Sexual selection, communication, behavioral endocrinology.
James Higham
Associate Professor
As Editor
Higham, J.P. & Roney, J. (Eds). 2017. Field endocrinology of nonhuman primates and humans. Hormones and Behavior 91.
Higham, J.P. & Hebets, E.A. (Eds). 2013. Multimodal communication. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 67 (9)
Higham, J.P. & Semple, S. (Eds). 2013. Primate signals. American Journal of Primatology 75 (7)
Higham, J.P. (Ed). 2009. Primate coloration: measurement, mechanisms
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
Higham, J.P., Kimock, C.M., Mandalaywala, T.M., Heistermann, M., Cascio, J., Petersdorf, M., Winters, S., Allen, W.L., Dubuc, C. Female ornaments: is red skin color attractive to males and related to condition in rhesus macaques? Behavioral Ecology In Press
Ghazanfar, A.A., Kelly, L.M., Takahashi, D.Y., Winters, S., Terrett, R. & Higham, J.P. Domestication phenotype linked to vocal communication in a nonhuman primate. Current Biology 30: 1-17
Melin, A.D., Janiak, M.C., Marrone, F., Arora, P.S. & Higham, J.P. Comparative ACE2 variation and primate COVID-19 risk. Communications Biology 3: 641
DeCasien, A.R. & Higham, J.P. 2020. Relative cerebellum size is not sexually dimorphic across primates. Brain, Behavior and Evolution 95: 93-101
Chiou, K.L., Montague, M.J., Goldman, E.A., Watowich, M.M, Sams, S.N., Song, J., Horvath, J.E., Sterner, K.N., Ruiz-Lambides, A.V., Martínez, M.I., Higham, J.P., Brent, L.J.N, Platt, M.L. & Snyder-Mackler, N. 2020. Rhesus macaques as a tractable physiological model of human ageing . Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 375: 20190612
Lee, D.S., Mandalaywala, T., Dubuc, C., Widdig, A., Higham, J.P. 2020. Higher early life mortality with lower infant body mass in a free‐ranging primate. Journal of Animal Ecology 89: 2300-2310
Petersen, R.M. & Higham, J.P. 2020. The role of sexual selection in the evolution of facial displays in male nonhuman primates and men. Adaptive Human Behavior & Physiology 6: 249–276
DeCasien, A.R., Sherwood C.C., Schapiro, S.J. & Higham, J.P. 2020. Greater variability in chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) brain structure among males. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 287: 20192858
Higham, J.P., Stahl-Hennig, C., & Heistermann, M. 2020. Urinary suPAR: a non-invasive biomarker of infection and tissue inflammation for use in studies of large free-ranging mammals. Royal Society Open Science In Press
Thompson, N.A., Higham, J.P., Heistermann, M., Vogel, E.R., & Cords, M. 2020. Energy balance but not competitive environment corresponds with allostatic load during development in an Old World monkey. Hormones and Behavior 119: 104664
Winters, S., Allen, W.L., Higham, J.P. 2020.The structure of species discrimination signals across a primate radiation. eLife 9: e47428
Young, M.I.M., Winters, S., Young, C., Weiß, B.M., Troscianko, J., Ganswindt, A., Barrett, L., Henzi, S.P., Higham, J.P., Widdig, A. 2020. Male characteristics as predictors of genital color and display variation in vervet monkeys. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 74:14.
Kimock, C., Dubuc, C., Brent, L.J.N., Higham, J.P. 2019. Male morphological traits are heritable but do not predict reproductive success in a sexually-dimorphic primate. Scientific Reports 9: 19794
Fischer, J.*, Higham, J.P.*, Alberts, S.C., Barrett, L., Beehner, J.C., Bergman, T.J., Carter, A.J., Collins A., Elton, S., Fagot, J., Ferreira da Silva, M.J., Hammerschmidt, K., Henzi, P., Jolly, C., Knauf, S., Kopp, G.H., Rogers, J., Roos, C., Ross, C., Seyfarth, R.M., Silk, J., Snyder-Mackler, N., Städele, V., Swedell, L., Wilson, M.L, Zinner, D. 2019. Insights into the evolution of social systems and species from baboon studies. *These authors contributed equally to this work. eLife 8: e50989
Higham, J.P. 2019. A comparative perspective on measures of cycle phase, and how they relate to cues, signals, and mating behavior: a commentary on Gangestad et al. Evolution and Human Behavior 40: 533-536
Moreira, L.A.A., Duytschaever, G., Higham, J.P. & Melin, A.D. 2019. Platyrrhine color signals: New horizons to pursue. Evolutionary Anthropology 28: 236-248
DeCasien, A.R., Higham, J.P. Primate mosaic brain evolution reflects selection on sensory and cognitive specialization. Nature Ecology and Evolution In press
Petersdorf, M., Weyher, A.H., Kamilar, J.M., Dubuc, C., Higham, J.P. (2019). Sexual selection in the Kinda baboon. Journal of Human Evolution doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.06.006
Rigaill, L., Higham, J.P., Winters, S., Garcia, C. The redder the better? Skin coloration indicates quality in female Japanese macaques. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 73: 103.
