Meg Crofoot

Department of Anthropology

Harvard University

email: crofoot(at)fas.harvard.edu

tel: (617) 496-4262

11 Divinity Ave.
Cambridge, Ma
02139

Competition between groups for access to food is hypothesized to be an important force shaping primate social organization and behavior. Despite this theoretical attention, primate research has focused on the relationships between individuals in single groups: little research has been conducted on how neighboring groups interact. This neglect is partially due to the logistical difficulties of studying multiple groups simultaneously. For my dissertation research, I used a novel technology—automated radio-telemetry (ARTS)—to study the interactions among six white-faced capuchin ( Cebus capucinus ) social groups at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute field station on Barro Colorado Island in Panama . My research addresses several long-standing, but as yet unresolved questions about competition between social groups, including which resources groups fight over, whether dominance relationships or location based ownership influences the outcome of interactions, and how these relationships shape patterns of space use and resource acquisition.