Thierry Lodé

Thierry Lodé (born 1956) is a French biologist and professor who teaches evolutionary ecology in the CNRS Units ETHOS (Ethology, Evolution, Ecology, University of Rennes 1, France). As vice president of council for natural and biodiversity preservation, Lodé contributes in conservation biology, chiefly carnivores (otters, polecat, mink etc…) and aquatic fauna (beaver, amphibians).

His work deals mainly with sexual conflict, stressing that sexuality appears as a confrontation between males and females. "No norms, he said, no exclusive behaviors exist in natural sexuality but variations of sexual behaviors, from homosexuality to polygyny". Resulting in an antagonistic co-evolution, the sexual conflict leads to speciation i.e., the development of new species.

Lodé wrote more than 80 international scientific papers (in English) and three books.

Scientific conceptions

Thierry Lodé analysed the beauty as a result of the supra-normal stimulus in evolution and built a theory including bilateral symmetry and supra-normal stimulus from the concept developed by Lorenz. Lodé said that bilateral symmetry is an essential characters in life. Most animals prefer to mate with sexual partners exhibiting symmetric pattern. Actually, symmetric traits are largely altered by growth and health, and asymmetry often reveals genetic problem or immune system (MHC) deficiencies.

Besides, the French kiss consists in a saliva exchange resulting from the exploration of the sexual partner’s immune responses (MHC). He stresses that the divergences which occur resulting from the conflict could lead to sympatric speciation. Arguing that evolution is a historic process for adaptation, he opposes creationism, including intelligent design. Finally, analyzing numerous animal strategies, Thierry Lodé denies some major genetic explications in sociobiology and behavioral ecology, especially regarding kin selection, homosexuality and sympatric speciation.

Thierry Lodé proposed that the sexual conflict, as a new paradigm in evolutionary biology, provides valuable information that refutes most of common places arguments for theories of preference in sexual selection.

Social engagement

Thierry Lodé is a nonconformist biologist, engaged in social struggles and extolling a libertarian biology. Thierry Lodé championed also several human rights causes, especially as an anarchist, prison abolition. He developed activities for the liberty of the contraception, asserting that he is against the institution of the marriage, for the equality between sexes and for a sexuality stamping contemporary taboos. He supported José Bové to the last French presidential elections and collaborates to the monthly Le Monde libertaire and to the anarchist newspaper l’Endehors.

Books

• Thierry Lodé "La guerre des sexes chez les animaux, une histoire naturelle de la sexualité" 2006 Eds Odile Jacob ISBN 2-7381-1901-8 (Preface by Patricia Adair Gowaty. Distinguished Research Professor Odum School of Ecology University of Georgia.

• Thierry Lodé "Les stratégies de reproduction des animaux" 2001 Éditions Dunod Masson Sciences
• Thierry Lodé "Génétique des populations" 1998 Editions Ellipses

References

• Thierry Lodé et al. 2004 Sex-biased predation by polecats influences the mating system of frogs. Proc Roy Soc 271 (S6):S399-S401
• Bifolchi A & Lodé Thierry 2005 Efficiency of conservation shortcuts: a long term investigation with otters as umbrella species. Biological Conservation 126: 523-527
• Thierry Lodé 2001. Genetic divergence without spatial isolation in polecat Mustela putorius populations. Journal of Evolutionary Biology.14 : 228-236

External links

• CNRS Three questions to Thierry Lodé
• Animal ecology and polecat project
• EnDehors Texts by Thierry Lodé
• A paper in the famous French Hebdo Marianne
• Le Monde libertaire
• Las siete virtudes del amor libre