Centre of Taxonomy and Evolutionary Research (ZTE)

The parasitoid wasp superfamily Ceraphronoidea - with two families Ceraphronidae and Megaspilidae - is considered one of the less species-rich superfamilies of the often megadiverse parasitoid wasps (only ca. 600 species described worldwide). However, we hypothesize that the species diversity of the group is severely underestimated. To shed some light on the true diversity of Ceraphronoidea, we study the species of selected localities of subsaharan Africa, mostly from Kenya and Tanzania.

Duikers (Bovidae, Artiodactyla) are notoriously hard to classify, and several competing species definitions have been proposed. Using 3D geometric morphometrics we aim at investigating the morhological diversity of duiker skulls, evaluating the competing species definitions from a morphometric perspective.

The fungal order Laboulbeniales contains more than 2000 species which are all obligate epibionts of arthropods. They have their entire life cycle on the host’s cuticule. We are using a combination of light microscopy, scanning-electron microscopy and micro-computer tomography to study new taxonomic characters in Laboulbeniales living on millipedes and insects. Collaboration with Ana Sofia Reboleira and Henrik Enghoff, both Natural History Museum of Denmark, and Sergi Santamaria, Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona.

In collaboration with the German NABU the ZFMK has been an active partner to initiate a large joint project to understand drivers of insect decline, the DINA project (2019-2022). The goal of the project is to assess and monitor the insect fauna in 21 selected Nature-protected areas using a Malaise trap transect approach. A particular goal of this project is to demonstrate the power of metabarcoding for the rapid and efficient assessment of the insect fauna relying on the GBOL database. Additionally to the insect fauna, landscape parameters including anthropogenic influence will be recorded.

The goal of this project is to infer a phylogeographical hypothesis of a selected group of Lepidoptera, the subtribe Pronophilina, based on comprehensive phylogenetic and distributional data, and by doing so, to propose spatial and temporal patterns for the evolution of Andean faunas. The hypothesis is that the study group evolved in South America, and that its radiation is congruent with the uplift of the Andes and changing paleoclimates, hence with the availability of suitable habitats in South and continental Central America. ​

The bristle millipedes (Penicillata: Polyxenida) differ from all other millipedes (Diplopoda) by possessing a non-calcified cuticle, trichobothria and bristles arranged in tufts. In all present phylogenetic analyses the Polyxenida are retrieved as sistertaxa to all remaining millipedes. Therefore, understanding the morphology of bristle millipedesis essential for our understanding of the millipede evolution.

natural scientist's sketch

In this project we study if there is a way to identify the sexes of juvenile Rose-ringed Parakeets on grounds of morphological characters.

Building a reference database of DNA barcodes for the Lake Sevan drainage basin

The interdisciplinary joint project INPEDIV is funded for 3 years by the Leibniz Competition (March 2019 – February 2022). The aim of this study is to investigate consequences of organic and conventional farming for biodiversity in protected areas. By use of traditional methods and new technologies, we will examine agricultural land use effects on a broad range of plant and animal taxa across trophic levels at study sites in the Rhineland and in Brandenburg.

Chalcidoidea are one of the species-rich groups of parasitoid waps. They show a remarkable diversity in outer appearance and life history and can be found often in high abundance in nearly all terrestrial ecosystems around the world. The evolution of the Chalcidoidea, however, is still unsuffficiently understood. Also, the current classification is not based on natural groups and needs to be revised.

1) Species delimitation of entirely or partially sympatric and taxonomically difficult species complexes in the light of genome-wide data2) Species delimitation under allopatry with no or limited gene flow at present3) Species delimitation of parapatric populations with hybridization zone and reduced gene flow4) Species delimitation in presence of asexuality​

The goal of this project is to assess the Trichoptera diversity in Ghana, and especially of the Ankasa Conservation area. Additionally, we want to generate a reference Barcode library for Ghanean caddisflies, since very few barcodes exists from species occurring in Ghana.

Parnassius apollo (Papilionidae) is an iconic butterfly species with a wide distribution from Spain to China. The distribution is, however, very spotwise, and e.g. in Germany only a few populations remain. It is the only non-tropical butterfly protected under the CITES The goal of this project is to use whole genome sequencing to investigate the genetic diversity of Parnassius apollo across space and time. To do this we will use both fresh and museum specimens collected across the range of the species, and during the last 120 years.

