Ludovic Maisonneuve

About me

I am an applied mathematican and an evolutionary biologist. My research mainly involves developing mathematical models to understand how different evolutionary forces shape behaviour. During my PhD, I study the evolution of mate preference targeting maladaptive trait. I am postdoctoral researcher in the Lehmann group at the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Lausanne. I am currently developing a model to investigate the coevolution of genes and culture.

Contact

Email adress: ludovic.maisonneuve.2015[at]polytechnique.org

Evolution of learning strategy

Human survival and reproduction depend strongly on socially learnt information (e.g. locations of food sources, which food are safe to eat, how to build and use tools). Humans’ traits increasing the accumulation of useful information (e.g. cognitive learning abilities, learning bias toward successful individuals) may thus enhance fitness and be promoted by natural selection. We develop mathematical models to understand how selection acts on learning strategy (e.g. proportion of information learned individually vs. socially, from whom to learn).

Conflict between local adaptation and species recognition

Local adaptation favours the fixation of similar traits between different species sharing a similar environment. However, locally-adapted traits can also be implied in mate recognition, so that trait convergence might result in heterospecific courtship and mating leading to a loss of gamete, time and energy. Females preference for non-adapted males may be promoted because it limits heterospecific interaction creating a conflict between natural and sexual selection. We developed a mathematical framework to understand how this conflict may limit local adaptation.

Evolution of disassortative mating

Mating preference can evolve in response to selective forces and can be based on different cues displayed by the sexual partners. Preferences for these cues are favored when they increase the fitness of the offspring produced. Disassortative mating, whereby individuals tend to choose partners with cues that differ from themselves, is generally maladapted because selection in a given environment usually favours (1) locally adapted traits and (2) assortative mate preference based on these specific traits. Our work highlights the evolutionary mechanisms (genetic architecture, relationship genotype/phenotype) allowing the emergence and the persistence of this apparently maladaptive behaviour.

Effect of population network on the evolution of cultural trait

Computers, spaceships and scientific theories have not been invented by single, isolated individuals. Instead, they result from a collective process by which innovations are gradually added to an existing pool of cultural knowledge, most often over multiple generations. The ability to learn from others is pivotal to this process because it allows innovations to be passed from individual to individual and from generation to generation. Understanding how cultural traits emerge and propagate within groups is crucial to explain the evolution of human societies. We develop a mathematically oriented model that draws on individual-based approaches, inhomogeneous Markov chains and learning algorithms to understand the link between population network and cultural evolution.