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Centre for Taxonomy and Morphology (ztm)

The majority of global biodiversity is insufficiently known. However, we need comprehensive and reliable data so that we can protect biodiversity in a targeted and comprehensive manner. Discovering, describing, distinguishing and characterising species is a prerequisite for understanding the evolution of life on Earth and recognising ecological relationships. Our researchers at the Centre for Taxonomy and Morphology (ztm) pursue these core tasks.

Collections as a store of knowledge

Using taxonomic-systematic, morphological and molecular analyses, they generate knowledge about biological diversity, which they interpret using objects from the collections. The scientific collections form the heart of the ztm and provide the information basis for understanding changes and formulating forecasts.

Digitised data accessible to all

The staff at the ztm are continuously developing this "library of life" and making it accessible to researchers from all over the world and to the public. At the ztm, scientists develop strategies for the expansion and digitisation of the collections. They pass on their knowledge of the species to schoolchildren, students, the interested public and members of international co-operation projects.

Sections | of 25

Prof. Dr. Mariella Herberstein

  • Head of Centre for Taxonomy & Morphology
  • Deputy Director General LIB at the Hamburg location

Phone: +49 40 238317 630
E-Mail: m.herberstein@leibniz-lib.de

Contact for enquiries in Hamburg

Contact for enquiries in Bonn

Gizella Nett

  • Centre assistance

Phone: +49 228 9122 191
E-Mail: g.nett@leibniz-lib.de

Publications

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    2026

  • 2026/02

    Bischoff, E., Buschmann, R., Fisher, C., Hoes, C., Kaiser, K., Koch, A., Kressig, H., Krieger, A., Lange, B., von Mering, S., Muschalek, M., Reimer, J., Thode-Arora, H., Tsogang Fossi, R., Ville, S., Wörrle, B., Zouna, J.

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    Provenance, Science & Profit: Natural History Museums and the Global Network of the Umlauff Natural History Trading Houses

    Research Ideas and Outcomes, 12

  • 2026/02

    Kalaentzis, K., Kondylatos, G., Katsillis, E., Hausdorf, B.

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    First record of Melanoides tuberculata in Rhodes, Greece: a new invader or a failed introduction?

    Journal of Conchology, 5, 45

  • 2026/02

    Halpern, B., Briggs, L., Coaglniceanu, D., Crnobrnja-Isailovic, J., Kirschey, T., Nüsken, U., Boboljsaj, K., Rödder, D., von Doorn, L., Vörös, J., Denoel, M.

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    Danube Dragon Action Plan. Action Plan for the Danube Crested Newt (Triturus dobrogicus). Societas Europaea Herpetologica (SEH), Bonn, Germany. 22 pp.

  • 2026/02

    Bischoff, E., Buschmann, R.F., Fisher, C., Hoes, C.M., Kaiser, K., Koch, A., Kressig, H., Krieger, A.S., Lange, B., von Mering, S., Muschalek, M., Reimer, J.C., Thode-Arora, H., Fossi, R.T., Ville, S., Wörrle, B., Zouna, J.

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    Provenance, Science & Profit: Natural History Museums and the Global Network of the Umlauff Natural History Trading Houses

    Research Ideas and Outcomes, 12

  • 2026/02

    Postma, A., Klynsmith, L., Duong, T.A., Allison, J.D., Smidt, W., Waterhouse, R.M., Lesny, P., Oeyen, J.P., Petersen, M., Martin, S., Liu, S., Zhou, X., Ziesmann, T., Donath, A., Mayer, C., Misof, B., Niehuis, O., Peters, R.S., Podsiadlowski, L., Coetzee, M.P.A., Joubert, F., Slippers, B.

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    Genome and transcriptome‐based identification and expression profiling of chemosensory gene families across developmental stages and tissues in Sirex noctilio (Hymenoptera: Siricidae)

    Insect Molecular Biology

  • 2026/02

    Fischbach, V., Moritz, T.

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    A photographic guide to the embryonic development of the garfish Belone belone

    Bulletin of Fish Biology, 21

  • 2026/02

    Hofmann, S., Rödder, D., Schmidt, J., Flecks, M., Jablonski, D., Dubois, A., Ohler, A., Baniya, C.B., Vershinin, V., Litvinchuk, S.N., Dufresnes, C.

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    Diversification and historical biogeography of the Himalayan toad (Duttaphrynus himalayanus)

    Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology, 113473, 683

  • 2026/01

    Montanhini, A., Żyła, D., Biffi, G.

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    Synopsis of the myrmecophilous genus Ecitonides Wasmann (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Paederinae), with description of two new species from Brazil

    ZooKeys, 1267

  • 2026/01

    Dhakal, B.K., Subedi, N., Lamichhane, B.R., Kandel, S., Baral, S., Bista, M., Silwal, T.

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    Human-Wildlife Coexistence in Nepal: Evolution of Relief Policies and Practices

    Banko Janakari, 1, 36

  • 2026/01

    van den Burg, M.P., Kaiser, H.

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    The Case of the Missing Green Iguana Predators: Reviews of Ecological Literature Should Go Beyond Google Scholar

    Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America

  • 2026/01

    Moritz, T., Körber, S.

