lucantonio F., Gardner M.P., Mirenzi A., Newman L.E., Takahashi Y.K., Schoenbaum G. (2015). Neural Estimates of Imagined Outcomes in Basolateral Amygdala Depend on Orbitofrontal Cortex. Journal of Neuroscience 35(50): 16521–16530.
Book chapters and encyclopedia entries
Newman, L. E., & Higham, J. P. (2019). Intrasexual Male Competition. In T. K. Shackelford & V. A. Weekes-Shackelford (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science (pp. 1–7). Springer International Publishing.
Sam Patterson
Postdoctoral Researcher, 2021-present
Research Interests
I am broadly interested in the evolution of social behavior, development, and aging. More specifically, I am interested in how early life experiences impact developmental trajectories and contribute to variation in sociality, reproduction, survival, and aging health later in life.
Education
2021 Ph.D. Anthropology, Arizona State University
2016 M.A. Anthropology, Arizona State University
2013 B.S. (Honors) Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Publications
Patterson, S.K., Hinde, K., Bond, A.B., Trumble, B.C., Strum, S.C., & Silk, J.B. Effects of early life adversity on maternal effort and glucocorticoids in wild olive baboons. (Accepted) Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.
Patterson, S.K., Strum, S.C., & Silk, J.B. Resource competition shapes female-female aggression in olive baboons. (2021) Animal Behaviour,176: 23-41.
Silk, J.B., Roberts, E.R, Barrett, B.J., Patterson, S.K., & Strum, S.C. Female-male relationships influence the form of female-female relationships in olive baboons, Papio anubis. (2017) Animal Behaviour, 131: 89-98.
Sandel, A.A., Miller, J.A., Mitani, J.C., Nunn,C.L., Patterson, S.K., & Garamszegi, L.Z. Assessing sources of error in comparative analyses of primate behavior: intraspecific variation in group size and the social brain hypothesis. (2016) Journal of Human Evolution, 94: 126-133.
Patterson, S. K., Sandel, A. A., Miller, J. A., & Mitani, J. C. Data quality and the comparative method: The case of primate group size. (2014) International Journal of Primatology: 1-14.
Megan Petersdorf
PhD candidate, 2013-2021
Contact Information
e-mail: megan.petersdorf@nyu.edu
web: meganpetersdorf.com
twitter: @meganpetersdorf
Research Interests
My research is generally centered in sexual selection and communication. I am interested in understanding variation in sexually selected traits in primates and the evolution of mating system diversity. I address my research questions through a combination of behavioral observations of primates in the field with endocrinology, genetics, and digital measurements of morphology. For my PhD dissertation, I am studying sexual selection in the little-known Kinda baboon at the Kasanka Baboon Project in Zambia.Education
2021 Ph.D Biological Anthropology, New York University2016 M.A. Biological Anthropology, New York University
2012 M.Res Primate Biology, Behavior, and Conservation, University of Roehampton
2009 B.A. Biological Anthropology, University of California San Diego.
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
Higham JP, Kimock CM, Mandalaywala TM, Heistermann M, Cascio J, Petersdorf M, Winters S, Allen WL, Dubuc C. (2021). Female ornaments: is red skin color attractive to males and related to condition in rhesus macaques? Behavioral Ecology 32: 236-247
Petersdorf M, Weyher AH, Kamilar JM, Dubuc C, Higham JP. (2019). Sexual selection in the Kinda baboon. Journal of Human Evolution 135: 102635.
Petersdorf M, Dubuc C, Georgiev AV, Winters S, Higham JP. (2017). Is the red facial coloration of male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) subject to intrasexual selection? Behavioral Ecology 28: 1472-1481.
Dubuc C, Allen WL, Cascio J, Lee DS, Maestripieri D, Petersdorf M, Winters S, Higham JP. (2016). Who cares? Experimental attention biases provide new insights into a mammalian sexual signal. Behavioral Ecology 27: 68-74.
Sommer V, Lowe A, Jesus G, Alberts N, Bouquet Y, Petersdorf M, MacGregor Inglis D, Ross C. (2016). Antelope predation by Nigerian forest baboons: ecological and behavioural correlates. Folia Primatoligica 87: 67-90.
