Spider monkey in Santa Rosa National Park 
Spider monkey in Santa Rosa National Park
In some animals, the social group splits up into subgroups on a regular basis. This fluid grouping system allows animals to deal with food competition within the community yet still aggregate during times when aggregation is most favourable. Fission-fusion may have played an important role in early human evolution.
I work together with Dr Filippo Aureli, Liverpool John Moores’ University, and Dr Colleen Schaffner, University of Chester, who run a field project collecting data on all aspects of behaviour and ecology of spider monkeys in Santa Rosa National Park, Costa Rica. Dr Norberto Asensio did recent field work at that site.
Korstjens, AH, RH Layton, CP van Schaik, C Boesch, & RIM Dunbar (forthcoming). Fission-fusion dynamics and the evolution of complex human societies. Curr Anthrop
Korstjens AH (forthcoming 2008) Kinship in non-human primates. In: Early Human Kinship. Blackwell Publishing
Asensio, N, Korstjens, AH, Schaffner, CM, Aureli, F (under revision). Intragroup aggression, feeding competition and fission-fusion sociality in spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi)
Asensio, N, Korstjens, AH, Schaffner, CM, Aureli, F (in prep). Do spider monkeys avoid ranging costs by fissioning?
2005 Royal Society Conference Grant supported a visit to a workshop on fission-fusion from where the Current anthropology paper was developed.
