axelle.gardin[at]umontpellier.fr
Main research question
Specialized in the study of freshwater vertebrates, my research aims to reconstruct ancient aquatic ecosystems, water availability, and seasonal contrasts in intertropical African environments.
I use an interdisciplinary approach combining faunal assemblage analysis, skeletal growth patterns, and isotopic biogeochemistry (δ18O, Δ’17O). I regularly integrate fossil and modern datasets to calibrate environmental proxies.
Topics of study
My current work focuses on:
- Detecting the diversity, and the spatial and temporal structure, of past freshwater ecosystems,
- Developing isotopic approaches to identify past water stress and hydrological refugia,
- Calibrating skeletal growth rhythms in actinopterygian fishes as tracers of seasonal contrasts.
Most of the material I study comes from the Franco-Chadian Paleoanthropological Mission and the Omo Group Research Expedition.