Book Chapters & Encyclopedia Entries
Winters S, Petersdorf M, Higham JP. (2019). Charles Darwin and selection in relation to sex in colors of monkeys. In: DS Wilson, G Geher, H Mativetsky, AC Gallup (Eds), Darwin’s Roadmap to the Curriculum: Evolutionary Studies in Higher Education (pp. 97-116). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Petersdorf M & Higham JP. (2018). Mating systems, Primates. In: The International Encyclopedia of Biological Anthropology. (ed. W Trevathan). John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Petersdorf M & Higham JP. (2017). Mating systems. In: The International Encyclopedia of Primatology. Wiley Blackwell: Hoboken, NJ.
Higham JP & Petersdorf M. (2017). Sexual swellings. In: The International Encyclopedia of Primatology. Wiley Blackwell: Hoboken, NJ.
Book and Conference Reviews
DeCasien AR, Evans KD, Fuong H, Lee DS, Petersdorf M, Petersen RM, Shackelford CM. (2016). Crickette M. Sanz, Josep Call, and Christophe Boesch (Eds): Tool Use in Animals: Cognition and Ecology. International Journal of Primatology 37: 608-611.
Petersdorf M & Higham JP. (2015). Katja Liebal, Bridget M. Waller, Anne M. Burrows, Katie E. Slocombe: Primate Communication: A Multimodal Approach. International Journal of Primatology 36: 1055-1059.
Winters S, Dunayer ES, Petersdorf M, Simons ND, Tinsman J. (2014) Primatology and Conservation in Hanoi, Vietnam. Evolutionary Anthropology 23: 201-204.
Published Abstracts
Petersdorf M, Higham JP, Weyher AH. (2019). The reproductive ecology of the Kinda baboon: female synchrony and male reproductive skew [abstract]. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 168(S): 189.
Petersdorf M, Higham JP, Williams SA. (2015). What can the skeleton tell us about flanging? Hard-tissue markers of cheek flanges in Mandrillus [abstract]. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 156(S60): 251-252.
Theses
Petersdorf M. (2016). Is the red facial coloration of male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) subject to intra-sexual selection? [Master's thesis]. New York: New York University.
Petersdorf M. (2012). Sexual swelling symmetry, individual quality, and attractiveness in wild female olive baboons (Papio anubis) [Master's thesis]. London (UK): University of Roehampton.Rachel Petersen
PhD candidate, 2014-present
Research Interests
For my masters project I studied the relationship between sociality and fitness in the rhesus macaque through non-invasive markers of immune activation and HPA axis function. This research aimed to uncover the role of the immune and endocrine system in mediating the negative health consequences associated with low social integration. For my PhD dissertation, I am studying both pre- and post-copulatory mechanisms by which female primates bias paternity. Specifically, I am interested in mechanisms of cryptic female choice and exploring how sexual selection has acted on female physiology in order to better understand the co-evolution of reproductive strategies in male and female primates.
Education2017 M.A. Biological Anthropology, New York University
2013 B.S. Animal Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Publications
Petersen, R.M. & Higham, J.P. The role of sexual selection in the evolution of facial displays in male nonhuman primates and men. Adaptive Human Behavior & Physiology 6: 249–276
Petersen R.M. Female choice. In: Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. (ed. C Dubuc). Springer publishing.
Petersen R.M. Ejaculate. In: Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. (ed. C Dubuc). Springer publishing.
Petersen R.M., Dubuc C., Higham J.P. (2018). Facial displays of dominance in non-human primates. In: The Facial Displays of Leaders. Ed Senior, C. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Milich, K.M., Georgiev, A.V., Petersen, R.M., Thompson, M.E., Maestripieri, D. (2017). Alpha male status and availability of conceptive females are associated with high glucocorticoid concentrations in high-ranking male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) during the mating season. Hormones and Behavior 97: 5-13.
Kimock, C.M., Evans, K.D., Petersen, R.M. (2017). The second meeting of the Northeastern Evolutionary Primatologists. Evolutionary Anthropology 26: 42-43.
DeCasien, A.R., Evans, K.D., Fuong, H., Lee, D.S., Petersdorf, M., Petersen, R.M., Shackelford, C.M. (2016). Crickette M. Sanz, Josep Call, and Christophe Boesch (Eds.): Tool Use in Animals: Cognition and Ecology. International Journal of Primatology 37: 608-611.
