Research interests:

• Comparative aspects of the metabolism and excretion of steroids in primates
• Sex-specific reproductive strategies and factors determining reproductive success in natural primate population
• Physiological costs of behavioural strategies
• Assessment of environmental stress and its impact on primate health and reproduction in wild primate populations
• Application of field endocrinology methods in primate conservation

Selected publications:

Heistermann M, Ziegler T, van Schaik CP, Launhardt K, Winkler P, Hodges JK (2001): Loss of oestrus, concealed ovulation and paternity confusion in free-ranging Hanuman langurs. Proc R Soc Lond B 268: 2445-2451.

Möhle U, Heistermann M, Palme R, Hodges JK (2002): Characterization of urinary and fecal metabolites of testosterone and their measurement for assessing gonadal endocrine function in male nonhuman primates. Gen Comp Endocrinol 129: 135-145.

Gerber P, Moisson P, Heistermann M (2004): Comparative studies on urinary progestogen and estrogen excretion during pregnancy in Lemuridae; Eulemur macaco flavifrons, Eulemur rubriventer and Hapalemur griseus occidentalis. Int J Primatol 25: 449-463.

Barelli C, Heistermann M, Boesch C, Reichard UH (2007): Sexual swelling in wild white-handed gibbon females (Hylobates lar) indicates the probability of ovulation. Horm Behav 51: 221-230.

Brauch K, Hodges JK, Fuhrmann K, Shaw E, Heistermann M (2008): Sex-specific reproductive behaviours and paternity in free-ranging Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 62: 1453-1466.

Girard-Buttoz C, Heistermann M, Krummel S, Engelhardt A (2009): Seasonal and social influences on fecal androgen and glucocorticoid excretion in wild male long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis). Phys Behav 98: 168-175.

Higham JP, Heistermann M, Maestripieri D: The energetics of male-male endurance rivalry in free-ranging rhesus macaques. Anim Behav 81: 1001-1007

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