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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.

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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

  • 2026/09

    Ludreschl, C., Kirse, A., Hartke, T.R., Bhansali, S., Bourlat, S.J., Mayer, C., Ott, D., Bott, F., Rutte, D., Siemt, P., Espeland, M., Scherber, C.

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    Optimised light sources reduce nocturnal insect attraction at railway stations

    Biological conservation, 321

  • 2026/08

    Fischbach, V., Dahlke, F.T., Kotterba, P., Pinto, G., Moll, D., Moritz, T., Polte, P.

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    Thermal tolerance of herring (Clupea harengus) early embryogenesis in relation to temporal temperature dynamics in the Baltic Sea

    Journal of Thermal Biology, 140

  • 2026/08

    Samotskaya, V.

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    В том дереве слева! Как увидеть и полюбить птиц (a nonfiction book in Russian)

  • 2026/07

    Brunken, H., Braubach, L., Engel, T., Grobe, P., Pfaff, C., Rach, B., Vatterrott, H., Friedrichs-Manthey, M.

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    The "GfI-Fischartenatlas" of the German Ichthyological Society (GfI) - A compilation of validated fish species occurrence records

    Biodiversity Data Journal, 14

  • 2026/07

    Kast, S., Moritz, T., Ahnelt, H.

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    Does phylogenetic conservatism obscure the trophic ecology of the Small-Eyed Goby Austrolethops wardi Whitley, 1935 (Teleostei, Gobiidae), an inhabitant of shrimp burrows?

    Annals of the Natural History Museum Vienna, 127

  • 2026/07

    Miguel, A.R., Kaiser, H., Briers-Louw, W.D., Kendon, T.A., Ngalijuane, D.A., dos Santos, T.G.

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    Fisherman’s trash, cobra’s treasure: first evidence of scavenging by a Brown Forest Cobra, Naja subfulva Laurent, 1955, in Mozambique

    Herpetology Notes, 19

  • 2026/07

    Dupérré, N., Tapia, E., Salazar-Valenzuela, D.

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    New Theraphosinae from Ecuador: description of five species (Mygalomorphae, Theraphosidae, Romopelma, and Homoeomma) with the establishment of a new genus

    Evolutionary Systematics, 2, 10

  • 2026/07

    Krings, W., Schreiber, Henrik K.C., Gorb, S.N.

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    Effects of ocean acidification on radular tooth material properties in Littorina littorea (Gastropoda, Mollusca)

    Marine Environmental Research, 219

  • 2026/06

    Mengual, X.

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    Comentario de libro: SCHMIDT-LOSKE, K., 2025. Maria Sibylla Merian en Surinam. Sobre el insólito viaje de investigación de una extraordinaria mujer en el umbral del siglo XVIII. Traducción: ARIAS MORENO, M. L. Kipu-Verlag. 132 pp. Libro impreso ISBN: 978-3-946507-86-4. Ebook ISBN: 978-3-946507-87-1.

    Boletín de la Asociación Española de Entomología/Boletín de la Asociación Española de Entomología/Suplementos del Boletín de la Asociación Española de Entomología, 1-2, 50

  • 2026/06

    HUANG, S., HORIE, K., MÜLLER, G.C., MARTIN, G., ESPELAND, M.

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    Revision of the subfamily Callizygaeninae (Lepidoptera, Zygaenoidea, Zygaenidae)

    Zootaxa, 2, 5839

  • 2026/06

    Schwarze, M., Schulz, M., Sielenkämper, J., Ott, D., Rödder, D., Scherber, C.

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    Anteil dunkelgrau gefärbter Kreuzottern von 2010–2024 in einem Moor in Nordwestdeutschland. Feldherpetologisches Magazin

    Feldherpetologisches Magazin, 23

  • 2026/06

    Muller, B., Midgley, J., Goergen, G., Al Jahdhami, A., Azo'o Ela, M., Bellingan, T., Cavaillès, S., Copeland, R., De Meyer, M., Hauser, M., Holmes, A., Mengual, X., Nève, G., Reemer, M., Skevington, J., Ståhls, G., Sinzinkayo, E., Smit, J., Ssymank, A., Theron, G., Jordaens, K.

