Dr Lottie Hosie
Senior Lecturer
My research focuses on applying behavioural understanding to both the welfare of animals and their conservation.
Whilst undertaking a Biological Sciences degree at the University of Leicester, compulsory attendance at a research seminar sparked a now long-standing interest in the sex lives of amphibians. Asking the seminar speaker why there was no research on the role of females led me, a few months later, to the Open University to undertake my PhD on sexual motivation and mate choice in female newts.
With Professor Tessa Smith, I currently lead a research team working on the evaluation of best practice for the husbandry of the African clawed toad. The species has been kept in laboratories around the world for decades but little work has been done to ensure best welfare conditions for these animals. This work is funded by a prestigious NC3Rs grant - one of the first to fund amphibian welfare research. Our team is also currently developing welfare assessment tools to improve conservation of amphibians in captive breeding work and in the field.
Applied Animal Behaviour publication
Black or white? The effect of tank background on the welfare of laboratory frogs (Xenopus Laevis). 2016. News Item on NC3Rs.
Welch, M. J., Smith, T., Hosie, C., Wormell, D., Price, E., & Stanley, C. R. (2020). Social Experience of Captive Livingstone’s Fruit Bats (Pteropus livingstonii). Animals, 10(8), 1321.
Holmes AM, Emmans CJ, Coleman R, Smith TE, Hosie CA 2018. Effects of transportation, transport medium and re-housing on Xenopus laevis (Daudin). General and Comparative Endocrinology. Available online 12 March 2018.
Holmes AM, Emmans CJ, Jones N, Coleman R, Smith TE, Hosie CA (2016). Impact of tank background on the welfare of the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis (Daudin). Applied Animal Behaviour Science.