Monitor lizards are the largest living lizards. Although morphologically uniform, monitor lizards show remarkable differences in body size ranging from a mere 20 cm to more than three meters in total length. In addition, they show a wide range of ecological adaptations being terrestrial, arboreal or semi-aquatic. They inhabit Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, South and Southeast Asia as well as the Indo-Australian Archipelago including Australia and several remote Pacific island groups. Today, about 80 different species of monitor lizards are recognised but their diversity is still not completely known with new species being discovered in a regular manner. These remarkable giant reptiles, though of enormous economic importance in the international trade with reptile leather products and pets, as well as for spiritual relationships between human being and nature and as source of protein for the native people in their countries of origin, are an impressive example of our limited knowledge about the global biodiversity. Therefore, it is the intention of this project to remedy this severe deficiency at least partly.

Sulawesi, formerly known as Celebes, is the 11th largest island of the world and represents the largest landmass of the Wallacea biodiversity hotspot in Central Indonesia. Due to its geographic position and spatial isolation, Sulawesi harbours a unique mixture of typical Asian and Australian species with a high degree of endemism. The herpetofauna of Sulawesi has long been neglected despite various contributions by earlier scientists. Therefore, the goal of the project is to enhance our knowledge about the diversity and biology of the amphibians and reptiles of this interesting island.

Pollination is crucial for maintaining angiosperm biodiversity and represents one of the most important ecosystem services. With the increasing threats of massive insect decline, studying pollination and associated networks has become more important than ever. In this study, we target the plant-pollinator networks of two important crops (caraway and apple) using a combination of traditional methods with DNA barcoding and metabarcoding.

Bernstein, fossilisierter Harz, kann wie in einer Zeitkapsel Biodiversität aus einer längst vergangenen Zeitperiode konservieren und erlaubt damit die Erforschung uralter Ökosysteme. Burmesischer Bernstein entstand bereits vor 100 Millionen Jahren während des Zeitalters der Dinosaurier in Waldgebieten welche sich im heutigen Myanmar befinden.

Although blindsnakes include many superlatives, such as the world’s smallest and most widespread living snake species they have largely been neglected in vertebrate research. Nonetheless, they tell a very interesting evolutionary story and – being of Gondwana origin - their relationships track place tectonics better than those of any other vertebrate group.With the help of micro-computer-tomography (µCT) and geometric morphometric analyses we aim to understand the evolution of several morphological characters (e.g. skull, cervical vertebrae, pelvic girdle).

Animal locomotion is replete with examples of elaborate behavioral and morphological novelties that enhance performance. The adhesive apparatus of geckos is one such innovation, permitting locomotion in challenging micro-environments, such as on vertical or inverted smooth surfaces including smooth leaves, bamboo, and banana. This remarkable system generally involves a complex hierarchy of components: setae (microscopic beta-keratin hair-like structures), scansors (expanded digital scales), and modified skeletal elements, muscles and tendons of the foot and other parts of the limb.

The critically endangered Angel Shark (Squatina squatina) has suffered a vast fragmentation of its former distribution range, leaving the Canary Islands as a unique “hotspot” where this Angel Shark can be regularly encountered.

As soil organisms, millipedes have limited dispersal abilities. Probably for this reason are many tropical species restricted to small areas of distribution, with a high-level of species turnover. In the course of this project the Pilbara area in Western Australia will be investigated for its millipede species of the genus Austrostrophus (Spirobolida).

In this project we investigate how we efficiently can use old, dried, museum materil for phylogenomic studies. A hybrid enrichment kit for Lepidoptera is being designed and first test are promising, indicating that hundreds of genes can be successfully seqeunced for over 130 year old material.

In diesem Projekt untersuchen wir die Funktions- und Ökomorphologie der adaptiven Radiation der Sonnenstrahlfische, von der indonesischen Insel Sulawesi. Dabei wollen wir einen besonderen Fokus auf den Kieferapparat und die Ernährungsweise legen. Hierfür werden verschiedene zwei- und dreidimensionale bildgebende Methoden genutzt, um die Unterschiede zwischen den Arten und den Geschlechtern besser darstellen zu können.