Milich, K.M., Georgiev, A.V., Petersen, R.M., Thompson, M.E. and Maestripieri, D., (2016). Social status, seasonality, and stress: Variation in glucocorticoid concentrations of high-ranking male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) [abstract]. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 159(S62): 229.
Research Interests
I am interested in molecular mechanisms underlying the co-evolutionary relationship between primates and malaria. Combining comparative evolutionary and functional genomics and transcriptomics, my research is focused on characterizing the molecular immune response of primates (including humans) to malaria, and determining which differences may be adaptations to malaria-mediated selection.
Education
2020 M.Phil. Biological Anthropology, New York University
2016 B.S. Biology, University of New MexicoPublications
Publications
Janiak, MC., Montague, MJ., Villamil, CI., Stock, MJ., Trujillo, AE., DePasquale, A., Orkin, J., Bauman Surratt, S., Gonzalez, O., Platt, ML., Martinez, M., Antón S., Dominguez-Bello, MG., Melin, AD., Higham, JP. 2021. Age and sex-associated variation in the multi-site microbiome of an entire social group of free-ranging rhesus macaques. Microbiome 9: 68
Published Abstracts
Trujillo, AE., Chaney, ME., Bergey, CM. (2020). Genomic sequence assembly for the malaria-like
parasite Hepatocystis using primate whole genome sequencing datasets (abstract). American Journal of Physical Anthropologists.Bergey, CM., Trujillo, AE., Disotell, TR., Tosi, AJ., Burrell, AS. (2020) Genomics of adaptation, convergence, and evolutionary conservation in haplorrhine primates (abstract). American Journal of Physical Anthropologists.
Janiak., MC, Montague, MJ., Villamil, C., Stock, MK., Trujillo, AE., DePasquale, A., Orkin, JD., Surrat, SEB.,
Gonzalez, O., Platt, ML., Martinez, M., Antón, SC., Dominguez-Bello, G., Melin, AD., Higham, JP. (2020). Age-associated changes in the microbiome of rhesus macaques on Cayo Santiago (abstract). American Journal of Physical AnthropologistsTrujillo, AE., Gilbert, CC. (2018). Craniometric variation and taxonomy in papionin monkeys: the case of Parapapio (abstract). American Journal of Physical Anthropologists.
Book Chapters
Trujillo, AE., Janiak, M., Naji, S., Disotell, TR. (in press). A comparative genetic analysis of acellular cementum. In Dental Cementum in Anthropology. Cambridge (England): Cambridge University Press
Cassandra Turcotte
Postdoctoral Researcher, 2018-present
Contact Information
e-mail: ct1313@nyu.edu
Research Interests
Comparative and functional anatomy, musculoskeletal biology, digital imaging and microscopy, 3D modeling, muscle-bone attachment regions
Current work: Relationships between soft tissue morphology and skeletal correlates in the rhesus macaques of Cayo Santiago. This post-doctoral position is focused on the reconstruction of soft tissue and life history variables from skeletal remains using the rhesus macaque population of Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico. This project collects antemortem somatometric and microbiome data for comparison against skeletonized tissues to assess the utility of forensic skeletal markers for the reconstruction of living behavior.
Education2018 Ph.D. Human Paleobiology, George Washington University
2012 B.A. Physical Anthropology and Geology, University of Pennsylvania
Publications
Diogo R, Potau JM, Pastor JF, de Paz FJ, Arias Martorell J, Turcotte C, Hammond A, Shearer B, Vereecke E, Vanhoof M, Nauwelaerts S and B Wood (2017) Photographic and Descriptive Musculoskeletal Atlas of Bonobos. 1st ed. Springer.
Susie Lee
PhD alumna, 2013-2019
Contact Information
Email: susie.lee@nyu.edu
Research Interests
My long-term goal is to understand how, why and when attachment behaviors evolved in animals. For my doctoral study I focused on patterns of mother-infant relationships in non-human primates.Education
2019 Ph.D. Biological Anthropology, New York University
2016 M.A. Biological Anthropology, New York University
2009 M.A. Anthropology, Seoul National University
2005 B.A. Child Development & Anthropology, Seoul National University
Publications
Lee, D.S., Mandalaywala, T., Dubuc, C., Widdig, A., Higham, J.P. 2020. Higher early life mortality with lower infant body mass in a free‐ranging primate. Journal of Animal Ecology 89: 2300-2310
Lee, D.S., Ruiz-Lambides, A.V., Higham, J.P. 2019. Higher offspring mortality with short interbirth intervals in free-ranging rhesus macaques Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 116: 6057-6062.
