Eleni Nikitopoulos

(Ph.D. 2003, University of Utrecht)

Post-doctoral Research Scientist

I study primate sociality and sexuality from a perspective that focuses on how behaviors contribute to increase an individual’s reproductive success. My dissertation work concerned female mating strategies in long-tailed macaques. In particular, I was interested in copulation calls and promiscuity. My postdoctoral research examines kinship and cooperation in blue monkeys. In the Molecular Anthropology Lab at New York University, I am genotyping DNA extracted from feces to determine kinship within four groups of blue monkeys. At the end of this project I would like to continue to study cooperation in primates and delve further into topics such as indirect reciprocity, reputation and the biological basis of morality.

Publications

Nikitopoulos E., Heistermann M., de Vries H., Sterck E.H.M., van Hooff J.A.R.A.M.  2005.  A pair choice test to identify female mating pattern in relation to ovulation in long-tailed macaques, Macaca fascicularis.  Animal Behaviour 70:  1283-1296.

Nikitopoulos E., Arnhem E., Sterck E.H.M., van Hooff J.A.R.A.M.  2004.  The influence of female copulation calls on male sexual behavior in captive Macaca fascicularis. International Journal of Primatology 25:  659-677.