the Amazon rainforest

Peer reviewed articles (* co-first authorship)

Manuscripts in review and in prep

  • Poirier AC, Kulick NK, Petersdorf M, Kücklich M, Romero Morales S, Weiß BM, Wiesner C, Chapoy N, Téllez Arias W, Widdig A, Beehner JC, Melin AD & Jack KM. The scent of an alpha male: longitudinal effects of male dominance rank change on urinary chemicals in wild capuchin monkeys (Cebus imitator). Submitted to Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.

  • Akhtar MS, Kulich NK, Poirier AC, Galán Plana C, Romero Morales S, Benson GW, Chaves-Cordero C, Orkin JD, Widdig A, Jack KM & Melin AD. Genetic and behavioural repertoires in support of social olfactory communication in wild capuchin monkeys. In prep.

  • Luzardo AC*, Poirier AC*, Moreira LAA, DePasquale AN, Nguyen LMN, Nevo O & Melin AD. Which fruit traits correlate reliably with sugar content, and does this vary with dispersal syndrome? In prep.

Published articles

  • Roberts SC, Damon F, Durand K, Havlíček J, Kourtis D, Langford B, Sorokowska A, Sorokowski P, Swanson V, Williams J, Arnoldi-Meadows T, Brimaud D, Dlouhá D, Jelínková L, Kaňková S, Kapicová L, Poirier AC, Roberts K, Sander J, Schwambergová D, Silvestri M, Wang N, Simon E & Schaal B (2025). Breastfeeding, bonding, and olfaction: unlocking the potential of mother-infant odour exchange. EBioMedicine. DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2025.106086

  • Carboni S, Poirier AC, Peralta-Aguilar AP, Watsa M, Erkenswick GA & Melin AD (2025). The scent gland microbiomes of wild tamarins provide new insight into microbial contributions to olfactory communication. Ecology and Evolution.DOI: 10.1002/ece3.72335

  • Poirier AC, Kulick NK, Romero Morales S, Kücklich M, Weiß BM, Birkemeyer C, Widdig A, Melin AD & Jack KM (2025). Urine washing and urinary odour profiles in relation to dominance rank status in wild male capuchin monkeys (Cebus imitator). Royal Society Open Science.DOI: 10.1098/rsos.250608

  • Chapoy N, Alvarez-Garita M, Howard E, Cejalvo Insausti B, Kulick NK, Marinaro M, Mendez HA, Romero Morales S, Petersdorf M, Poirier AC, Sandoval R, Severino G, Téllez Arias W, Widdig A, Melin A & Jack KM (2025). Dominance rank, facial morphology and testes size in male white-faced capuchins: evidence for pre- and post-mating competition. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2025.0645

  • Fernandes A, Poirier AC, Veilleux CC, Melin AD (2024). Contributions and future potential of animal models for geroscience research on sensory systems. GeroScience. DOI: 10.1007/s11357-024-01327-5

  • Poirier AC & Melin AD (2024). Smell throughout the life course. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews. DOI: 10.1002/evan.22030

  • Watsa M, Tirapelle C, Poirier A, Sacco A, Peralta-Aguilar P, Robakis E, Raghunandan I & Erkenswick G (2023). Handling and Sampling Small Nonhuman Primates - ISL Peru. protocols.io. DOI: 10.17504/protocols.io.5qpvor1exv4o/v1

  • DePasquale AN, Poirier AC, Mah MA, Villalobos-Suarez C, Guadamuz A, Chevez Hernandez S, Navarro Lopez R, Hogan JD, Rothman JM, Nevo O & Melin AD (2023). Picking pithy plants: pith selectivity by wild white-faced capuchin monkeys, Cebus imitator. American Journal of Primatology. DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23549

  • Poirier AC, Dunn JC, Watsa M, Erkenswick GA, Melin AD, Waterhouse JS & Smith AC (2022). Olfactory communication in tamarins: a comparative analysis of scents from wild and captive tamarin populations. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research. DOI: 10.19227/jzar.v11i1.652

  • Tang J*, Poirier AC*, Duytschaever G, Moreira LAA, Nevo O & Melin AD (2021). Assessing urinary odours across the oestrous cycle in a mouse model using portable and benchtop gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Royal Society Open Science, 8(9), 210172. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.210172

