2026 Carel P. van Schaik: Ecology and Evolution Researcher – H-Index, Publications & Awards

Discipline name	D-Index	World Ranking	Current World Ranking	National Ranking	Current National Ranking	Publications	Citations
Ecology and Evolution	122	99	93	4	4	378	47073

Research.com Recognitions

2026 - Research.com Ecology and Evolution in Switzerland Leader Award
2025 - Research.com Ecology and Evolution in Switzerland Leader Award
2022 - Research.com Ecology and Evolution in Switzerland Leader Award
2007 - Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences

Overview

Carel P. van Schaik is affiliated with the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Their research primarily spans the field of Psychology, with a focus on Social Psychology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Developmental Biology, Developmental and Educational Psychology, and Ecology as subfields.

The scientist's work is concentrated on several key topics, including:

Primate Behavior and Ecology
Animal Behavior and Reproduction
Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior
Child and Animal Learning Development
Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior

Among the recent publications associated with this researcher are:

"The zone of latent solutions and its relevance to understanding ape cultures" (2020) published in Biology & Philosophy
"The economics of brain size evolution in vertebrates" (2022) published in Current Biology
"A Farewell to the Encephalization Quotient: A New Brain Size Measure for Comparative Primate Cognition" (2021) published in Brain Behavior and Evolution
"Marmoset prosociality is intentional" (2020) published in Animal Cognition
"Reproductive seasonality in primates: patterns, concepts and unsolved questions" (2020) published in Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society

Frequent collaborators who have coauthored multiple works with van Schaik include:

Caroline Schuppli (22 publications)
Maria A. van Noordwijk (20 publications)
Judith M. Burkart (12 publications)
Marlen Fröhlich (11 publications)
Erik P. Willems (11 publications)

The primary publication venues for van Schaik illustrate where their research has been disseminated most often:

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) with 11 publications
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology with 5 publications
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences with 5 publications
Communications Biology with 4 publications
Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society with 3 publications

Carel P. van Schaik received an award from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007.

Best Publications

The Phenology of Tropical Forests: Adaptive Significance and Consequences for Primary Consumers*

Carel P. van Schaik;John W. Terborgh;S. Joseph Wright

1774
Citations
The evolution of female social relationships in nonhuman primates

E.H.M. Sterck;David P. Watts;C.P. van Schaik

1558
Citations
Orangutan Cultures and the Evolution of Material Culture

Carel P. van Schaik;Marc Ancrenaz;Gwendolyn Borgen;Birute Galdikas;Birute Galdikas

1414
Citations
Fission-fusion dynamics: new research frameworks

Filippo Aureli;Colleen M Schaffner;Christophe Boesch;Simon K Bearder

1215
Citations
Evolution of primate social systems

Peter M. Kappeler;Carel P. van Schaik

913
Citations
The evolution of self-control

Evan L. MacLean;Brian Hare;Charles L. Nunn;Elsa Addessi

856
Citations
Overall Brain Size, and Not Encephalization Quotient, Best Predicts Cognitive Ability across Non-Human Primates

Robert O. Deaner;Karin Isler;Judith Maria Burkart;Carel van Schaik

701
Citations
The evolution of animal 'cultures' and social intelligence.

Andrew Whiten;Carel P van Schaik

639
Citations
The conditions for tool use in primates: implications for the evolution of material culture.

Carel P. van Schaik;Robert O. Deaner;Michelle Y. Merrill

637
Citations
Energetics and the evolution of human brain size

Ana Navarrete;Carel P. van Schaik;Karin Isler

576
Citations
Other-regarding preferences in a non-human primate: Common marmosets provision food altruistically

Judith M. Burkart;Ernst Fehr;Charles Efferson;Carel P. van Schaik

527
Citations
Conflict resolution following aggression in gregarious animals: a predictive framework

Filippo Aureli;Marina Cords;Carel P. van Schaik

526
Citations
The Expensive Brain: a framework for explaining evolutionary changes in brain size.

Karin Isler;Carel P. van Schaik

523
Citations
The evolutionary origin of human hyper-cooperation

J. M. Burkart;O. Allon;Federica Amici;C. Fichtel

509
Citations
Animal social complexity : intelligence, culture, and individualized societies

F. B. M. de Waal;Peter L. Tyack

485
Citations
Intrasexual competition and canine dimorphism in anthropoid primates.

J. Michael Plavcan;Carel P. van Schaik

477
Citations
The socioecology of fission-fusion sociality in Orangutans

Carel P. van Schaik

466
Citations
Infanticide by Males and its Implications

Carel van Schaik;Charles Helmar Janson

439
Citations
Intrasexual competition and body weight dimorphism in anthropoid primates

J. Michael Plavcan;Carel P. van Schaik

430
Citations
Social learning and evolution: the cultural intelligence hypothesis.

Carel P. van Schaik;Judith M. Burkart

425
Citations
Infanticide risk and the evolution of male–female association in primates

Carel P. Van Schaik;Peter M. Kappeler

412
Citations
Orangutans : geographic variation in behavioral ecology and conservation

Serge A Wich;S. Suci Utami Atmoko;Tatang Mitra Setia;Carel P. van Schaik

258
Citations

Frequent Co-Authors

Maria A. van Noordwijk Max Planck Society

Judith M. Burkart University of Zurich

Serge A. Wich Liverpool John Moores University

Benoit Goossens Cardiff University

Peter M. Kappeler German Primate Center

Michael Krützen University of Zurich

Filippo Aureli Liverpool John Moores University

Charles L. Nunn Duke University

Cyril C. Grueter University of Western Australia

Charles H. Janson University of Montana

External Links

Wikipedia of Carel P. van Schaik Personal website of Carel P. van Schaik

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