In this project we aim at constructing a first comprehensive phylogenetic tree for the oystercatchers (Haematopodidae), a monotypic family of waders with a worldwide distribution, based on mitochondrial genes.

Although millipedes play, as one of the first groups of animals conquering land, a major role in terrestrial ecosystems since more than 400 Million years, the fossil record documenting their evolution and diversity is relatively scarce. This is especially true for the Age of the Dinosaurs, the Mesozoic, from which only slightly more than a dozen fossil forms are known. Burmesian amber from the late Cretaceous gives us insight into the diverse fauna that existed during the reign of the dinosaurs.

Leibniz-Forschungsmuseen stellen erstmals gemeinsam aus: Das Museum Koenig wird vom 08.11.2016 bis zum 30.06.2017 (ebenso wie die anderen sieben Museen der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft) die Sonderausstellung „8 Objekte 8 Museen“ der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft präsentieren.

In the course of this project, a Master OEP student of the University of Bonn will learn how to do an integrative taxonomic description of an animal species. The student will do dissections and prepare samples for an integrative taxonomic description of two species of giant pill-millipedes from Madagascar, including DNA extraction, scanning electron microscopy, and micro-CT scans. The student will be required to thoroughly research the methods and suggest alternatives or modifications of the procedure to improve the results. This study will not only educate the student in doing scietific taxonomic descriptions using a variety a methods. The study is of additional relevance in the age of the international "biodiversity crisis", as rainforests in many countries are removed before their unique fauna can be scientifically named and described.

The main objective of the BMBF-funded project was to establish an international research consortium, consisting mainly of partners from Eastern and South-eastern Europe, in order to apply for funding for a multinational R&D project within the framework of Horizon 2020 or another EU programme.

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Southern Chinca is especially rich in caves. These caves are inhabited by a unique, still little-known fauna, especially diverse are different groups of millipedes. These cave millipedes, all show similar adaptation to the life inside a cave and look vastly different from their close relatives which live in the forests on the surface. Currently, a joint team of researchers from Russia, China and Germany studies general adaptations of millipedes to the life inside caves using comparative morphology.

The main objective of this project will be the study of the species of the family Syrphidae from New Caledonia. Entomological collections will be surveyed to complete the revision of the fauna of this country. I will especially focus on unidentified material in order to study their morphology and to report new species for this country and, ultimately, to find new species to science.

In the course of the GBOL- German Barcode of Life project, most millipede and centipede species of Germany were barcoded. This included the common blind Scolopendromorpha of the genus Cryptops. Here we expected to find three species, two common ones and one recently introduced, for Germany and Central Europe. However, our barcoding results show at least eight species to live in central Europe. Two of those could be identified to species level, represening first records for Germany and Austria.

The INDOBIOSYS project (financed by the BMBF through the Naturkundemuseum Berlin) deals with the integrative inventory of different animal groups at the Halimun-Salak Nationalpark on Java, Indonesia. A special focus lies on a fast inventory combining molecular and morphological data. The aim of the project is an inventory of the biodiversity of the park for the Indonesian state. Successively, pharmaceutical research for relevant substances in the animal taxa can then be conducted.The INDOBIOSYS Myriapoda part of the project will inventorize the millipedes.

Syrphidae, commonly called hover or flower flies, is one of the most diverse families of Diptera very attractive for citizen-scientists. Phylogenetic relationships among its main subfamilies and genera are still not totally understood; especially large genera such as Allobaccha Curran and Asarkina Macquart. This project aims to review both genera in order to describe the new species using new publishing tools, as well as to study their phylogenetic placement among other Syrphidae with the development of a workflow for Ultra-Conserved Elements or Anchored Hybrid Enrichment technique.

Interdisciplinary project on Maria Sibylla Merian and the strategies of visualisation of natural scientific knowledge.