Lee, D.S., Ruiz-Lambides, A.V., Higham, J.P. 2019. Higher offspring mortality with short interbirth intervals in free-ranging rhesus macaques. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 116: 6057-6062
Thompson, N.A., Higham, J.P., Heistermann, M., Vogel, E.R., & Cords, M. 2019. Energy balance but not competitive environment corresponds with
Rosenfield, K.A., Semple, S., Georgiev, A.V., Maestripieri, D., Higham, J.P., Dubuc, C. 2019. Experimental evidence that female rhesus macaques Macaca mulatta perceive variation in male facial masculinity. Royal Society Open Science 6: 181415.
Ma, W.J. & Higham, J.P. 2018. The role of familiarity in signaler-receiver interactions. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 15: 20180568
Higham J.P., Dominy N.J. 2018. The promise of primatology fulfilled? American Journal of Physical Anthropology 166: 783–790.
Dominy, N.J., Winters, S., Pease, D.E., Higham, J.P. 2018.
Petersdorf, M., Dubuc, C., Georgiev, A., Winters, S. & Higham, J.P. 2017. Is the red facial coloration of male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) subject to intrasexual selection? Behavioral Ecology 28: 1472-1481.
Hiramatsu, C., Melin, A.D., Allen, W.L., Dubuc, C. & Higham, J.P. 2017. Experimental evidence that primate trichromacy is well suited for detecting primate social
Roney, J.R. & Higham, J.P. 2017. Synthesizing research on field endocrinology of nonhuman primates and humans. Hormones and Behavior 91: 1-2.
DeCasien, A.R., Williams, S.A. & Higham, J.P. 2017. Primate brain size is predicted by diet but not sociality. Nature Ecology and Evolution 1:0112
Hammond, A.S., Johnson, V.P. & Higham, J.P. 2017. Hip joint mobility in free-ranging rhesus macaques. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 58: 83-91
Rigaill, L., MacIntosh, A.J.J., Higham, J.P., Winters, S., Shimizu, K., Mouri, K., Suzumura, T., Furuichi, T., Garcia, C. 2017. No evidence that face color varies with age, dominance status, parity, weight, and intestinal nematode infection in female Japanese macaques. Primates 58: 83-91
Petrullo, L., Mandalaywala, T.M., Parker, K., Maestripieri, D. & Higham, J.P. 2016. Effects of early-life adversity on cortisol/salivary alpha-amylase symmetry in free-ranging juvenile rhesus macaques. Hormones and Behavior
Higham, J.P. 2016. Field endocrinology of nonhuman primates: past, present
Dubuc, C., Allen, W.L., Cascio, J., Lee, D.S., Maestripieri, D., Petersdorf, M., Winters, S. & Higham, J.P. 2016. Who cares? Experimental attention biases provide new insights into a mammalian sexual signal. Behavioral Ecology 27: 68-74
Grueter, C.C., Zhu, P., Allen, W.L., Higham, J.P., Ren, B. & Li, M. 2015. Sexually- selected lip
Heistermann, M. & Higham, J.P. 2015. Urinary neopterin, a noninvasive marker of mammalian cellular immune activation, is highly stable under field conditions. Scientific Reports 5: 16308
Fischer, J., Wheeler, B.C., & Higham, J.P. 2015. Is there any evidence for vocal learning in chimpanzee food calls? Current Biology 25, R1R2
Rigaill, L., MacIntosh, A.J.J., Higham, J.P., Winters, S., Shimizu, K., Mouri, K., Takeshi, F. & Garcia, C. Multimodal advertisement of pregnancy in freeranging female Japanese macaques (Macaca
Higham, J.P., Kraus, C., StahlHennig, C., Engelhardt, A., Fuchs, D. & Heistermann, M. 2015. Evaluating noninvasive markers of nonhuman primate immune activation and inflammation. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 158: 673-684
Winters, S., Dubuc, C. & Higham, J.P. 2015. The looking time experimental paradigm in studies of animal visual perception and cognition.