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    Invasion Patterns and Niche Dynamics of the Pollinivorous Florida Calligrapher, Toxomerus floralis (Diptera: Syrphidae) in the Afrotropical Region

    Ecology and Evolution, 6, 16

  • 2026/06

    Vogt, L.

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    The Semantic Units Framework, a technology-agnostic representational approach to FAIR and CLEAR knowledge infrastructures

    Scientific data, 1, 13

  • 2026/06

    Böhme, W.

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    Zur mythologischen Symbolik des Weißstorches – und warum der Göttervater Zeus sich anders entschied. – Koenigiana 20: 29–36.

  • 2026/06

    Böhme, W.

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    Erneut gefragt: Was ist Kryptozoologie? Entdeckungen neuer Arten oder Merkmale, die indigenen oder gar antiken Hinweisgebern längst bekannt waren. - Koenigiana 20: 3-22.

    Koenigiana, 20

  • 2026/06

    Maßnahme 61: Forschung für mehr Naturschutz. „Insektenschutz an Bahnhöfen durch insektenfreundliche Beleuchtung“ (BALIN)

  • 2026/06

    De Keyzer, E.L.R., Herder, F., Böhne, A., Jiménez, F.C., Burskaia, V., Kukowka, S., Tracey, A., Denton, A.L., Oatley, G., Mokodongan, D.F., Wowor, D., Svardal, H.

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    Ancient and recent riverine gene flow contributed to the adaptive radiation of sailfin silversides in Wallace's dreampond

    Molecular Ecology, 11, 35

  • 2026/06

    Sun, P., Hausdorf, B., Wronski, T.

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    Beyond the forest: terrestrial snails as bioindicators of Afromontane deforestation and land-use change

    Ecological indicators, 187

  • 2026/06

    Girard, M., Moritz, T., Schwarzhans, W.

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    A new species of Diplacanthopoma (Teleostei: Bythitidae) from the western Atlantic, with comments on the discovery and description of larval forms of two western Atlantic species

    Zootaxa, 1, 5831

  • 2026/06

    Miguel, A.R., Kaiser, H., Briers‐Louw, W.D., Kendon, T.A., Ngalijuane, D.A., dos Santos, T.G.

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    Arboreal Duels in a Shared Niche: Direct Observations of Vinesnake ( Thelotornis mossambicanus ) Predation on Chameleons ( Chamaeleo dilepis ) Reveal Complex Foraging Dynamics

    African journal of ecology, 4, 64

  • 2026/06

    An annotated type catalogue and a fully digitised Crustacea collection of the Museum of Nature Hamburg, Zoology. Part I: Crustacea, Malacostraca, Peracarida, Cumacea

    Evolutionary Systematics, 1, 10

  • 2026/06

    dos Santos Dias, P., Vera Candioti, F., Wassersug, R., Lukas, P., Targino, M., Glos, J., Wheeler, W.C., Hertwig, S.T., Crottini, A., Haas, A.

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    Convergent evolution in the unique and bizarre buccopharyngeal morphology of sand-eating Malagasy tadpoles (Anura: Mantellidae) 

    Zoological journal of the Linnean Society, 2, 207

  • 2026/06

    Assou, D., GNIMASSOUN, J.B.G., AHOEDO, K., AKOETEY, C.Y.M., DENDI, D., AULIYA, M., , ., KETOH, G.K.K., SEGNIAGBETO, G.H., LUISELLI, L., MORITZ, T.

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    Trends in catch and effort in Western African coastal lagoon system fisheries and their socio-economic implications

    Environmental Research Communications, 8

  • 2026/06

    Richter, C., Schneider, M., Wolf, D., Walther, F., Hausdorf, B., Hovakimyan, H., Sahakyan, L., Fuchs, M., Faust, D.

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    Quantifying quaternary climate variability in the Southern Caucasus using land snail shell isotope transfer functions and climatic niche modeling

    Quaternary Science Reviews, 381

  • 2026/05

    Engel, J., Ernst, M., Pauli, M., Penzlin, A., Rach, B., Weibulat, T.M.

    Show more...

    Workshop-Übung: Artvorkommensdaten strukturieren und beschreiben

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