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Evolutionary Genomics, Bonn

The junior research group "Adaptive Genomics of Sulawesi Ricefishes" was funded by the Leibniz Association from 2017 to 2022. Since 2022, it has been merged into the Evolutionary Genomics Section. Of particular interest in evolutionary biology are phenotypic changes that enable the utilisation of previously unavailable ecological resources (or niches). These traits, often referred to as evolutionary (key) innovations or adaptive breakthroughs, can be complex and result in fundamental changes in the life cycle.

Novel reproductive strategies are particularly interesting in this context, as these often complex adaptations are associated with changes in morphology, physiology and life cycle. The research group is focussing on a particular reproductive strategy, also known as ventral brooding or ventral fin brooding, which has evolved in at least two lineages of the rice fish (Actinopterygii: Adrianichthyidae) of Sulawesi.

In contrast to most other rice fish, which shed their fertilised eggs shortly after spawning, females of bellybrooders carry their eggs until the larvae hatch. The eggs are attached to the female by filaments and anchored in the female by a unique structure called a plug. The plug is a temporary tissue that forms after spawning, is supplied with blood and eventually dissolves after the young have hatched. Other obvious morphological adaptations are an indentation in the abdominal region and elongated pelvic fins, which are only present in breeding females. To investigate the morphological and genomic basis of ventral brooding and the evolution and adaptive value of this novel reproductive strategy, we use a holistic approach combining comparative morphology, gene expression data, genomic data and field data.

Contact person

Dr. Julia Schwarzer

  • Head of Section Evolutionary Genomics

Phone: +49 228 9122 426
E-Mail: j.schwarzer@leibniz-lib.de

Projects

All projects

There are currently no projects available

Publications

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    2026

  • 2026/03

    Lin, W., He, X., Hu, J., Balle, M., Darras, K.F.A., Jing, S., Scherber, C., Toledo-Hernández, M., Yan, Y., Zhang, C., Zeng, S., Wanger, T.C.

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    Pesticides but not microplastics affect pollination in rape seed production in China

    Environmental Research Food Systems, 1, 3

  • 2026/01

    Wan, N., Wang, Y., Fu, L., Liu, J., Woodcock, B.A., Hu, Y., Eskelinen, A., Hector, A., Loreau, M., Hautier, Y., Bardgett, R.D., Kardol, P., Zuppinger-Dingley, D., Fraser, L.H., Bullock, J.M., Nakagawa, S., Shen, S., Xin, F., Shi, D., Li, Z., Zhou, J., Scherber, C.

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    Global evidence that plant diversity suppresses pests and promotes plant performance and crop production

    Nature Ecology & Evolution

  • 2026/01

    Brito, J., Vargas, R., Tinoco, N., García, R., Carrión-Olmedo, J.C., Koch, C., Wistuba, R., Nivelo-Villavicencio, C., Pardiñas, U.F.J.

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    Mountains of diversity: a systematic revision of the Andean rodent genus Oreoryzomys (Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae)

    PeerJ, 14

    • 2025

  • 2025/12

    Jankowiak, Ł., Hoffmann, A., Decher, J., Szkudlarek, M., Eccel, N., Popiel, P., Malinowska, B., Sęk, O., Rychlik, L.

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    Wooden or metal: live-trap type preferences of small mammals in relation to habitat, taxon, and sex

    Mammalian Biology

  • 2025/12

    Deiß, F., Ssymank, A., Caspari, S., Scherber, C.

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    Lack of spatial coordinate information for an important insect order (Lepidoptera) in a Central European country

    Ecosphere, 12, 16

  • 2025/11

    Seralini, G., Jungers, G., Andersen, A., Antoniou, M., Aschner, M., Bacon, M., Bertrand, M., Bohn, T., Bonfleur, M.L., Bücking, E., Defarge, N., Djemil, R., Domingo, J.L., Douzelet, J., Fagan, J., Fournier, T., Garcia, J.L.Y., Gil, S., Hervé-Gruyer, P., Hilbeck, A., Hilty, L., Huber, D., Joyeux, H., Khan, I., Kouretas, D., Lemarchand, F., Loening, U., Longo, G., Mesnage, R., Nikolopoulou, D.I., Panoff, J., Parente, C., Robinson, C., Scherber, C., Sprangers, D., Sultan, C., Tsatsakis, A., Vandelac, L., Wan, N., Wynne, B., Zaller, J.G., Zerrad-Saadi, A., Zhang, X.

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    Scientists’ warning: we must change paradigm for a revolution in toxicology and world food supply

    Environmental Sciences Europe, 1, 37

  • 2025/11

    Cardoso, P., Baker, N.J., Boieiro, M., Bonte, D., Borges, P.A.V., Braby, M.F., Branco, V., Chobanov, D., Correia, L., Dalton, D.T., Damas‐Mora, M., Didham, R.K., Forster, L., Glatz, R., Gorneau, J.A., Hochkirch, A., Kirse, A., Lichtenberg, E.M., Macías‐Hernández, N., Miličić, M., Moir, M., Moreno‐García, P., Neessen, R., Noriega, J.A., Penick, C.A., Perry, K.I., Pryke, J., Rego, C., Roeder, K.A., Saussure, S., Shirey, V., Sihvonen, P., Svetnik, I., Tarasov, S., Trindade, P., Welti, E.A.R., Wong, M., Scherber, C.

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    Toward a global repository of insect traits ( )

    Insect Conservation and Diversity

  • 2025/10

    Kempel, A., Adamidis, G.C., Anadón, J.D., Atkinson, J., Auge, H., Avtzis, D., Bachelot, B., Bashirzadeh, M., Bota, J.L., Classen, A., Constantinou, I., Crawley, M., de Bellis, T., Dostal, P., Ebeling, A., Eisenhauer, N., Eldridge, D.J., Encina, G., Estrada, C., Everingham, S., Fanin, N., Feng, Y., Gaspar, M., Gooriah, L., Graff, P., Montalván, E.G., Montalván, P.G., Hartke, T.R., Huang, L., Jochum, M., Kaljund, K., Karmiris, I., Koorem, K., Korell, L., Laine, A., le Provost, G., Lessard, J., Liu, M., Liu, X., Liu, Y., Llancabure, J., Loïez, S., Loydi, A., Marrero, H., Gockel, S., Montoya, A., Münzbergová, Z., Niu, Y., Ott, D., Oyarzabal, M., Panitsa, M., Papatheodorou, E., Piper, F.I., Püssa, K., Rand, K., Saiz, H., Sanders, N.J., Schädler, M., Scherber, C., Semchenko, M., Sepp, S., Shah, M.A., Shaheen, I., Stein, C., Stewart, J., Tang, Z., Tschan, G., van Nouhuys, S., Vandegehuchte, M.L., Vernon, M., V. R., S., Wang, J., Xiao, Y., Xystrakis, F., Yang, J., Yang, S., Zografou, K., Allan, E.

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    The Bug‐Network (BugNet): A Global Experimental Network Testing the Effects of Invertebrate Herbivores and Fungal Pathogens on Plant Communities and Ecosystem Function in Open Ecosystems

    Ecology and Evolution, 10, 15

  • 2025/09

    Dombos, M., Hartke, T., Tóth, Z., Békési, G.B., Scherber, C., Schmera, D., Zawiasa, B., Sipőcz, L., Gergócs-Winkler, V., Flórián, N., Prenzel, V., Lejoly, J., Newbert, M., Bussell, J., Serrati, L., Veres, A., Juhász, A., Juhos, K., Kaasik, R., Vasileiadis, V.

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    Edge computer vision produces microarthropod-based high-throughput biodiversity metrics

  • 2025/09

    Dombos, M., Hartke, T.R., Tóth, Z., Békési, G.B., Scherber, C., Schmera, D., Zawiasa, B., Sipőcz, L., Gergócs-Winkler, V., Flórián, N., Prenzel, V.C., Lejoly, J., Newbert, M., Bussell, J., Serrati, L., Veres, A., Juhász, A., Juhos, K., Kaasik, R., Vasileiadis, V.

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    Edge computer vision produces microarthropod-based high-throughput biodiversity metrics

    bioRxiv

  • 2025/08

    Schwesig, K., Zizka, V., Scherber, C., Hölzel, N.

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    Pioneer habitats drive high plant beta diversity and conservation value of mineral extraction sites

    Journal of applied ecology, n/a, n/a

  • 2025/05

    Wang, Y., Shi, D., Scherber, C., Woodcock, B.A., Hu, Y., Wan, N.

