Elise Huchard

Elise Huchard, DVM, PhD

  
 

Behavioral Ecology & Sociobiology Unit
and Sociobiology
German Primate Center (DPZ)
Kellnerweg 4
D - 37077 Goettingen
Germany

Phone: ++49 551 3851 470
Fax:      ++49 551 3851 291



Email: ehuchard(at)dpz.eu, ehuchard(at)gmail.com
Elise Huchard
 
Curriculum vitae
 
 
  • 1998-2003
    		•  Veterinary studies, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse, France
     
  • 2004
    		•  Master Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Université Montpellier 2, France
     
  • 2004-2008
    		•  PhD student, Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution, Université Montpellier 2 and Institute of Zoology, London
     
  • 2009
    		•  Visiting scientist, Institute of Zoology, London
     
  • 2009
    		•  Post-doc, Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology Department, Deutsches Primaten Zentrum, Göttingen, Germany
     
    Research
     
    My interests are broadly focused on the evolution of mating and social systems, as well as on the determinants of individual health and condition. An area of special interest has been sexual selection, using primates as a model system and paying special attention to the integration of theoretical, empirical, and experimental approaches to address a broad range of fundamental questions. These include: 1) the evolution of sexual signalling; 2) the interconnections between mating strategies and genetic (at both functional loci such as the Major Histocompatibility Complex and neutral loci such as microsatellites) population structure, especially in complex social systems; 3) individual mating decisions in relation to the genetic and phenotypic condition of both the choosy and the chosen sex. My research is made possible by the combined use of behavioural observations with genetic and biological data, which constitutes a powerful study design in behavioural ecology. The main study systems I work with are natural populations of baboons (Papio ursinus, found at the edge of the Namib Desert), and mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus, in the Kirindy Forest, western Madagascar) as well as a captive population of mouse lemurs (Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Brunoy, France)
     
    Publications
     
    Benavides JA*, Huchard E*, Pettorelli N, King AJ, Brown ME, Archer CE, Appleton CC, Raymond M, Cowlishaw G (2012) From parasite encounter to infection: multiple-scale drivers of parasite richness in a wild social primate population. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 147: 52-63.
    * These two authors contributed equally to the manuscript.
    Huchard E, Canale CI, Le Gros C, Perret M, Henry P-Y, Kappeler PM (2012) Convenience polyandry or convenience polygyny? Costly sex under female control in a promiscuous primate. Proceeding of the Royal society of London B 279: 1371-1379.
    Huchard E, Cowlishaw G (2011) Female–female aggression around mating: an extra cost of sociality in a multimale primate society. Behavioral Ecology 22: 1003-1011.
    King AJ, Sueur C, Huchard E, Cowlishaw G (2011) A rule-of-thumb based on social affiliation explains collective movements in desert baboons. Animal Behaviour 82(6): 1337-1345.
    Huchard E, Raymond M, Benavides J, Marshall H, Knapp LA and Cowlishaw G (2010) A female signal reflects MHC genotype in a social primate. BMC Evolutionary Biology 10:96
    Huchard E, Knapp LA, Wang J, Raymond M and Cowlishaw G (2010) MHC, mate choice and heterozygote advantage in a wild social primate. Molecular Ecology 19:2545-2561
    Setchell JMS, Huchard E (2010) The hidden benefits of sex: Evidence for MHC-associated mate choice in primate societies. BioEssays 32: 940-948
    Wang J, Brekke P, Huchard E, Knapp LA, Cowlishaw G (2010) Estimation of parameters of inbreeding and genetic drift in populations with overlapping generations. Evolution 64:1704-1718
    Huchard E, Alvergne A, Fejan D, Knapp LA, Cowlishaw G and Raymond M (2010) More than friends? Behavioural and genetic aspects of heterosexual associations in wild chacma baboons. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 64:769-781
    Célerier A, Huchard E, Alvergne A, Féjan D, Plard F, Cowlishaw G, Raymond M and Bonadonna, F (2010) Detective mice assess relatedness in baboons using olfactory cues. Journal of Experimental Biology 213:1399-1405
    Schliehe-Diecks S, Markolf M, Huchard (2010) When big lemurs swallow up small ones: Coquerel’s dwarf lemur as a predator of grey mouse lemurs and endemic rodents. Lemur News 15: 13-14.
    Huchard E, Courtiol A, Benavides JA, Knapp LA, Raymond M and Cowlishaw G (2009) Can fertility signals lead to quality signals? Insights from the evolution of primate sexual swellings. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 276:1889-1897
    Huchard E, Benavides JA, Setchell JM, Charpentier MJE, Alvergne A, King AJ, Knapp LA, Cowlishaw G and Raymond M (2009) Studying shape in sexual signals: the case of primate sexual swellings. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 63: 1231-1242
    Alvergne A, Huchard E, Ruppli C, Caillaud D, Martinez L and Raymond M (2009) Human ability to visually recognize kin within primates. International Journal of Primatology 30: 199-210
    King AJ, Douglas C, Huchard E, Isaac N, Cowlishaw G (2008) Dominance and affiliation mediate despotism in a social primate. Current Biology 18: 1833-1838
    Huchard E, Weill M, Cowlishaw G, Raymond M and Knapp LA (2008) Polymorphism, haplotype composition, and selection in the Mhc-DRB of wild baboons, Immunogenetics 60:585-598
    Cowlishaw G and Huchard E (2007) Baboons of the Pro-Namib: life on the edge, Conservation and the Environment in Namibia.
    Huchard E, Martinez M, Alout H, Douzery JPE, Berthomieu A, Berticat C, Raymond M and Weill M (2006) Acetylcholinesterase genes within the Diptera: Take-over and loss in true flies. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 273: 2595–2604.
    Huchard E, Cowlishaw G, Raymond M, Weill M and Knapp LA (2006) Molecular study of Mhc-DRB in wild Chacma baboons reveals high variability and evidence for transpecies inheritance. Immunogenetics 56: 805-816.
     
