Anthropological Institute & Museum

Research Interests

My main research interest is the evolution of primate social behavior, with a focus on the socioecological and cognitive basis of cooperation. In my earlier work I investigated one of the most common manifestations of cooperation in primates namely coalition formation, or the joining of forces by two animals against a common target, using the Barbary macaque as a study species. The goal of my post-doctoral research is to seek the evolutionary and cognitive factors underlying coalition formation across the primate order, integrating contributions from primatology, evolutionary biology and psychology.

Current position

Postdoc, Courant Center Evolution of Social Behavior, University of Göttingen.
Link: http://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/the-centre/92648.html

Temporary lecturer, Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zürich

Academic record

• Postdoc, Max Planck Junior Research Group on Integrative Primate Socio-Ecology, MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig

• PhD Dept. of Anthropology, University of Zürich

• MSc. Dept. of Anthropology, University of Montreal

• BSc. Dept. of Anthropology, University of Montreal

Grants and Fellowships

Alexander von Humbolt Foundation

Fonds de recherche sur la société et la culture of the province of Quebec

Schultz Stiftung of the University of Zurich

Publications

Bissonnette A, Bischofberger N, van Schaik CP, in press. Mating skew in Barbary macaque males: the role of female mating synchrony, female behavior and male-male coalitions. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

Bissonnette A, de Vries H, van Schaik CP, 2009. Coalitions in Barbary macaque males, Macaca sylvanus: success, strength and rules of thumb. Animal Behaviour 78:329-335.

Bissonnette A, Lange E, van Schaik CP, 2009. A cardinal measure of competitive ability in Barbary macaque males (Macaca sylvanus). Ethology 115:671-681.

For requests of reprints or pdf versions, please contact author.