Research interests
I am a permanent researcher employed by the French CNRS and working at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris. I am currently head of the FunEvol equipe at the MNHN. I currently hold a temporary 2 year professorship (10%) at Ghent University. I am also a research associate at the Dept. of Biology at the University of Antwerp.
My main research interest concerns the evolution of complex integrated systems. By combining a variety of experimental approaches and techniques (e.g. electromyography, high-speed video and cineradiographic recordings, nerve transection experiments, muscle physiology, biomechanical modelling, ...) in an explicit comparative framework, I try to gain insights into the evolution of such systems. As model systems, I have chosen the feeding and locomotor system in vertebrates. I'm especially interested in the role that constraints and trade offs may play in shaping the evolution of the feeding and locomotor systems in vertebrates.
In addition to experimental lab-based approaches, I investigate performance traits associated with the feeding and locomotor systems (e.g. bite force, sprint speed, endurance capacity, etc...) in an ecological and evolutionary context. In collaboration with colleagues in France and abroad I will also include developmental and genomic approaches to study the mechanisms allowing rapid phenotypic diversification in natural populations.
Publications