In the Laboratory for Primate Dietary Ecology and Physiology, we study how ecological variation influences the behavior (feeding and social), morphology, and physiology of non-human primates. We have three main goals:
- Determine the selection pressures that have led to the variation in primate dietary traits and behavior
- Bridge the fields of ecology, behavior, physiology, and morphology to better understand energy acquisition and use in non-human primates
- Explore how primate behavior can inform us about human evolutionary hypotheses
These goals are driving our field and laboratory research on diverse subjects in anthropology, ecology, and evolutionary biology. The guiding principle of our lab is that the species and methods used must be appropriate for the particular evolutionary question asked. Members of my lab use a diverse tool kit to answer their research questions including behavioral observations of primates in their natural habitats, quantifying the abundance and distribution of food resources, nutritional analyses of foods, quantifying material properties of foods, mathematical modeling, and collecting urine, fecal and blood samples for laboratory analyses to better understand the causes and consequences of selecting particular food items. All of these methods increase our understanding of how and why primates select their diets and how they cope with periods of food scarcity.
Information for potential students interested in working with Dr. Vogel click here.