    Oral communications
     
    Huchard E, Henry PY, Canale C, Kappeler PM Polyandry: a condition-dependent behaviour? New directions in sexual selection: Unifying behavioural & genomic approaches, Bath, UK. 01.-04.09.10
    Huchard E, Charpentier M (2009) “La sexualité des primates”, Cité des Sciences, Paris, Invited conference.
    Huchard E(2008) Mate choice, sexual signalling and Major Histocompatibility Complex in chacma baboons, Papio ursinus. Invited lecture, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain.
    Huchard E(2008) Mate choice, sexual signalling and Major Histocompatibility Complex in chacma baboons, Papio ursinus. Invited lecture, Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Brunoy, France.
    Huchard E(2008) Mate choice, sexual signalling and Major Histocompatibility Complex in chacma baboons, Papio ursinus. Invited lecture, German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany.
    Huchard E, Courtiol A, Benavides J, Raymond M, Cowlishaw G (2008) Sexual swellings as condition indicators: new insights. International Primatology Society conference, Edinburgh, UK.
    Huchard E, Benavides J, Setchell JM, Charpentier MJE, Knapp LA, Cowlishaw G, Raymond M (2008) The importance of shape in primate sexual swellings: a case-study in wild chacma baboons and free-ranging mandrills. 31st meeting of the American Society of Primatology, West Palm Beach, US.
    Huchard E, Benavides J, Raymond M, Cowlishaw G (2007) Evolution of exaggerated swellings: size and shape under examination in a wild population of chacma baboons. 2nd Congress of the European Federation of Primatology, Prague, Czech Republic.
    Alvergne A, Caillaud D, Huchard E, Charpentier MJE, Martinez L, Raymond M (2007) Inter-specific kin recognition: Are humans able to associate family relatives among others primate species? Oral presentation, 2nd Congress of the European Federation of Primatology, Prague, Czech Republic.
    Huchard E (2006) MHC diversity, health and mate choice in wild desert baboons. Zoological Society of London Annual student conference (First Prize, student competition)
     
    Collaborations
     
    • Alexandra Alvergne, Anthropology Department, University College London, UK
    • Aurélie Célerier, Centre Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Université Montpellier 2, France
    • Guy Cowlishaw, Institute of Zoology, London, UK
    • Julio Benavides, Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution, Université Montpellier 2, France
    • Leslie Knapp, Bioanthropology Department, Cambridge University, UK
    • Pierre-Yves Henry, Département d’Ecologie et Gestion de la Biodiversité, Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Brunoy, France
    • Michel Raymond, Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution, Université Montpellier 2, France

     
    Fellowships, grants and award
     
    • PhD funding awarded by the French Research Ministry, 2004-2007
    • International Travel Grant awarded by The Royal Society, 2009
    • Marie Curie FP7 Intra-European Fellowship, 2010
    • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinshaft Post-doctoral Fellowship, 2010