  • Poirier AC, Waterhouse JS, Dunn JC & Smith AC (2021). Scent marks signal species, sex and reproductive status in tamarins (Saguinus spp., Neotropical primates). Chemical Senses, March, 1-10. DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjab008

  • Poirier AC, Waterhouse JS, Dunn JC & Smith AC (2021). Temporal stability of primate scent samples. SN Applied Sciences, 3(4), 456. DOI: 10.1007/s42452-021-04455-1

  • Poirier AC, Waterhouse, JS, Watsa M, Erkenswick GA, Moreira LAA, Tang J, Dunn JC, Melin AD & Smith AC (2021). On the trail of primate scent signals: field analysis of tamarin scent-gland semiochemistry by portable gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. American Journal of Primatology, 83(3), 1-12. DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23236

  • Souza-Alves JP, Mouthe I, Hilario RR, ..., Poirier AC, ... & Barnett AA (2019). Terrestrial behavior in titi monkeys (Callicebus, Cheracebus and Plecturocebus): Potential correlates, patterns and differences between genera. International Journal of Primatology, 1-20. DOI: 10.1007/s10764-019-00105-x

  • Watsa M, Erkenswick G, Halloran D, Kane EK, Poirier A, Klonoski K, ... & Zuniga A (2015). A Field Protocol for the Capture and Release of Callitrichids. Neotropical Primates, 22(2), 59–68.

Conference presentations

  • Poirier AC, Kulick NK, Romero Morales S, Kücklich M, Weiß BM, Birkemeyer C, Widdig A, Melin AD & Jack KM. ‘Urine washing and urinary odor profiles in relation to dominance rank status in wild male capuchin monkeys (Cebus imitator)’. 20th Congress of the International Primatology Society, Antananarivo, Madagascar

  • Poirier AC, Kulick NK, Romero Morales S, Kücklich M, Weiß BM, Birkemeyer C, Widdig A, Melin AD & Jack KM. ‘Dominance effects on urine-washing and urinary odour profiles in wild male capuchin monkeys (Cebus imitator)’ (2024). 16th Meeting of the Chemical Signals in Vertebrates group, Frankfurt, Germany. Oral presentation and session chair.

  • Poirier AC. ‘Sniffing out primate scent communication: field techniques’ (2023). Conference “Ecology, Biology, Health and Behavior of White-Faced Capuchins: Celebrating and Promoting Longitudinal Research and Conservation", Costa Rica. Oral presentation and session chair.

  • Poirier AC, Dunn JC, Watsa M, Erkenswick GA, Melin AD, Waterhouse JS & Smith AC. ‘Chemical communication in callitrichids (South American primates): insights from captive and wild populations’ (2023). 52nd meeting of the Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Leipzig, Germany. Oral presentation.

  • Poirier AC, Luzardo AC & Melin AD. Fruit odor signals and animal-plant coevolution’ (2022). Joint meeting of the International Primatological Society and the Latin American Society of Primatologists, Quito, Ecuador. Oral presentation (virtual).

  • Poirier AC, Dunn JC, Watsa M, Erkenswick GA, Melin AD, Waterhouse JS & Smith AC. Captivity and communication: Comparative analysis of scents from wild and captive tamarins’ (2021). 15th Meeting of the Chemical Signals in Vertebrates group, Dijon, France. Oral presentation (virtual).

  • Poirier AC, Waterhouse, JS, Dunn JC & Smith AC. Sniffing out primate scent communication’ (2018). 9th European Conference on Behavioural Biology, Liverpool, UK. Poster presentation.

  • Poirier AC, Waterhouse, JS, Watsa M, Erkenswick GA, Moreira LAA, Tang J, Dunn JC, Melin AC & Smith AC. Sniffing out primate scent signals: the first field analysis of callitrichine scents by portable GC-MS’ (2018). Primate Society of Great Britain Spring meeting, Portsmouth, UK. Oral presentation.

  • Poirier AC, Waterhouse, JS, Watsa M, Erkenswick GA, Moreira LAA, Tang J, Dunn JC, Melin AC & Smith AC. First field analysis of primate scents using a portable GCMS’ (2017). 14th Meeting of the Chemical Signals in Vertebrates group, Cardiff, UK. Oral presentation.

  • Poirier AC, Waterhouse, JS, Dunn JC & Smith AC. Making sense of scents: deciphering primate olfactory communication (2017). Anglia Ruskin Faculty of Science & Technology research conference, Chelmsford, UK. Poster presentation.