Gérard Leboucher

Professor
Director of the laboratory

 


Tél. : 01.40.97.74.83
Mail : gerard.leboucher@parisnanterre.fr

Research Interests

Maternal investment in birds

Female reproductive investment in birds depends of various environmental factors such as mate quality. Maternal investment can be measured in multiple ways: maternal behaviour, clutch size or general reproductive success. There are more subtle biases in maternal investment, these effects can occur even before laying. Increasing attention is being paid to components of the egg that are passed from the mother to the yolk. An important group of these components is androgens, mainly testosterone. We study the influence of mate quality and attractiveness on yolk testosterone and the long-term consequences, for the offspring, testosterone deposit in the yolk.



Direction

PhD students : 

Jacquin Lisa 

Ung Davy


Collaborations

Drs. Olivier Chastel & André Lacroix
Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé
CNRS UPR 1934
79360 Beauvoir sur Niort
France.

Dr. Diego Gil
Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva
Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC)
José Gutiérrez Abascal, 2
28006 Madrid
Spain.

G. Malacarne
Università del Piemonte Orientale
via Bellini 25
15100 Alessandria
Italy.


Recent papers

Leboucher G. 2000. Pourquoi et comment les animaux s'occupent-ils de leurs enfants. in : L'attachement, perspectives actuelles, D. Cupa ed., Editions E.D.K., Paris ; p 19-27.

Depraz, V., Leboucher G. & Kreutzer., M. 2000. Song tutoring and adult reproductive behaviour in female domestic canary Serinus canaria. Animal Cognition, 3, 45-51.

Leboucher G., Béguin N., Lacroix, A. & Kreutzer, M. 2000. Progesterone inhibits female courtship behavior in domestic canaries (Serinus canaria). Hormones and Behavior, 38, 123-129.

Gil, D., Leboucher G., Lacroix, A., Cue, R., & Kreutzer, M.2004. Female canaries produce eggs with greater amounts of testosterone when exposed to preferred male song. Hormones and Behavior, 45, 64- 70.

Depraz, V., Kreutzer, M. &  Leboucher G.. 2004. Sexual preferences for songs in female domestic canaries (Serinus canaria) : can late song exposure, without social reinforcement, influence the effects of early tutoring ? Acta ethologica, 6, 73-78.

Leboucher G. & Pallot, K. 2004. Is he all he says he is ? Intersexual eavesdropping in the domestic canary, Serinus canaria. Animal Behaviour, 68, 957-963.

Tanvez A., Béguin N., Chastel, O., Lacroix, A. &  Leboucher G. 2004 - Sexually attractive phrases increase yolk androgens deposition in Canaries Serinus canaria. General and Comparative Endocrinology, 138, 113 -120.

Parisot, M., Tanvez, A., Lacroix, A., Vallet, E., Béguin N. &  Leboucher G. 2005 Social competition and plasma testosterone profile in domesticated canaries : An experimental test of the challenge. Hormones and Behavior, 48, 225-232.

Bruckert, L., Liénard, J.S., Lacroix, A., Kreutzer, M. & Leboucher G. 2006 Women use voice parameters to assess men's characteristics. Proceedings of the Royal Society London, B., 273, 83-89.

Béguin N., Leboucher G., Bruckert, L. & Kreutzer, M. 2006. Mate preferences in female canaries (Serinus canaria) within a breeding season. Acta Ethologica, 9, 65-70.

Amy M.,  Leboucher G. Male canaries can visually eavesdrop in conspecific food interactions. 2007. Animal Behaviour, 74, 57-62.

Amy M., Monbureau M., Durand C., Gomez D., Théry M. & Leboucher G. 2008 Female canary mate preferences: differential use of information from two types of male-male interactions. Animal Behaviour, 76, 971-982.

Tanvez A., Parisot M., Chastel O. & Leboucher G. 2008. Does maternal social hierarchy affect yolk testosterone deposition in domesticated canaries? Animal Behaviour, 75, 929-934.

Tanvez A., Amy M., Chastel O. & Leboucher G. 2009. Maternal effects and beta-carotene assimilation in Canary chicks. Physiology & Behavior, 96, 389-393.

Garcia-Fernandez, V., Amy, M., Lacroix, A., Malacarne, G. &  Leboucher G. 2010. Eavesdropping on Male Singing Interactions Leads to Differential Allocation in Eggs. Ethology, 116, 662-670.


Garcia-Fernandez, V., Guasco, B., Tanvez, A., Lacroix, A., Cucco, M., Leboucher G. & Malacarne, G. 2010. Influence of mating preferences on yolk testosterone in the grey partridge. Animal Behaviour,  80, 45-49.

Jacquin, L., Cazelles, B., Prévot-Julliard, A.C., Leboucher, G., Gasparini, J. 2010. Reproduction management affects breeding ecology and reproduction costs in feral urban Pigeons (Columba livia). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 88, 781-787.



Updated on 05 septembre 2011