Recent climate change is a major threat for conservation of amphibian diversity, the most endangered group of vertebrates. Species distribution models derived from functional traits have been proposed to provide more robust predictions of future climate-induced shifts in environmental suitability than commonly used correlative models. The proposed project aims, for the first time, to examine species vulnerability to climate change through a novel integration of two scientific disciplines, bioacoustics and biogeography, thanks to the use of new tools in acoustic monitoring, signal processing and species distribution modelling. We will first explore how a key and environment-dependent behavioural trait in amphibian anurans (i.e., reproductive calling behaviour) responds across climatic gradients and subsequently expand these findings into larger temporal and spatial scales through mechanistic approach at two levels of organisation, species and community. The MSCA is proposed as a 3-year GF. One of the most cited research groups in ecology (UFG) will host the fellow during the outgoing phase in Brazil, where data collection, first analyses, and training in biogeography will be conducted. The third year of return to the host organisation in France, with a leading group in bioacoustics and signal processing (MNHN), will be devoted to training in acoustic diversity indices, software development, and most transfer and dissemination activities. The MSCA will enable the fellow to be one of the first researchers with expertise in both bioacoustics and biogeography and hence will open up the best career possibilities for him and new collaboration opportunities for the host organisations. As the first using this novel approach, the MSCA is expected to provide advances in these two disciplines as well as to promote new scientific pathways. A series of outreach activities will also contribute to public education and awareness of amphibian decline and climate change threats.

The development of agriculture and the domestication of animals has influenced past human diet up to the modern food industry. Archaeology contributes to enriching our knowledge of past societies, including the exploitation of natural resources by human groups and adaptation to various environments. Human societies associated with the beginnings of agriculture and domestication began in the Neolithic. Recent bioarchaeological studies have highlighted the role of the Zagros mountains (Iran) in the dynamics of plant and animal domestication in the Near East and their spread eastwards. This region has also witnessed the development of nomadic pastoralism throughout its history. Nonetheless, the overall subsistence strategy and beginnings of milk exploitation by these early pastoralists are not yet understood, due to the lack of analysis of absorbed food residue from pottery and difficulties in dating the mobile camps in this area. VARGAH (“mobile camps” in Persian) aims to fill the gaps in our understanding of the development of agriculture and animal management in Iranian archaeology by (1) paleodietary reconstruction, using ancient proteins preserved in human dental calculus and lipid residues preserved in pottery vessels, (2) resolving the chronology using bone collagen dating and compound-specific radiocarbon dating of lipid residues and (3) contextualisation of pastoralism through the comparison of sedentary and mobile groups. This project is based on a synergy between advances in analytical chemistry applied to archaeometry (fellow), cutting-edge expertise in Iranian archaeology and biomolecular geochemistry (host), and advances in 14C geochronology measurements (secondment). VARGAH will provide robust answers on early pastoralism in a region central to our understanding for agricultural development. The project will also enable the fellow to reach an idependant leading position by developping sought-after expertise linking archaeology, chemistry and geosciences.

Mercury emission into the environment is a globally relevant issue because exposure to mercury represents a significant threat to humans and biodiversity worldwide. Now more than ever, we need to understand how will exposure to mercury contamination affect life history traits of wildlife. SUPREME aims to investigate for the first time the consequences of mercury exposure in seabirds with a particular focus on physiological traits and susceptibility to viral diseases, a topic that clearly deserve further investigations given the dramatic rise in mercury contamination and the likely increase of infectious diseases occurrence in the years to come. The project aims to address two main objectives: i) assess to which extent mercury exposure causes physiological dysfunction and facilitates the manifestation of the disease and ii) determine whether mercury accumulation and viral disease accelerate telomere shortening. The existing high levels of mercury and the annual viral outbreaks that cause the mortality of almost all seabird chicks in the study site (a small island in French Guiana, South America) exploit an unprecedented opportunity to investigate a topic that remains largely unexplored. Not only SUPREME will combine the collection of longitudinal (within-individual variation over time) with experimental data, but will benefit from hundreds of blood samples (i.e. 413) collected by myself from 2015 to 2017. SUPREME has an extra value in terms of conservation because it will be carried out on a colony of Magnificent frigatebirds that is considered one of the most important of South America, acting as a genetic bridge among Brazilian and Caribbean colonies. Never has it been more crucial to liase with competent authorities to implement regulatory measures to limit mercury emission into the environment. SUPREME aims to also reach this objective by demonstrating the impact of environmental contaminants on wildlife health and by transferring the results to local authorities

The worldwide decline of large herbivores threatens ecological and socioeconomic functions of ecosystems. With only ~100 000 remaining individuals, African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) are most at risk due to the surge in poaching for ivory. In line with the sustainable development goals defined by the United Nations in 2015 (Target 15.7), the ForSE project aims at improving our understanding of forest elephant space use patterns to better guide anti-poaching actions. We propose to carry out this project under a 24 months MSCA IF at the MNHN in Paris in close collaboration with the ANPN in Gabon. Unlike its well-studied relative, the savannah elephant, very little is known on how the African forest elephant deals with human presence. The ForSE project propose, based on fine scale analyses of space use of collared forest elephants and existing information on poaching pressure, to 1) identify correlated suites of space use traits – Spatial Behavioural Strategies (SBS) – and validate their use as poaching pressure proxies ; 2) identify space use traits associated with a heightened mortality risk and identify collared elephants at risk; 3) Develop an interactive tool for decision support based on the results of objectives 1 and 2; 4) Disseminate these results to improve anti-poaching actions. The ForSE project will contribute to the researcher career goal to conduct long-term research programs in a strong interplay with conservation organizations to better guide conservation actions and contribute to the fight against biodiversity collapse.

Human beings have been credited with unparalleled capabilities for digital prehension grasping. However, given the single evolutionary origin of humans and the unique anatomical features they possess, quantitative tests of evolutionary scenarios remain difficult. Moreover, functional inferences based on fragmentary fossil material are often problematic. However, grasping behavior is widespread among tetrapods, thus providing an excellent context for testing hypotheses concerning the origin of manipulation and grasping. The propensity to grasp, and the anatomical characteristics that underlie it, appear in all of the major groups of tetrapods. Although some features are common to all tetrapods, other features, such as opposable digits and tendon morphology, appear to have evolved independently in many lineages. Although recent papers have reviewed the state of the art on grasping, a holistic study including the whole forelimb and its behavioral context in locomotion and manipulation is currently lacking. The goal of the present project is to provide an integrative approach that examines the occurrence of grasping behavior, the anatomy and function of the forelimb, and the evolution of grasping across the three major tetrapod clades that show manual grasping abilities: mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. Within each clade I will compare and contrast the use of the forelimb, its anatomy, and its function in both arboreal and terrestrial animals to test the hypothesis of an arboreal origin of grasping and manipulation capacity. I will study the use of the hand and the forelimb in the context of locomotion and object/food manipulation to understand the relations between anatomy, function and ecology. To do so, I will use state-of-the-art approaches to quantify the anatomy (µCT scanning, 3D geometric morphometrics), the function (pressure and force measurements, 3D kinematics and biomechanical models), and the evolution of these traits in an explicit phylogenetic context.