Florence Landry - Primatology
Florence Landry is a doctoral student in primatology and biological anthropology at the Université de Montréal. Passionate about the study of primate behavior, she has conducted research on black-and-white colobus monkeys in Uganda and olive baboons in Kenya. Her work focuses on collective movements and group decision-making within primate societies, seeking to understand the mechanisms underlying these complex behaviors. In parallel, Florence is also exploring how interactions between the gut microbiome and child development influence health. This interdisciplinary approach aims to provide new insights into the role of the microbiome in human development.
Project: The movements of Angola's black and white colobus monkeys: How can they be and explain them?
"Wild animals must travel long distances every day to meettheir daily needs. Movement is therefore a necessary activity that involves, in social species, group decision-making, following a trajectory to meet a specific need, and coordinated movement. Movement can be direct, i.e. from point A to point B, or segmented. A segmented movement includes several small movements that follow each other to achieve the initial objective of the movement. Several factors can influence movements and the form they take (i.e. direct or segmented, duration, etc.), for example, the number of individuals, resource availability or competition with other groups. This project will explore the movements of a population of Angola black-and-white colobus from Uganda. This colobus species forms what is known as a multi-level society. This type of society is characterized by several units that come together to form clans that join to form a band. Students will therefore have the chance to use behavioral data to explore mammalian movement in this particular social context, and to investigate the influences of a multi-level society on the movement of the groups that make it up."