Hughes, K.D., Higham, J.P., Allen, W.L., Elliot, A.J. & Hayden, B.Y. 2015. Extraneous red drives female macaques’ gaze toward photographs of male conspecifics. Evolution and Human Behavior 36: 25-31
MacLarnon, A.M., Sommer, V., Goffe, A.S., Higham, J.P., Lodge, E., Tkaczynski, P. & Ross, C. 2015. Assessing adaptability and reactive scope: a new measure and a case study of environmental stress in forest-living baboons. General and Comparative Endocrinology 215: 10-24
Mandalaywala, T.M., Higham, J.P., Heistermann, M., Parker, K.J. & Maestripieri D. 2014. Physiological and behavioral stress responses to weaning conflict in free-ranging primate infants. Animal Behaviour 91: 241-247
Allen, W.L., Stevens, M & Higham, J.P. 2014. Character displacement of Cercopithecini primate visual signals. Nature Communications DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5266
Higham, J.P. & Maestripieri, D. 2014. The costs of reproductive success in Cayo Santiago male rhesus macaques. International Journal of Primatology 35: 661-676
Dubuc, C., Allen, W.L., Maestripieri, D. & Higham, J.P. 2014. Is male rhesus macaque red colour ornamentation attractive to females? Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 68: 1215-1224
Higham, J.P. 2014. How does honest costly signaling work? Behavioral Ecology 25: 8-11
Higham, J.P. & Hebets, E.A. 2013. An introduction to multimodal communication. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 67: 1381-1388
Higham, J.P. & Hebets, E.A. 2013. An introduction to multimodal communication. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 67: 1381-1388
Wilson A., Dean, M. & Higham, J.P. 2013. A game theoretic approach to multimodal communication. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 67: 1399-1415
Higham, J.P., Pfefferle, D., Heistermann, M., Maestripieri, D. & Stevens, M. 2013. Signaling in multiple modalities in male rhesus macaques: barks and sex skin coloration in relation to androgen levels, social status and mating behavior. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 67: 1457-1469
Semple, S. & Higham, J.P. 2013. Primate signals: Current issues and perspectives. American Journal of Primatology 75: 613-620
Allen, W.L. & Higham, J.P. 2013. Analyzing visual signals as visual scenes. American Journal of Primatology 75: 664-682
Rigaill, L., Higham, J.P., Lee, PC., Blin, A. & Garcia, C. 2013. Multimodal sexual signaling and mating behavior in olive baboons ( Papio anubis ). American Journal of Primatology 75: 774-787
Higham, J.P., Heistermann, M. & Maestripieri, D. 2013. The endocrinology of male rhesus macaque social and reproductive status: a test of the challenge and social stress hypotheses. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 67: 19-3
Higham,J.P. , Heistermann, M., Saggau, C., Agil, M., Perwitasari-Farajallah, D. & Engelhardt, A. 2012. Sexual signaling in the crested macaque and the evolution of primate fertility signals. BMC Evolutionary Biology 12: 89
Mandalaywala, T.M., Higham, J.P., Heistermann, M. & Maestripieri, D. 2011. Infant bystanders modulate the effects of ovarian hormones on socio-sexual behaviour in free-ranging female rhesus macaques. Behaviour 148: 1137-1155
Higham, J.P., Girard-Buttoz , C., Engelhardt, A. & Heistermann, M. 2011 Urinary C-peptide of insulin as a non-invasive marker of nutritional status: some practicalities. PLoS One 6: e22398
Higham, J.P., Hughes, K.D., Brent, L.J.N., Dubuc, C., Engelhardt, A., Heistermann, M., Maestripieri, D., Santos, L.R & Stevens, M. 2011. Familiarity affects assessment of facial signals of female fertility by free-ranging male rhesus macaques. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 278: 3452-3458
Hoffman, C.L., Higham, J.P., Heistermann, M., Prendergast, B., Coe, C. & Maestripieri, D. 2011. Immune function and HPA axis activity in free-ranging rhesus macaques. Physiology and Behavior 104: 507-514
Girard-Buttoz , C., Higham, J.P., Heistermann, M., Wedegärtner, S., Maestripieri, D. & Engelhardt, A. 2011. Urinary c-peptide measurement as a marker of nutritional status in macaques. PLoS One 6: e18042
Higham, J.P., Heistermann, M. & Maestripieri, D. 2011. The energetics of male-male endurance rivalry in rhesus macaques. Animal Behaviour 81: 1001-1007
