Dr. Markus Port

Research interests
I am interested in the evolution of sociality and cooperation in human and non-human primates, as well as in social vertebrates more generally. My research takes a multifaceted approach, which includes behavioral observations of primates in the wild, the analysis of long-term demographic data, and mathematical modeling.

My current project aims at developing a general mathematical theory of social evolution in human and non-human primates. My research combines the verbal reasoning behind the ‘Socioecological Model’ of primate social organization with theoretical approaches developed in the broader field of evolutionary biology, focusing particularly on cooperation and competition among kin. The goal of my project is to develop a theoretical framework that derives clear, testable predictions, and that links primate socioecology with the broader field of behavioural ecology.

Curriculum vitae

  • 2012 – present: Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Funded by VolkswagenStiftung) Courant Research Center Evolution of Social Behaviour, University of Göttingen
  • 2009 – 2012: Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Funded by the German Research Foundation, DFG) University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
  • 2005 – 2009: PhD Biology (Zoology, Anthropology), German Primate Centre and University of Göttingen
  • 2003 – 2004: Studies of History, University of Kassel
  • 1996 – 2003: Diplom (equivalent MSc) Biology (Zoology, Anthropology, Psychology), University of Göttingen



Publications



Invited talks

  • Port, M. From tug-of-war over reproduction to conflict over group membership: A theory of conflict and conflict resolution. Symposium contribution, 82nd Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Knoxville, Tennessee (USA), 04/ 2013
  • Port, M. Cooperation and competition among kin and the evolution of sociality in primates. Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge (MA), USA, 02/ 2013.
  • Port, M. Kin selection, group selection and the evolution of sociality in primates. Department of Primatology, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany, 01/ 2013.
  • Port, M., Kappeler, P.M., Johnstone, R.A. Theoretical models of primate social evolution: a new approach. DPZ Kolloquium, German Primate Centre, Göttingen, Germany, 10/ 2010.


My research is funded by: