Reader in Primate Behaviour & Conservation
Office: #3.32a James Parsons Building, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF
+44 0151 231 2434
A.Engelhardt@ljmu.ac.uk
Research Interests
I am interested in primate social evolution, particularly in regard to sexual selection, working comparatively on macaques as model species. As part of this, I am also looking into the physiological underpinnings of sexually selected traits. Running a field site in Indonesia in the ranging area of a critically endangered species (Macaca nigra), my interests have recently been extended to primate conservation and how they respond to anthropogenically altered environments.
Current Research Projects
In this project, we investigate the critically endangered crested macaques (Macaca nigra) and their environment from various angles. Projects range from looking into their specific social system as they belong to the group of very “tolerant” macaques, their reproductive strategies to their response to anthropogenic stress and environmental changes. Connected to this project is a conservation education programme targeting the local communities around the study area, and beyond.
This project mainly focusses on southern pig-tailed macaques living on the mainland of Malaysia. The population we study is the first of this species to have been successfully habituated for research. Currently, the project is addressing the relationship between the macaques and the palm oil plantations that they roam in, in addition to the primary forest they live in. In the future, we would like to increase our studies on aspects of macaque sexual selection.
Associations
Research Centre for Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology 