Les tutelles
CNRS-MNHN-Université de Paris
MASI Shelly
Entité de rattachement
UMR 7206 - Interactions primates et environnement (IPE)
Thème interdisciplinaire de recherche
Primate Conservation, Behavioural Ecology, Feeding Ecology, Socio-Ecology, Cognitive ecology
Spécialité
Primates, Great Apes, Wild Western Gorillas
Contact
Réseaux sociaux
Site(s) internet
Courriel
Téléphone
+33 (01).44.05.73.02
Responsabilités dans l'unité
Responsable MNHN et CNRS de la communication de l'UMR 7206
Représentante des MC/CR de l'UMR 7206
SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS: https://scholar.google.fr/citations...
A SNAPSHOT
Associate/Assistant Professor (Maître de conférences) at the National Museum of Natural History (MNHN) in Paris, France. My current research aims at undestanding the flexibility of foraging strategies and of the cognitive behaviour of great apes focusing on four main research lines : 1) animal nutritional and energetic needs, 2) feeding ecology and nutritional strategies in realtion to spatio-temporal availability of food, 3) health status and medicinal plant choice, 4) feeding traditions, social learning, feeding knowladge transmission and culture. My field work profits from the tight collaboration with the Aka pygmies, hunter-gathers, forest experts and gorilla trackers, for whom I had to learn the Central African language to be able to communicate and work together. A recent research line of mine includes studies on the Aka pygmies given their intriguing hunter-gather life style and their traditional use of forest plants for medicine and other usages. My research has been focussing mainly on the western gorillas, elusive and critically endangered species. However, I stongly believe that the comparative approch among species, including humans, and especially among disciplins, is the only way to fully address our research questions.
Therefore, today thanks to a large network of strong national and international collaborations, my reseach framework compares different primate species (inlcuding humans) integrating field, captive and experimental research with a multidisciplinary approch (e.g. socioecology, feeding ecology, cognition, spatial geography, health, conservation, physiology, botany, anthropôlogy, ethnology, genetic, neurocognition). Focusing on primates and particularly on our closest relatives, the great apes, the ultimate goal of my research is to shed light a) on resilience of endangered species to aid their conservation, and b) to the evolutionary roots of different aspects of human evolution (e.g. origin of food/plant selection, origin of culture, origin of skilled cognition, origin of future planning, origin of traditional medicin, origin of language and hand preference, origin of diseases).
Terrains de recherche
http://dzanga-sangha.org/drupal/
Publications
2021
- 2021 — No evidence for female kin association, indications for extragroup paternity, and sex-biased dispersal patterns in wild western gorillas. Ecology and Evolution. Vol. 11, n° 12, p. 7634-7646. Type: Journal Article.,ISSN:2045-7758
2019
- 2019 — Mammal extinctions and the increasing isolation of humans on the tree of life. Ecology and Evolution. Vol. 9, n° 3, p. 914-924.,
2018
- 2018 — Handedness in Gestural and Manipulative Actions in Male Hunter-Gatherer Aka Pygmies From Central African Republic. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. P. 1-11.,
2017
- 2017 — Primate Energy Input and the Evolutionary Transition to Energy-Dense Diets in Humans. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Vol. 284, n° 1856, dir. The Royal Society.,
2015
- 2015 — Comparative Study on Laterality and Foraging Manipulative Tasks in Wild Gorillas and Human Hunter-Gatherers. PNAS.,
2014
- 2014 — Wild Chimpanzees on the Edge : Nocturnal Activities in Croplands. PLOS One. Vol. 9, n° 10, dir. Public Library of Science.,
2012
- 2012 — How Do Great Apes Acquire Information on Unusual Feeding Behaviors? A Windows to Understand Origins of Self-Medication in Humans. Journal of Biological Research-Bollettino della Società Italiana di Biologia Sperimentale. Vol. 85, n° 1.,
- 2012 — Unusual Feeding Behavior in Wild Great Apes, A Window to Understand Origins of Self-Medication in Humans: Role of Sociality and Physiology on Learning Process. Physiology & behavior. Vol. 105, n° 2, p. 337-349.,
2011
- 2011 — « The Role of Sociality and Physiology on the Learning Process in Unusual Feeding Behaviour in Wild Great Apes: A Window to Understand the Origins of Self-Medication in Humans » in FOLIA PRIMATOLOGICA. Vol. 82, 4-5, p. 259-260.,
- 2011 — Nematodes of The Genus Oesophagostomum: An Emerging Risk for Humans and Apes in Africa?. Bulletin de l'Academie nationale de medecine. Vol. 195, n° 8, p. 1955-63.,