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    Results of the research cruises of FRV Walther Herwig to South America. LXXVIII. Records of some dragon-, hatchet-, and viperfishes (Stomiiformes) from waters off Argentina and Uruguay

    Bulletin of Fish Biology, 21

  • 2026/01

    Parmar, D.S., Rödder, D., Singh, A., Gupta, R., Kaiser, H.

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    Snakes on Trains: Railways May Sway Goa's King Cobra Distribution

    Biotropica, 1, 58

  • 2026/01

    Krings, W., Gorb, S.N., Hausdorf, B.

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    Convergent evolution of failure- and wear-prevention in radulae of rock-scraping land snails (Chondrinidae, Gastropoda)

    Royal Society Open Science, 1, 13

  • 2026/01

    Moreno, C., Koszela, K., Zyla, D.

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    Phylogenetic analysis and taxonomic revision of the termitophilous rove beetle genus Xenogaster Wasmann, 1891 (Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae: Corotocini)

    Zoological journal of the Linnean Society, 1, 206

  • 2026/01

    JEONG, K., CHOI, Y., HARMS, D., YOO, J., KIM, S.

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    Two new species of Parobisium (Pseudoscorpiones: Neobisiidae) Chamberlin, 1930 from South Korea, with a preliminary phylogeny of the genus

    Zootaxa, 2, 5741

  • 2026/01

    Kaitetzidou, E., Gadawski, P., Goodall-Copestake, W., Dankova, G., Gkagkavouzis, K., Holak, S., Rewicz, T., Bącela-Spychalska, K., Mamos, T., Fantoni, K., Jabłońska, A., Tończyk, G., Trębicki, Ł., Aravanopoulos, F., Bruschini, C., Bonchev, G., Dagher Kharrat, M.B., Čiampor Jr, F., Costa, F., Dapporto, L., Ekrem, T., Ferreira, S., Geiger, M., Hausmann, A., Hebert, P., Kalamujić Stroil, B., Kamenova, S., Kautmanova, I., Keskin, E., Kučinić, M., Lipinskaya, T., Mutanen, M., Papakostas, S., Price, B., Ramírez, R., Rougerie, R., Rulik, B., Szucsich, N., van der Bank, M., Triantafyllidis, A., Hollingsworth, P., Grabowski, M.

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    Empowering national capacity for DNA-based approach to species identification and biodiversity monitoring

  • 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

  • 2026/01

    Ginal, P., Ecker, Y., Higham, T., Grismer, L.L., Wipfler, B., Rödder, D., Russell, A., Riedel, J.

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    Subdigital integumentary microstructure in Cyrtodactylus (Squamata: Gekkota): do those lineages with incipiently expressed toepads exclusively exhibit adhesive setae?

    Beilstein journal of nanotechnology, 17

  • 2026/01

    Parmar, D., Kaiser, H.

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    Whither Dendrelaphis in western India? A critique of recent papers by Vaishnav and Ghadi (2025) and Puranik et al. (2025)

    Reptiles&Amphibians, 1, 33

  • 2026/01

    Bañeras, T., Jiménez-Alvarado, D., Meyers, E.K.M., Toledo-Padilla, H., Hardisson, A., Gonzalez-Weller, D., Barker, J., Mead, L.R., Espino-Ruano, A., Castro-Alonso, A., José-Caballero, M., Gutiérrez, Á.

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    Characterization of metal contaminants in the Critically Endangered angelshark (Squatina squatina): A first ecotoxicological insight

    Marine Pollution Bulletin, 222

  • 2025

  • 2025/12

    Burckhardt, D., Haseen, C., He, Z., Luo, X., Pramatarova, M., Grimaud, S., Hussain, B., Song, F., Serbina, L.

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    Species concepts in the psyllid genus Camarotoscena (Hemiptera, Psylloidea) associated with Populus (Salicaceae)

    Alpine Entomology, 9

  • 2025/12

    MALENOVSKÝ, I., SERBINA, L., QUEIROZ, D.L.

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    Life on sticky plants: two new species of Mitrapsylla (Hemiptera: Psylloidea: Psyllidae) on Chamaecrista (Fabaceae) in the Brazilian Highlands

    Zootaxa, 1, 5727

  • 2025/12

    New ultrastructural (SEM) data of Tubiluchus arcticus (Priapulida)

    Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg, 55

  • 2025/12

    Lehnert, K., Bethune, E., Schulz-Kornas, E., Siebert, U., Kaiser, T.M.

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    Intra-specific foraging dynamics reveal anthropogenic impact on harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) in the Danish Kattegat and the German Wadden Sea

    Frontiers in Marine Science, 12

  • 2025/12

    Erfani, M., Abtin, E., Mobaraki, A., Kami, H.G., Pandi, D., Stevenson, C., Ziegler, T., Rödder, D., De Silva, A., Whitaker, N., Le, M.D., Samarasinghe, D., Vasava, A., Karunarathana, S.

    Show more...

    Nuchal scalation patterns in Iranian Mugger crocodiles (Crocodylus palustris Lesson, 1831) point to an overlooked conservation unit.

    Journal of wildlife and biodiversity, 4, 9

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