Higham, J.P., Barr, C.S., Hoffman, C.L., Mandalaywala, T.M., Parker, K.J. & Maestripieri, D. 2011. Mu-opioid receptor (OPRM1) variation, oxytocin levels and maternal behavior in free-ranging rhesus macaques. Behavioral Neuroscience 125: 131-136
De Vere, R., Warren, Y., Nicholas, A., MacKenzie, M.E. & Higham, J.P. 2011. Nest site ecology of the Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli ) in the Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary, Cameroon, with special reference to anthropogenic influence. American Journal of Primatology 73: 253-261
Higham, J.P. & Maestripieri, D. 2010. Revolutionary coalitions in male rhesus macaques. Behaviour 147: 1889-1908
Higham, J.P., Vitale, A.B., Mas-Rivera, A., Ayala, J.E. & Maestripieri, D. 2010. Measuring salivary analytes from free-ranging monkeys. Physiology & Behavior 101: 601-607
Hoffman, C.L., Higham, J.P., Mas-Rivera, A., Ayala, J.E. & Maestripieri, D. 2010. Terminal investment and senescence in rhesus macaques on Cayo Santiago. Behavioral Ecology 21: 972-978
Higham, J.P., Brent, L.J.N., Dubuc, C., Accamando, A,K. , Engelhardt, A., Gerald, M.S., Heistermann, M. & Stevens, M. 2010. Color signal information content and the eye of the beholder: a case study in the rhesus macaque. Behavioral Ecology 21: 739-746
Higham, J.P. MacLarnon, A.M., Heistermann, M., Ross, C. & Semple, S. 2009. Self-directed behaviours and faecal glucocorticoid levels are not correlated in female wild olive baboons. Stress 12: 526-532
Higham, J.P. Primate Coloration – An introduction to the special issue. 2009. International Journal of Primatology 30: 749-751
Marty, J.M., Higham, J.P., Gadsby, E.L., & Ross, C. 2009 Color, dominance and social and sexual behavior in male drills. International Journal of Primatology 30: 807-823
Stevens, M., Stoddard, M.C., & Higham, J.P. 2009. Studying primate color: towards visual system dependent methods. International Journal of Primatology 30: 893-917
Higham, J.P., Semple, S. MacLarnon, A., Heistermann, M. & Ross, C. 2009. Female reproductive signals, and male mating behavior, in the olive baboon. Hormones and Behavior 55: 60-67
Higham, J.P., Warren, Y., Adanu, J. Bubu, U. MacLarnon, A., Sommer, V. & Ross, C. 2009. Living on the edge: Life-history of olive baboons at Gashaka-Gumti National Park, Nigeria. American Journal of Primatology 71: 293-304
Higham, J.P., MacLarnon, A., Ross, C., Heistermann, M. & Semple, S. 2008 Baboon sexual swellings: Information content of size and color. Hormones and Behavior 53: 452-462
Higham, J.P. Heistermann, M., Ross, C., Semple, S. & MacLarnon, A. 2008. The timing of ovulation with respect to sexual swelling detumescence in wild olive baboons. Primates 49: 295-299
Higham, J.P., Ross, C., Warren, Y., Heistermann, M. & MacLarnon, A. 2007 Reduced reproductive function in wild baboons (Papio hamadryas anubis ) related to natural consumption of the African black plum ( Vitex doniana ). Hormones and Behavior 52: 384-390
Asakura, T., Umemura, K., Nakazawa, Y., Hirose, H., Higham, J.P. & Knight, D. 2007 Some observations on the structure and function of the spinning apparatus in the silkworm Bombyx mori. Biomacromolecules 8: 175-181
Higham, J.P. & Gosler, A.G. 2006 Speckled eggs: water loss and incubation behaviour in the Great tit Parus major. Oecologia 149: 561-570
Gosler, A.G., Higham, J.P. & Reynolds, S.J. 2005 Why are birds’ eggs speckled? Ecology Letters 8: 1105-1113
Book Chapters
Book Chapters
Winters, S., Petersdorf, M. & Higham, J.P. 2019. Charles Darwin and selection in relation to sex in the colors of monkeys.
In: Darwin’s roadmap to the curriculum: Evolutionary studies in Higher Education. Oxford University Press: New York.
Petersen R.M., Dubuc C., Higham J.P. 2018. Facial displays of dominance in non-human primates.
In: The Facial Displays of Leaders. Ed Senior, C. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
In: The Facial Displays of Leaders. Ed Senior, C. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Petersdorf, M. & Higham, J.P. 2017. Mating systems, Primates.
In: International Encyclopedia of Biological Anthropology John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Hoboken: New Jersey.