Pill millipedes of the order Glomerida are especially species-rich in Europe. The collection of a conspicuous black pill millipede led after a long literature search to the discovery of the name Glomeris apuana Verhoeff, 1911. This name is apparently forgotten, not mentioned after 1927, and it does not appear in Fauna Europeae, recent Italien species lists, or recent European millipede atlases. Apparently, the species occurs in the Apuan Alps, and area renown for its Carrara Marble. A molecular genetic analysis, as well as a comparison with type material, will now help us to elucidate the status, distribution, and the relationships of this unusual pill millipede species.

Among the pill millipedes of the genus Glomeris only one species whose distribution is restricted to Germany, Glomeris malmivaga, can be found. Only a short time ago was G. malmivaga elevated to the rank of a full species. A genetic analysis of G. malmivaga and other species will now be conducted with the hope to clarify whether G. malmivaga is a true endemic or just a colour morph of a more widespread species of pill millipede.

The pill millipede Glomeris marginata is 'the' model organism inside the Myriapoda. Most embryonic studies, as well as important studies focussing on the development of segmentation (Evo-Devo) use Glomeris marginata as their study object. In this study,using DNA barcode fragments, the phylogeography of G. marginata is studied to get insights into the distribution of different genetic lineagues of the species accross Europe. G. marginata is the only species of Glomeris reaching the North of Europe, such as Great Britain, southern Skandinavia and northern Germany.

Rictal bristles apparently evolved convergently in many different bird families without necessarily having the same function. The aim of this comparative project is to interpret the occurrence of rictal bristles among different bird families in phylogenetic and ecological respect.

Searching for the Golden-Eared Pill-Millipede (Glomeris aurita) - alpine high-altitude endemicsAlready in 2011 came a large collection of pill millipedes (order Glomerida), collected by the spider expert Dr. Axel Schönhofer, into our possession. This collection included an unusual species from northern Italy, collected from alpine meadows, an unusual habitat for millipedes which are usually found in forests.

The World Syrphidae Phylogeny (WSP) project is a community effort with the goal to provide the most robust molecular backbone to understand the evolution of the family Syrphidae.

Herpetological project

Erfassung der Fischfauna des Mesangat Feuchtgebietes, Kalimantan Timur, Indonesien

The project explores the Speciation of these archaic beetles that survived since Tertiary only on the ancient islands rifting on the Thyrrenian sea.

The Holometabola are the insects with complete metamorphosis (larva, pupa, adult) and comprise > 60% of the described animal species. The project aims at solving the open questions in the phylogeny of the group, in order to get a better understanding of t

Biogeography of endemic taxa in the Mata Atlantica and in the Amazon Basin.

As part of the activities of the "Heterocera Sumatrana Society", dealing with all kinds of moths, all Sumatran species of Geometridae are registered, studied, described and figured. Result will be published in the journal of the HSS.

Longterm Mammal Monitoring since 2000 in a "Forever Wild" protected private forest in central Vermont.

Adaptive radiation of sailfin silversides (Telmatherinidae) in Sulawesi's ancient Malili Lakes.

Ricefish taxonomy.

Exploration of the montane forest of Panay Island.

In collaboration with the specialist of the group, Dr. Guido Sabatinelli (Univ. Rome), we explore the phylogeny of the group for a better understanding of the evolution of pollination in these beetles.

Flower flies are one of the most diverse families of true flies (Diptera). In this project, we will study the biodiversity of flower flies among different habitats in one of the species-richest areas on Earth, the South of Ecuador.

This project will provide better knowledge of the biodiversity of flower flies that occur in the University Park of the UCLA (Lara, Venezuela). In addition, and the biological cycle of the predacious species of Syrphidae will be studied.

In a long-term study, including study visits at European museums lasting several months, all Siberian species of Noctuidae are secured, studied, described and figured. All results will be published as a book-series.

Small Mammal Monitoring for an Iron Ore Mining project in the Putu Mountains of Liberia.

Study of species diversity of shrews in tropical rainforests.

In this pilot project we examine bird eggs of the Museum Koenig’s extensive egg collection using a white light scanner, focusing on a large set of clutches of Common Terns (Sterna hirundo) and Gull-billed Terns (Gelochelidon nilotica).

The Southeast Asian and Pacific genus Holocneminus Berland is here revised for the first time, including analyses of phylogenetic relationships within the genus and with putative close relatives.