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    Understanding biodiversity effects on trophic interactions with a robust approach to path analysis

    Cell Reports Sustainability, 5, 2

  • 2025/05

    Wan, N., Woodcock, B.A., Scherber, C., Wyckhuys, K.A.G., Li, Z., Qian, X.

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    Leaving synthetic pesticides behind

    Science, 6748, 388

  • 2025/04

    Ahissa, L., Decher, J., Gazzard, A.

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    Wimmer’s Shrew - Crocidura wimmeri

  • 2025/04

    Decher, J., Schlitter, D., Adu-Tutu, P., Gazzard, A.

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    Baers’s Wood Mouse - Hylomyscus baeri

  • 2025/03

    Scherber, C., Meyer, M., Bohacz, C., Glock, I., Ott, D.

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    Reduzierter Einsatz von Pflanzenschutzmitteln in der Agrarlandschaft: Strategien aus Sicht der Biodiversitätsforschung

  • 2025/03

    Thomas, L.J., Zizka, V.M.A., Noll, N.W., Scherges, A.M., Posanski, M., Bourlat, S.J., Rulik, B., Mühlethaler, R., Lehmann, G.U.C., Koethe, S., Scherber, C., Schäffler, L.

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    Identifying conservation hotspots and assessing species commonness and rarity: Baseline arthropod diversity in German nature reserves via national Malaise trap monitoring

    Insect Conservation and Diversity

  • 2025/02

    Zizka, V., Schwesig, K., Engel, N., Hölzel, N., Scherber, C.

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    Environmental supports importance of heterogeneous pond landscapes for arthropod diversity conservation

    Ecosphere, 2, 16

  • 2025/02

    Stefen, C., Jentke, T., Birkwald, T., Chmieleski, J., Decher, J., Kaus-Thiel, A., Morkel, C., Thielen, J., Goldberg, R., Jakobitz, J., Atzig, H., Müller, A., Krause, R., Fichter, E., Wolfram, E., Twietmeyer, S., Stuckas, H.

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    Large scale monitoring of terrestrial small mammals using noninvasive sampling and COI barcoding

    Mammal Research

  • 2025/02

    Wan, N., Fu, L., Dainese, M., Kiær, L.P., Hu, Y., Xin, F., Goulson, D., Woodcock, B.A., Vanbergen, A.J., Spurgeon, D.J., Shen, S., Scherber, C.

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    Pesticides have negative effects on non-target organisms

    Nature communications, 1, 16

  • 2025/01

    Kirse, A.

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    BioMonitor4CAP - Deliverable D2.1 - Methods and indicators ready for validation/demonstration

  • 2025/01

    Ranasinghe, U.S.L., Eberle, J., Benjamin, S.P., Scherber, C., Ahrens, D.

    Show more...

    Morphospace disparity and species diversity in Sri Lankan phytophagous scarab beetles—A comparison by forest types, altitude and sites

    Ecological Entomology

  • 2025/01

    Kirse, A., Wittenhorst, M.A., Scherber, C., Posanski, M., Scherges, A., Zizka, V., Ott, D., Noll, N.W., Wägele, W.J.

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    The clockwork of insect activity: Advancing ecological understanding through automation

    Journal of Animal Ecology

  • 2025/01

    Kilian, I.C., Kirse, A., Peters, R.S., Bourlat, S.J., Fonseca, V.G., Wägele, W.J., Hamm, A., Mengual, X.

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    Maximizing Identification Precision of Hymenoptera and Brachycera (Diptera) With a Non‐Destructive Metabarcoding Approach

    Ecology and Evolution, 1, 15

    • 2024

  • 2024/12

    Schwesig, K., Zizka, V., Scherber, C., Hölzel, N.

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    Comparing and Transect Methods for Aquatic Biodiversity Assessment in Lakes and Ponds

    Molecular Ecology resources, 3, 25

Employees

All employees

  • Dr. Julia Schwarzer

    zmb Evolutionary genomics Scientist

    Phone: +49 228 9122 426
    E-mail: j.schwarzer@leibniz-lib.de

  • MSc Alina Schüller

    zmb ztm Animal husbandry Evolutionary genomics Doctoral candidate

    Phone: +49 228 9122 431
    E-mail: a.schueller@leibniz-lib.de

  • Dr. Tobias Spanke

    zmb Evolutionary genomics Postdoctoral researcher

    Phone: +49 228 9122 401
    E-mail: t.spanke@leibniz-lib.de

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