Graduated in Biology at the University Paul Sabatier in Toulouse, Florent Rivals received his PhD in Prehistory from the University of Perpignan (France) in 2002. In 2004, with the support of a grant from the French ministry of Foreign Affairs, he completed a postdoctoral research at the American Museum of Natural History. In 2005, he was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the Humboldt Foundation at the University of Hamburg (Germany). He was appointed ICREA Junior Researcher (2007 to 2012) at the Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES) in Tarragona and since October 2013, he is ICREA Research Professor at the same institution. He participates in several national and international projects, among them the "NEANDERLIFE 2” project funded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. F. Rivals is co-author of about 80 peer-reviewed articles in international journals.

Research interests

Florent Rivals has a primary research interest in evolutionary paleoecology and the ecological context of evolution. The analysis of mammalian fauna from Plio-Pleistocene sites provides the framework for studying the evolution of hominins. His research focuses on the impact of climate-driven environmental changes on hominins, and Neanderthals in particular. Examining mammal teeth, such as bison, deer, horse and mammoth, under a microscope and looking at the marks left by the food they ate (known as the last supper phenomenon), provides insight into the habitats they roamed just before they died. The changes in diet over thousands of years are used to reconstruct ancient environments, to track shifts related to climatic changes, and to understand hominin behavioral strategies in different ecological settings. Beyond Europe, his research is also recently focussing on the Near East (Levant) and Africa (Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Morocco).