Winters, S., Petersdorf, M. & Higham, J.P. 2017. Charles Darwin and selection in relation to sex in the colors of monkeys.
In: Evolutionary studies: Darwin’s roadmap to the curriculum. Oxford University Press: Oxford
Higham, J.P. 2017. Sperm competition.
In: The International Encyclopedia of Primatology Wiley Blackwell. Hoboken: New Jersey. In Press.
In: The International Encyclopedia of Primatology Wiley Blackwell. Hoboken: New Jersey. In Press.
Higham, J.P. & Petersdorf, M. 2017. Sexual swellings.
In: The International Encyclopedia of Primatology Wiley Blackwell. Hoboken: New Jersey. In Press.
Petersdorf, M. & Higham, J.P. 2017. Mating systems.
In: The International Encyclopedia of Primatology. Wiley Blackwell. Hoboken: New Jersey. In Press
In: The International Encyclopedia of Primatology. Wiley Blackwell. Hoboken: New Jersey. In Press
Higham, J.P. 2016. Multimodal Communication.
In: The missing lemur link: an ancestral step in human evolution (Palagi, E. & Norscia I.) Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. In Press
Higham, J.P. & Dubuc, C. 2015. The evolution of female fertility signals in macaques.
In: eLS (Encyclopedia of Life Sciences). Wiley Blackwell. Hoboken: New Jersey. DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0024968
Higham, J.P. & Winters, S. 2015. Color and mate choice in nonhuman animals.
In: The handbook of color psychology (Eds Elliot, A.J. & Fairchild, M.D.) Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
Higham, J.P. 2013. Primate visual signals.
In: McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science and Technology 2014. McGraw-Hill Professional: New York
Warren, Y., Higham, J.P., MacLarnon, A. & Ross, C. 2011. Crop-raiding and commensalism: the costs and benefits of living with humans.
In: Primates of Gashaka Eds. Sommer, V & Ross, C. Developments in primatology: progress and prospects. Springer. Series Ed. Tuttle, R.H.
Ross, C., Warren, Y., MacLarnon, A. & Higham, J.P. 2011. How different are Gashaka’s baboons? A comparison of forest-living and open-country populations.
In: Primates of Gashaka Eds. Sommer, V & Ross, C. Developments in primatology: progress and prospects. Springer. Series Ed. Tuttle, R.H.
Other journal publications
Setchell, J.M., Fernandez-Duque, E. Higham, J.P., Rothman, J.M., Schulke, O. 2016. Editorial: Changes and clarifications to the policies of the International Journal of Primatology to promote transparency and open communication. International Journal of Primatology 37: 617-627.
Petersdorf, M. & Higham, J.P. 2015. Katja Liebal, Bridget M. Waller, Anne M. Burrows, Katie E. Slocombe: Primate Communication: A Multimodal Approach.International Journal of Primatology 36: 1055-1059
Winters, S. & Higham, J.P. 2015. Martin Stevens: Sensory Ecology, Behaviour, and Evolution.
International Journal of Primatology 36: 205-208
Dubuc, C. & Higham, J.P. 2014. Quite the complexion: rhesus monkey face redness is passed on to their offspring, and affects their reproductive fitness.
Biosphere 2: 50-55
Higham, J.P., Amann, A.L., Bryer, M.A.H., Thompson, N.A. & Winters, S. 2013. Review of “The Evolution of Primate Societies” (Eds. John C. Mitani, Josep Call, Peter M. Kappeler, Ryne A. Palombit & Joan B. Silk).
International Journal of Primatology 34: 1298-1303
Higham, J.P. 2011. Review of “The Japanese Macaques” (Eds., Naofumi, N., Nakamichi, N. & Sugiura, H.).
International Journal of Primatology 32: 1033-1036
Semple, S., Higham, J.P., MacLarnon, A., Ross, C. & Lehmann, J. 2010. Comment on ‘Pan Thanatology’.
Current Biology http://www.cell.com/current-biology/comments/S0960-9822(10)00145-4
Wiseman, R., Warren, Y., Nicholas, A., MacKenzie, M., & Higham, J.P. 2008. A GIS habitat map for the Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary, Cameroon.
Gorilla Journal 37: 12-14
Higham, J.P. & Bennett, D. 2008 Some observations on wildlife, and wildlife consumptions, in Eastern Nigeria.
Gorilla Journal.36:11-13
Coming soon
Contact Information
James Higham
Associate Professor jhigham@nyu.edu 25 Waverly PlaceRoom 402
New York, NY 10003
Phone: (212) 992-7477
Office Hours: On leave Spring 2018