While asymmetric genitalia are very common in insects, they are extremely rare in spiders. This project studies a species group of Panjange spiders from the southern Philippines that has only recently been discovered and in which all species have asymmetric genitalia.

detail of tapestry Les deux taureaux, tapestry series Anciennes Indes, 2nd series, after carton of Albert Eckhout, 1689/90, Paris, Collection du Mobilier national

This project is a collaboration together with Dr. Keith Willmott and Dr. Akito Kawahara at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Several studies have shown that the current classification of this group delimitated by Walter Forster in 1964 is problematic and at least half of the around 40 genera are non-monophyletic. To stabilize the higher-level classification we want to generate about 400 loci for 100 species to use as a backbone phylogeny for the group and then add five loci for as many as possible of the remaining ~400 species.

Environmental and biological research is becoming central to major societal challenges related to the Earth’s ecosystems and climate dynamics. To handle the scale and complexity of the scientificquestions being addressed, there is a strong need to integrate knowledge because biological data are currently scattered and difficult to share.

Harvestmen genitalia are often complex structures that vary among species but little is known about their functioning. We investigate mating behavior, genital morphology as well as interactions of male and female genitalia using histology and X-Ray microtomography of cryo-fixed pairs.

AliGROOVE determines and visualizes the content of potentially randomized sequence similarities and alignment ambiguities in multiple sequence alignments.The AliGROOVE algorithm is an adaptation of the recently published ALISCORE masking algorithm (Misof & Misof, 2009, Kück et al., 2010). AliGROOVE summarizes site scores of profiles of sequence similarity normalized over the whole alignment length from each pairwise comparison and translates the obtained scoring distances between sequences into a similarity Matrix

Recent collecting trips in the Brazilian Amazon Forest have revealed an extraordinarily rich pholcid fauna. This project aims at documenting this diversity, at exploring its relationships with the faunas of other South American regions, and at comparing diversity and distribution patterns with those in the Brazilian Amazon.

The status of enigmatic, microendemic pill millipede species of the genus Glomeris in northern Italy (Diplopoda, Glomerida

The thermophilous giant centipede Scolopendra cingulata is a voracious terrestrial predator, which uses its modified first leg pair and potent venom to capture prey. The highly variable species is the most common of the genus in Europe, occurring from Portugal in the west to Iran in the east. The northernmost occurrences are in Hungary and Romania, where it abides in small isolated fringe populations.

In this project we study selected Ethiopian bird species that often are little-known in terms of distribution, lifestyle and threats.

Establishing standards for the preservation of molecular samples and molecular biodiversity.

Assessing the Green Toad in Cologne according to FFH standards

Insects are one of the most species-rich groups of metazoan organisms. They play a pivotal role in most non-marine ecosystems and many insect species are of enormous economical and medical importance. Unraveling the evolution of insects is essential for understanding how life in terrestrial and limnic environments evolved. The 1KITE (1K Insect Transcriptome Evolution) project aims to study the transcriptomes (that is the entirety of expressed genes) of 1,000 insect species encompassing all recognized insect orders. For each species, so-called ESTs (Expressed Sequence Tags) will be produced…

The genus Modisimus has experienced a strong radiation in the Caribbean, but most species remain undescribed. This project is part of a large NSF-Project (PIs: Ingi Agnarsson and Greta Binford) on Caribbean Biogeography.

DNA barcoding the European weevil fauna and building molecular and morphological weevil collections

Less than 30 years ago, an isolated population of thwe dwarf pill millipede genus Trachysphaera was discovered on the English Isle of Wight, which were tentatively identified as T. lobata (Ribaut, 1954), albeit male specimens were lacking (Joes & Keay 1986 ). T. lobata is a species known mainly from SE France (Kime & Enghoff 2011), and is difficult to distinguish from four other little known Trachysphaera species occurring at the Spanish-French border, which are above all the very similar T. pyrenaica (Ribaut, 1907), as well as the little known T. rousseti (Demange, 1959), T.

Freshwater Diversity Identification for Europe: Barcoding all European freshwater fishes, freshwater molluscs and mayflies.

German Vertebrata node of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility