Pauline Costes

My thesis aims to quantify and explain the variability of elephant trunk behaviour using ethology and biomechanics. In other words, whether at individual, population or species level, can the performance of the trunk, in terms of manipulation, be explained by its behaviour, shape, trajectory, speed or strength? To answer this question, interdisciplinary procedures are used to acquire and analyse data. This project will enrich the discussion around fundamental biological and ecological questions. At the end of the project, thanks to a transfer of knowledge to bio-inspired robotics, all this new data will help to design a prototype prehensile trunk capable of reproducing the movement of the elephant trunk.