Franca Eichenberger

Research Interests

Although dispersal decreases the risk of inbreeding within a social group, it also brings along certain costs. Transferring from a natal to a new group might increase predation risk, aggression from new conspecifics; reduce foraging efficiency in an unknown environment and access to familiar social partners.
Dispersal can be kin biased, as for example in Vervet monkeys. At a certain age, male Vervet monkeys leave their natal group and transfer into another one. In my Master Thesis, I’m interested in the dispersing behavior of male Vervet monkeys and whether these males use certain strategies to reduce the costs entailed by leaving their natal group. Furthermore, I will also study how far kin selection plays a role in the reproductive success of these males once they dispersed into new groups.