Eric Vallet

Professor


Phone : (33)1.40.97.74.83
Mail : Eric.Vallet@parisnanterre.fr

Research interests

The thematic axe on which my research has been developed in close collaboration with Michel Kreutzer, Laurent Nagle and a number of foreign specialists, is that of Acoustic Preferences in Female Songbirds. We chose the common canary as a model for this research. This species has shown to be an ideal model for pinpointing, within complex songs, vocalizations having an important sexual value, neuronal substrates involved in the emitter's and the receiver's discrimination abilities and also peripheral restraints at various levels of the emitter's acoustic-respiratory apparatus. Thanks to recent advances on this model, numerous collaborations have been carried out, notably with Roderick Suthers (University of Bloomington, USA) and Manfred Gahr (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands), in order to test the legitimacy of certain of our observations in other songbird species and to isolate the physiological mechanisms involved in these vocalizations. I have also recently found an interest in the common canary's social status in relation to mate choice, using behavioral, hormonal, and vocal indicators.

Collaborations

Roderick Suthers
Université de Bloomington
USA

Manfred Gahr
Université d'Amsterdam
Pays-Bas

Selection of Publications (past ten years)

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

Suthers, R.A., Vallet, E., Tanvez, A. & Kreutzer, M. 2004. Bilateral song production in domestic canaries. Journal of Neurobiology, 60, issue 3, 381-393.

Parisot, M., Nagle, L., Vallet, E. & Kreutzer, M. 2004. Dominance-related foraging in female domesticated canaries under laboratory condition. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 82, 1246-1250.

Parisot, M., Vallet, E., Nagle, L. & Kreutzer, M. 2002. Male canaries discriminate among songs : Call rate is a reliable measure. Behaviour, 139, 55-63.

Nagle, L., Kreutzer, M. & Vallet, E. 2002. Adult female canaries respond to male song by calling. Ethology, 107, 1-10.

Kreutzer, M., Beme, I. ,Vallet, E. & Kiosseva, L. 1999. Social stimulation modulates the use of the "A" phrase in male canary songs. Behaviour, 136,1325-1334


Updated on 11 mars 2009