Research

My research investigates the evolution, function, and diversity of animal social relationships.
I study mostly wild populations, using behavioural observations, social network analyses and non-invasive genetics.
Currently, I am studying the genetic basis of aggressive and affiliative behaviours in the baboons of Amboseli.

DRIVERS OF VARIATION IN SOCIAL STRUCTURE

Animal social relationships are remarkably diverse, ranging from simple associations to strong, lifelong bonds. What drives this diversity? One possible answer lies in the unique challenges animals face in their environments, each requiring different social strategies. For example, forming close, reliable bonds can make sure you have support in competitive situations, while having broader networks can provide protection from predators.
To better understand how environmental pressures shape the types of social relationships animals form, I established MacaqueNet. This collaborative community and database contains standardized social network data from 61 populations across 14 macaque species, representing over 3,000 individually recognized macaques. For each population in MacaqueNet, I compiled ecological data on climate, predation risk, and food availability from open-access biodiversity and environmental repositories. Using this combined dataset, I examine how much of the variation in social relationships is driven by phylogeny, species differences, or more flexible changes in response to current environmental conditions.
This project is part of the FriendOrigins project led by Prof. Lauren Brent, exploring the evolutionary origins of friendship.

Macaques' varied social structure and environments make them ideal for studying how environmental pressures shape social relationships.
De Moor et al., Journal of Animal Ecology, 2025

MacaqueNet is a global network of macaque researchers, whose mission is to encourage and facilitate collaboration.

find out more about macaquenet

KIN BIASES IN SOCIALITY

Kinship has a profound influence on the social life of animals, with affiliation and agonistic support biased towards closely related individuals in a wide variety of species. Kin biases are especially strong between maternally related females. Females are usually the philopatric sex, and spend their entire lives in their matriline. Because of this, maternal kin are easily recognisable and readily available, making them ideal bonding partners for both direct and indirect fitness benefits.
What happens when kin recognition is less reliable, or when kin are not the most competent partner available, so that direct and indirect fitness benefits are not aligned? To answer these questions I focused on two less-studied aspects of kin biases in sociality: paternal kinship and the role of kinship in male sociality for my PhD.
I studied kin biases in sociality in the wild Assamese macaques of the Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary, with Prof. Julia Ostner and Dr. Oliver Schülke at the Behavioral Ecology Department of the University of Göttingen and Prof. Christian Roos at the Primate Genetics lab of the German Primate Center (DPZ).

PATERNAL KIN BIASES

Females often mate with multiple males, so that paternity is concealed, which in turn hampers paternal kin recognition. I am interested in whether paternal kin biases in social behaviour can still develop, and what potential paternal kin recognition mechanisms might be operating.

Female Assamese macaques bias their affiliation to maternal and paternal kin.
De Moor et al., Behavioral Ecology, 2020

KIN BIASES IN MALE SOCIALITY

Despite strong mating competition, males can benefit from forming strong bonds with other males in the group, who act as allies in risky coalitions for dominance ranks. I explore how relatedness, familiarity and partner competence interplay in male partner choice, and whether unfamiliar kin can recognise each other as such.

Affiliation is kin biased in male Assamese macaques, but males can choose non-kin over close kin to bond with. De Moor et al., Molecular Ecology, 2020

THE ROLE OF ECOLOGICAL FACTORS IN THE EMERGENCE OF TOOL USE

What lies at the origin of behavioural innovations, such as tool use in chimpanzees? Novel behaviours might emerge in times of food scarcity, with animals forced to turn to less accessible food sources to meet their nutritional needs. On the other hand innovations might occur because key tool materials are encountered at the right spatio-temporal circumstances.

I was part of a project on the role of necessity and opportunity in the emergence of tool use, with Dr. Cat Hobaiter and Dr. Thibaud Gruber. I carried out ecological surveys to collect data on available food sources and tool materials in three neighbouring chimpanzee communities in the Budongo Conservation Field Station. At the same time I managed the habituation and behavioural data collection on one of the communities.

Male grooming is not exchanged for direct mating access in a mating market, but male-female relationships predict mating access in a group of captive rhesus macaques.

MALE MATING TACTICS: "FRIENDSHIPS" AND THE MATING MARKET

Male mating success can depend on several factors, including dominance, the formation of "friendships" with females and the exchange of services for mating access. Males might use grooming in the exchange for sex in a mating market, or on a longer timescale to develop a relationship with a female which results in preferential mating access.

For my master's thesis, I studied male grooming and mating patterns to explore mating tactics in a captive group of rhesus macaques at the BPRC. I was supervised by Prof. Liesbeth Sterck at the Animal Ecology department of the University of Utrecht.