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Center for the Study of Human Origins

Department of
Anthropology
 
New York University

25 Waverly Place
New York City
NY 10003

telephone:
212.992.9785
fax:
212.995.4907

Anthony Di Fiore

Dr. Di Fiore climbing a tree in Argentina where he studies the socioecology of monogamy in owl monkeys.	Dr. Di Fiore works in Argentina and Ecuador. He is pictured here in Argentina where he has begun a long term comparative study with Dr. Eduardo Fernandez- Duque.

Position: Associate Professor of Anthropology

Education: B.S. 1990, Cornell
M.A. 1991, University of California Davis
Ph.D. 1997, University of California Davis

E-mail: anthony.difiore@nyu.edu

Phone: 212-998-3813

Research Sites: The major portion of my field research takes place at two different sites in the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve in Ecuador – at the Proyecto Primates Research Area, which I established in 1994 as a UC Davis Ph.D. student with Dr. Peter Rodman, and at the Tiputini Biodiversity Station, located approximately 40 km away. Both of these sites are lowland rainforest sites and host a diverse primate community consisting of 10 to 12 different species. For more information about the sites, visit www.nyu.edu/projects/difiore/ and click on the link for "Field Site"

Research Focus: My research focuses on the comparative socioecology, mating systems, and population genetic structure of primates, particularly primates of the neotropics. Specifically, I conduct long-term behavioral and ecological field work on several species in the primate community of Amazonian Ecuador to investigate the ways in which ecological conditions and the strategies of conspecifics together shape primate behavior and social relationships and ultimately determine the kinds of societies in which primates live. This is a crucial and central focus in evolutionary anthropology, as understanding the ways in which behavior and social systems are shaped by environmental pressures is a fundamental part of the discipline.

• Fernandez-Duque, E. and Di Fiore, A. [in review]. Behavior, ecology, and social evolution of New World monkeys. In: The Evolution of Primate Societies (J. Mitani, J. Call, P. Kappeler, R. Palombit, and J. Silk, eds.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A. [in review]. Genetic consequences of primate social organization. In: The Evolution of Primate Societies (J. Mitani, J. Call, P. Kappeler, R. Palombit, and J. Silk, eds.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  
  
• Spehar, S.N., Link, A., and Di Fiore, A. [in press]. Male and female range use in a group of white-bellied spider monkeys (Ateles belzebuth) in Yasuní National Park, Ecuador. American Journal of Primatology.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A., Link, A., and Campbell, C.J. [in press]. The atelines: Behavioral and socioecological diversity in a New World radiation. In: Primates in Perspective, Second Edition (C.J. Campbell, A. Fuentes, K.C. MacKinnon, M. Panger, and S.K. Bearder, eds.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A., Lawler, R.R., and Gagneux, P. [in press]. Molecular primatology. In: Primates in Perspective, Second Edition (C.J. Campbell, A. Fuentes, K.C. MacKinnon, M. Panger, and S.K. Bearder, eds.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  
  
• Fernandez-Duque, E., Di Fiore, A., and de Luna, A.G. [in press]. Pair-mate relationships and parenting in equatorial saki monkeys (Pithecia aequatorialis) and red titi monkeys (Callicebus discolor) of Ecuador. In: Evolutionary Biology and Conservation of Titis, Sakis, and Uacaris (L.M. Veiga, A.A. Barnett, S. Ferrari, and M.A. Norconk, eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  
  
• Moscovice, L.R., Heesen, M., Di Fiore, A., Seyfarth, R.M., Cheney, D.M. 2009. Male caretaking behavior in chacma baboons and the relationship to paternity. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 63: 1471-1482.
  
  
• Link, A., Di Fiore, A., and Spehar, S.N. 2009. Female-directed aggression and social control in spider monkeys. In: Sexual Coercion in Primates and Humans: An Evolutionary Perspective on Male Aggression against Females (M.N. Muller and R.W. Wrangham, eds.), pp. 157-183. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A., Link, A.L., Schmitt, C.A., and Spehar, S.N. 2009. Dispersal patterns in sympatric woolly and spider monkeys: Integrating molecular and observational data. Behaviour 146:437-470.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A., Disotell, T., Gagneux, P., and Ayala, F.J. 2009. Primate malarias: Evolution, adaptation, and species jumping. In: Primate Parasite Ecology: The Dynamics and Study of Host-Parasite Relationships (M.A. Huffman and C.A. Chapman, eds.), pp. 141-182. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A. 2009. Genetic approaches to the study of dispersal and kinship in New World primates. In: South American Primates: Comparative Perspectives in the Study of Primate Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation (P.A. Garber, A. Estrada, J.C. Bicca-Marques, E. Heymann, and K. Strier, eds.), pp. 211-250. New York: Springer.
  