Lee, D.S., Dubuc, C., Mandalaywala, T., Maestripieri, D., Widdig, A., & Higham, J. P. (2016). Infant weight growth and weaning age in freeranging rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). American Journal of Physical Anthropology 159(S): 205-205.
DeCasien, A.R., Evans, K.D., Fuong, H., Lee, D.S., Petersdorf, M., Petersen, R.M., Shackelford, C.M. (2016). Crickette M. Sanz, Josep Call, and Christophe Boesch (Eds.): Tool Use in Animals: Cognition and Ecology. International Journal of Primatology 37: 608-611.
Lee, D.S. (2016). Testing the threshold weaning weight hypothesis in free-ranging rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) [Master's thesis]. New York University: New York.
Dubuc, C., Allen, W.L., Cascio, J., Lee, D.S., Maestripieri, D., Petersdorf, M., Winters, S. & Higham, J.P. (2016). Who cares? Experimental attention biases provide new insights into a mammalian sexual signal. Behavioral Ecology 27 (1): 68-74
Lee, D.S. & Hyoung R.K. (2012). The categorization of "bad animal" and its relation to animal appearances: a study of 6-year-old children's perceptions. Journal of Social, Cultural, and Evolutionary Psychology 6 32-49Sandra Winters
PhD alumna, 2012-2019
Research Interests
For my dissertation I studied the form and function of guenon face patterns. Guenons are a group of forest monkeys in Africa that exhibit an extraordinary variety of colorful facial displays. Guenons often form polyspecfic groups in which up to six species live side by side, however hybridization between species, while possible, is rare in undisturbed circumstances. This indicates that there are likely pre-mating barriers to heterospecific mating; previous research in my lab has indicated that the face patterns exhibited by guenons are likely contributing to maintaining species boundaries and have been under selective pressures to diversify (i.e. there is evidence of character displacement in sympatric species groups). I extended this research using a variety of techniques, including computational recognition algorithms based on photographs of guenon faces, modeling of evolutionary scenarios, experiments to assess guenon preferences, and measurements of guenon behavior and ecology.
Education
2019 Ph.D. Biological Anthropology, New York University
2015 M.A. Biological Anthropology, New York University2011 M.S. Primate Behavior, Central Washington University
2008 B.S. Anthropology and Psychology, University of Maryland
Publications
Peer-reviewed journal articles & book sections
Higham JP, Kimock CM, Mandalaywala TM, Heistermann M, Cascio J, Petersdorf M, Winters S, Allen WL, Dubuc C. 2021. Female ornaments: is red skin color attractive to males and related to condition in rhesus macaques? Behavioral Ecology 32: 236-247
Ghazanfar AA, Kelly LM, Takahashi DY, Winters S, Terrett R, Higham JP. 2020. Domestication phenotype linked to vocal communication in a nonhuman primate. Current Biology 30: 5026-5032
Winters S, Allen WL, Higham JP. 2020. The structure of species discrimination signals across a primate radiation. eLife 9: e47428
Young MIM, Winters S, Young C, Weiß BM, Troscianko J, Ganswindt A, Barrett L, Henzi SP, Higham JP, Widdig A. 2020. Male characteristics as predictors of genital color and display variation in vervet monkeys. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 74:14.
Rigaill L, Higham JP, Winters S, Garcia C. 2019. The redder the better? Information content of red skin coloration in female Japanese macaques. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 73: 103.
Winters S, Petersdorf M, Higham JP. 2019. Charles Darwin and selection in relation to sex in colors of monkeys. In: DS Wilson, G Geher, H Mativetsky, AC Gallup (Eds), Darwin’s Roadmap to the Curriculum: Evolutionary Studies in Higher Education (pp. 97-116). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Winters S. 2019. Aposematism. In: Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior, Vonk J & Shackelford TK (eds). Springer, Cham. In press (early access available online). doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_313-1
Winters S. 2019. Ornamentation. In: Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior, Vonk J & Shackelford TK (eds). Springer, Cham. In press (early access available online). doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_315-1
Dominy, N.J., Winters, S., Pease, D.E., Higham, J.P. 2018. Dr Seuss and the real Lorax. Nature Ecology and Evolution 2: 1196–1198.
Petersdorf, M., Dubuc, C., Georgiev, A., Winters, S. & Higham, J.P. 2017. Is the red facial coloration of male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) subject to intrasexual selection? Behavioral Ecology 28: 1472-1481.
Rigaill L, MacIntosh AJJ, Higham JP, Winters S, Shimizu K, Mouri K, Suzumura T, Furuichi T, Garcia C. 2017. No evidence that face color varies with age, dominance status, parity, weight, and intestinal nematode infection in female Japanese macaques. Primates 58(1): 83-91.
Dubuc C, Allen WL, Casscio J, Lee DS, Maestripieri D, Petersdorf M, Winters S, Higham JP. 2016. Who cares? Experimental attention biases provide new insights into a mammalian sexual signal. Behavioral Ecology 27(1): 68-74
Higham JP & Winters S. 2015. Color and mate choice in non-human animals. In: Handbook of Color Psychology, Elliott AJ & Fairchild MD (eds). Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK. pp 502-530. ISBN: 978-1-107-04323-7
Rigaill LR, MacIntosh AJJ, Higham JP, Winters S, Shimizu K, Mouri K, Furuichi T, Garcia C. 2015. Multimodal advertisement of pregnancy in free-ranging female Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). PLoS One 10(8): e0135127
Winters S, Dubuc C, Higham JP. 2015. Perspectives: the looking time experimental paradigm in studies of animal visual perception and cognition. Ethology 121:1-16. DOI: 10.1111/eth.12378
Dubuc C, Winters S, Allen WL, Brent LJN, Cascio J, Maestripieri D, Ruiz-Lambides AV, Widdig A, Higham JP. 2014. Sexually selected skin colour is heritable and related to fecundity in a non-human primate. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281:20141602. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2014.1602
Published abstracts
Rigaill LR, MacIntosh AJJ, Higham JP, Winters S, Shimizu K, Mouri K, Furuichi T, Garcia C. In press. Multimodal advertisement of pregnancy in free-ranging female Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) [abstract]. Folia Primatologica.
Milich, KM, Dubuc C, Winters S, Allen WL, Rosenfield KA, Graham S, Higham JP, Maestripieri D. 2015. Red-hot males: sexual strategies of high-ranking male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) [abstract]. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 156(S60):225-226. DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22718
Winters S, Kamilar JM, Webster TH, Bradley BJ, Higham JP. 2014. Primate camouflage as seen by felids, raptors, and conspecifics [abstract]. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 153(S58):275. DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22488
Simons N, Winters S, Lorenz J. 2011. Comparative analysis of length polymorphisms in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) in Cercopithecidae [abstract]. American Journal of Primatology 73(S1):83. DOI: 10.1002/ajp.20978
Other manuscripts
Winters S & Higham JP. 2015. Martin Stevens: Sensory Ecology, Behaviour, and Evolution. International Journal of Primatology 36:205-208. DOI: 10.1007/s10764-015-9811-y
Winters S, Dunayer ES, Petersdorf M, Simons ND, Tinsman J. 2015. Primatology and conservation in Hanoi, Vietnam. Evolutionary Anthropology 23:201-204. DOI: 10.1002/evan.21429
Winters S. 2015. Primate colors facilitate conspecific communication while remaining cryptic to predators [Master’s thesis]. New York University: New York.
Higham JP, Amann AL, Bryer MAH, Thompson NA, Winters S. 2013. Review of The Evolution of Primate Societies (Eds. John C. Mitani, Josep Call, Peter M. Kappeler, Ryne A. Palombit, and Joan B. Silk). International Journal of Primatology 34:1298-1303. DOI: 10.1007/s10764-013-9731-7
Winters S. 2011. Social recruitment in Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) at Mt. Huangshan, China [Master’s thesis]. Central Washington University: Ellensburg, WA.
