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Alex Alvergne
Alex Alvergne



Ph.D. Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, University of Montpellier, France, 2008.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2009-2011)



GENERAL INTERESTS

I have broad interests in behavioural ecology, psychology and cultural evolution. My research aims to understand the socio-ecological factors, the proximate mechanisms and the reproductive outcomes of behavioural strategies in humans.



RESEARCH PROJECTS

During my PhD, I have studied the role of paternity uncertainty for variation in paternal care and paternal recognition of offspring through phenotypic resemblance using data I collected in two contemporary human populations (urban France & rural Senegal). The question of paternal recognition of offspring has then been extended to wild chacma baboons (in coll. with Dr E. Huchard). At a proximate level, I have investigated the hormonal regulation of paternal care as well as the cognitive ability associated with the detection of facial phenotypic resemblance.

My current research projects include:

  • The diffusion of cultural innovation: the case of modern contraception (in coll. with Prof. Ruth Mace FBA, UCL, London, UK)
  • Personality and reproductive success in contemporary human populations (in coll. with Dr. Virpi Lummaa, University of Sheffield, UK)
  • The role of paternity uncertainty for mate preferences (in coll. with Dr. Michel Raymond, University of Montpellier, France)



PUBLICATIONS

Alvergne, A., Gibson., M., Gurmu., E., Mace, R (2011). Social transmission and the spread of modern contraception in rural Ethiopia. PLoS ONE. (In press).

Jokela, M., Alvergne, A., Pollet, T. V., Lummaa, V. (2011) Reproductive behavior and personality traits of the Five Factor model. European Journal of Personality. (In press)

Alvergne, A., Jokela, M., Faurie, C., & Lummaa, V. (2010). Personality and testosterone in men from a high-fertility population. Personality and Individual differences (In press).

Alvergne, A., & Lummaa, V. (2010 ). Response to Carere et al. Human mate preference: inconsistency between data and interpretations. Trends in Ecology and Evolution (In press).

Alvergne, A., Jokela, M., & Lummaa, V. (2010). Personality and reproductive sucess in a high fertility human population. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 107(26), 11745-11750.

Alvergne, A., Faurie, C. and Raymond, M. (2010). Are parents' perceptions of offspring facial resemblance consistent with actual resemblance ? Effects on parental investment. Evolution and Human Behaviour, 31:7-15.

Celerier, A., Huchard, E., Alvergne, A., Fejan, D., Plard, F., Cowlishaw, G., Raymond, M. and Bonadonna, F (2010).  Detective mice assess relatedness in baboons inquiring into olfactory clues. Journal of Experimental Biology, In press

Alvergne, A. & E. Huchard, et al. (2010). "More than friends? Behavioural and genetic aspects of heterosexual associations in wild chacma baboons." Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology, 64 (5): 769-781

Alvergne, A., Lummaa, V. (2009). Does the contraceptive pill alter mate choice in humans? Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 25 (3): 171-179

Alvergne, A., Faurie, C., Raymond, M., (2009). Variation in testosterone levels and male reproductive effort: insight from a polygynous human population. Hormones and Behavior, 56, 494-497.

Alvergne, A., Faurie, C., Raymond, M., (2009). Father–offspring resemblance predicts paternal investment in humans. Animal Behaviour, 78: 61-69.

Alvergne A., Oda, R. Faurie, C. Matsumoto-Oda, A. Durand, V. and Raymond, M., (2009). Cross-cultural perceptions of facial resemblance between kin. Journal of Vision 9(6):23, 1–10.

Alvergne A., Huchard, E. Caillaud, D. Charpentier, M.J.E. Setchell, J. M. Ruppli, C. Féjan, D. Martinez, L. Cowlishaw, G. and Raymond, M., (2009). Human ability to visually recognize kin within primate. International Journal of Primatology, 30: 199-210

Huchard, E., Benavides, J. A., Setchell, J. M., Charpentier, M. J. E., Alvergne, A., King, A. J., Knapp, L. A., Cowlishaw, G., Raymond, M. (2009). Studying shape in sexual signals: the case of primate sexual swellings, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 63:1231-1242

Alvergne A., Faurie, C., Raymond, M. (2008). Developmental plasticity of human reproductive development: Effects of early family environment in modern-day France. Physiology and Behavior, 95: 625-632.

Alvergne A., Faurie, C., Raymond, M. (2007). Differential facial resemblance of young children to their parents: Who do children look like more? Evolution and Human Behavior, 28 (2) 135-144.

Faurie C., Alvergne A., Goldberg M., Hercberg S., Zins M. & Raymond M. (2006). Comparison of left- and right-handers for various estimators of the reproductive success in two large cohorts of French adults: SU.VI.MAX and GAZEL. Evolution and Human Behavior, 27 (6), 457-472


TALKS IN INTERNATIONAL CONGRESSES

  • International Behavioral Ecology Congress, Perth, Australia (2010)
  • Annual conference of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Eugene, USA (2010)
  • Annual conference of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Kyoto, Japan (2008)
  • Annual conference of the European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association, Montpellier, France (2008)
  • 2nd congress of the European Federation of Primatology, Pragues, Czech Republic (2007)
  • Annual conference of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Williamsburg, USA (2007)
  • Annual conference of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Philadelphia, USA (2006)
  • Annual conference of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Berlin, Germany (2004)


INVITED SEMINARS

  • Workshop on “Applied evolutionary anthropology: Darwinian approaches to contemporary world issues”, University of Bristol (2011)
  • Department of Anthropology, University of Davis, USA (2011)
  • Interdisciplinary Workshop on “Contemporary childbearing and evolutionary theory”, University of Oxford (2011)
  • Department of Psychology, University of Aberdeen (2011)
  • Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge (2011)
  • Department of Anthropology, University College London (2011)
  • Annual conference of the European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association, Wroclaw, Poland (2010) (Plenary talk).
  • Department of Anthropology, University College London, UK (2009)
  • School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, UK (2009)
  • Department of Plant and Animal Sciences, Sheffield, UK (2009)
  • Lab of Genetics and Evolution of plant populations, University of Lille, France (2008)
  • Institute of Evolutionary Sciences, Montpellier, France (2008)
  • Institute for Research and Development (IRD), Montpellier, France (2008)
  • Scientific meeting of the GAZEL cohort, Paris, France (2006)  



AWARDS

  • European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association (EHBEA). Award for New Investigator 2010.
  • Awarded Fellowships: Newton International Fellowship (Royal Society of London and British Academy, 2009-2011), PhD National Dissertation Fellowship (French Ministry of Research, 2005-2008).


PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

Associate Editor - Acta Ethologica - (http://www.springer.com/life+sciences/behavioural/journal/10211)

External Referee - Journals include: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, Evolution and Human Behavior, Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, Perception, Acta Ethologica, Human Nature, Journal of Evolutionary biology, Hormones and Behaviour,

Conference organisation

  •     London Evolutionary Research Network, 2010/2011 – Treasurer (http://londonevolution.net/)
  •     “Third Ecology and Behaviour meeting”, Montpellier, France (13 - 16 March 2007) – Event coordinator