  
• Baker, T.R., Phillips, O.L., Laurance, W.F., Pitman, N.C.A., Almeida, S., Arroyo, L., Di Fiore, A., Erwin, T., Higuchi, N., Killeen, T.J., Laurance, S.G., Nascimento, H., Monteagudo, A., Neill, D.A., Silva, J.N.M., Malhi, Y., López-Gonzalez, G., J. Peacock, J., Quesada, C.A., Lewis, S.L., and Lloyd, J. 2009. Do species traits determine patterns of wood production in Amazonian forests? Biogeosciences 6: 297-307.
  
  
• Shimooka, Y., Campbell, C., Di Fiore, A., Felton, A., Izawa, K., Link, A., Nishimura, A., Ramos- Fernandez, G., and Wallace R. 2008. Demography and group composition in Ateles. In: Spider Monkeys: Behavior, Ecology and Evolution of the Genus Ateles (C.J. Campbell, ed.), pp. 329-348. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A., Link, A., and Dew, J.L. 2008. Diets of wild spider monkeys. In: Spider Monkeys: Behavior, Ecology and Evolution of the Genus Ateles (C.J. Campbell, ed.), pp. 81-137. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  
  
• Aureli, F., Schaffner, C.M., Boesch, C., Bearder, S.K., Call, J., Chapman, C.A., Connor, R., Di Fiore, A., Dunbar, R.I.M., Henzi, S.P., Holekamp, K., Korstjens, A.H., Layton, R., Lee, P., Lehmann, J., Manson, J.H., Ramos-Fernandez, G., Strier, K.B., and van Schaik, C.P. 2008. Fission-fusion dynamics: New research frameworks. Current Anthropology 49:627-654.
  
  
• Fernandez-Duque, E., Di Fiore, A., and Carillo-Bilbao, G. 2008. Behavior, ecology and demography of owl monkeys (Aotus vociferans) in Yasuní National Park, Ecuador. International Journal of Primatology 29:421-431.
  
  
• Fernandez-Duque, E., Juárez, C.P., and Di Fiore, A. 2008. Adult male replacement and subsequent infant care by male and siblings in socially monogamous owl monkeys (Aotus azarai). Primates 49:81-84
  
  
• Di Fiore, A. and Suarez, S.A. 2007. Route-based travel and shared routes in sympatric spider and woolly monkeys: Cognitive and evolutionary implications. Animal Cognition 10:317-329.
  
  
• Rendall, D. and Di Fiore, A. 2007. Homoplasy, homology, and the perceived special status of behavior in evolution. Journal of Human Evolution 52:504-521.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A., Fernandez-Duque, E., and Hurst, D. 2007. Adult male replacement in socially monogamous equatorial saki monkeys (Pithecia aequatorialis). Folia Primatologica 78:88-98.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A. and Campbell, C.J. 2007. The atelines: Variation in ecology, behavior, and social organization. In: Primates in Perspective (C.J. Campbell, A. Fuentes, K.C. MacKinnon, M. Panger, and S.K. Beader, eds.), pp. 155-185. New York: Oxford University Press.
  
  
• Oklander, L.I., Zunino, G.E., Di Fiore, A., and Corach, D. 2007. Isolation, characterization and evaluation of 11 autosomal STRs suitable for population studies in black and gold howler monkeys Alouatta caraya. Molecular Ecology Notes 7: 117-120.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A. and Gagneux, P. 2007. Molecular primatology. In: Primates in Perspective (C.J. Campbell, A. Fuentes, K.C. MacKinnon, M. Panger, and S.K. Beader, eds.), pp. 369-393. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A., Link, A., and Stevenson, P. 2006. Scent marking in two western Amazonian populations of woolly monkeys (Lagothrix lagotricha). American Journal of Primatology 68:637-649.
  
  
• Link, A. and Di Fiore, A. 2006. Seed dispersal by spider monkeys and its importance in the maintenance of neotropical rain-forest diversity. Journal of Tropical Ecology 22: 335-346.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A. 2005. A rapid genetic method for sex assignment in nonhuman primates. Conservation Genetics 6: 1053-1058.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A. and Campbell, C.J. 2005. Contemporary issues in ecology, behavior, and evolution of the atelin primates. International Journal of Primatology 26: 995-997.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A. and Fleischer, R.C. 2005. Social behavior, reproductive strategies, and population genetic structure of Lagothrix poeppigii. International Journal of Primatology 26: 1137-1173.
  
  
• Carrillo-Bilbao, G., Di Fiore, A., and Fernández-Duque, E. 2005. Dieta, forrajeo y presupuesto de tiempo en cotoncillos (Callicebus discolor) del Parque Nacional Yasuní en la Amazonia Ecuatoriana. Neotropical Primates 13(2):7-11.
  
  
• Perez-Sweeney, B.M., Valladares-Padua, C.P., Burrell, A.S., Di Fiore, A., Satkoski, J.S., van Coeverden De Groot, P., Boag, P.T., and Melnick, D.J. 2005. Dinucleotide microsatellite primers designed for a critically endangered primate, the black lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysopygus). Molecular Ecology Notes 5:198-201.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A. 2004. Diet and feeding ecology of woolly monkeys in a western Amazonian rainforest. International Journal of Primatology 24: 767-801.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A. and Fleischer, R.C. 2004. Microsatellite markers for woolly monkeys (Lagothrix lagotricha) and their amplification in other New World primates (Primates: Platyrrhini). Molecular Ecology Notes 4: 246-249.



• Di Fiore, A. 2004. Primate conservation. In: McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science and Technology, pp. 274-277. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies.
  
  
• Baker, T.R., Phillips, O.L., Malhi, Y., Almeida, S., Arroyo, L., Di Fiore, A., Erwin, T., Killeen, T.J., Laurance, S.G., Laurance, W.F., Lewis, S.L., Lloyd, J.. Monteagudo, A., Neill, D.A., Patiño, S., Pitman, N.C.A., Silva, J.N.M., and Vásquez Martínez, R. 2004. Variation in wood density determines spatial patterns in Amazonian forest biomass. Global Change Biology 10: 545–562.
  
  
• Baker, T.R., Phillips, O.L., Malhi, Y., Almeida, S., Arroyo, L., Di Fiore, A., Erwin, T., Higuchi, N., Killeen, T.J., Laurance, S.G., Laurance, W.F., Lewis, S.L., Monteagudo, A., Neill, D.A., Nuñez Vargas, P., Pitman, N.C.A., Silva, J.N.M., and Vásquez Martínez, R. 2004. Increasing biomass in Amazonian forest plots. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Series B 359: 353–365.
  
  
• Malhi, Y., Baker, T.R., Phillips, O.L., Almeida, S., Alvarez, E., Arroyo, L., Chave, J., Czimczik, C.I., Di Fiore, A., Higuchi, N., Killeen, T.J., Laurance, S.G., Laurance, W.F., Lewis, S.L., Montoya, L.M..M., Monteagudo, A., Neill, D.A., Núñez Vargas, P., Patiño, S., Pitman, N.C.A., Quesada, C.A., Silva, J.N.M., Torres Lezama, A., Vásquez Martínez, R., Terborgh, J., Vinceti, B., and Lloyd, J. 2004. The above-ground wood productivity and net primary productivity of 104 neotropical forest plots. Global Change Biology 10: 563-591.
  
  
• Phillips, O.L., Baker, T.R., Arroyo, L., Higuchi, N., Killeen, T.J., Laurance, W.F., Lewis, S.L., Lloyd, J., Malhi, Y., Monteagudo, A., Neill, D.A., Núñez Vargas, P., Silva, J.N.M., Terborgh, J., Vásquez Martínez, R., Alexiades, M., Almeida, S., Brown, S., Chave, J., Comiskey, J.A., Czimczik, C.I., Di Fiore, A., Erwin, T., Kuebler, C., Laurance, S.G., Nascimento, H.E.M., Olivier, J., Palacios, W., Patiño, S., Pitman, N.C.A., Quesada, C.A., Saldias, M., Torres Lezama, A., and Vinceti, B. 2004. Pattern and process in Amazon tree turnover, 1976-2001. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, Series B 359: 381-407.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A. 2003. Molecular genetic approaches to the study of primate behavior, social organization, and reproduction. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 46: 62-99.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A. 2003. Ranging behavior and foraging ecology of lowland woolly monkeys (Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii) in Yasuní National Park, Ecuador. American Journal of Primatology 59: 47-66.
  
  
• Seuánez, H., Di Fiore, A., Moreira, M.A.M., Almeida, C.A.S., and Canavez, F.C. 2002. Genetics and evolution of lion tamarins. In: Lion Tamarins: biology and conservation (D.G. Kleiman and A.B. Rylands, eds.), pp. 117-132. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  
  
• Barash, D.P. and Di Fiore, A. 2002. Sociobiology. In: Mc-Graw Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, pp. 586-589. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies.
  
  
• Phillips, O.L., Martínez, R.V., Arroyo, L., Baker, T.R., Killeen, T., Lewis, S.L., Malhi, Y., Mendoza, A.M., Neill, D., Vargas, P.N., Alexiades, M., Cerón, C., Di Fiore, A., Erwin, T., Jardim, A., Palacios, W., Saldias, M., and Vinceti, B. 2002. Increasing dominance of large lianas in Amazonian forests. Nature 418: 770-774.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A. 2002. Predator sensitive foraging in ateline primates. In: Eat or Be Eaten: predator sensitive foraging among primates (L.E. Miller, ed.), pp. 242-267. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A. 2002. Primate social organization. In: McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science and Technology, pp. 276-279. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A. 2001. Investigación ecológica y de comportamiento de primates en el Parque Nacional Yasuní. In: Memorias del Seminario-Taller Yasuní, 2001 (J.P. Jorgenson and M. Coello Rodríguez, eds.), pp. 165-173. Quito, Ecuador: Editorial SIMBIOE.
  
  
• Di Fiore, A. and Rodman, P.S. 2001. Time allocation patterns of lowland woolly monkeys (Lagothrix lagotricha poeppigii) in a neotropical terra firma forest.  International Journal of Primatology 22: 449:480.