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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

Wiebke Müller

  • Centre assistance

Phone: +49 40 238317 630
E-Mail: w.mueller@leibniz-lib.de

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

  • 2026/06

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

    Show more...

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

    Quaternary Science Reviews, 381

  • 2026/04

    Becher, E., Nurinsiyah, A.S., Hausdorf, B.

    Show more...

    Phylogeny, species delimitation, and biogeography of the arboreal land snail genus Amphidromus on Java Island, Sundaland

    Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution

  • 2026/04

    Aßmann, O., Böhme, W.

    Show more...

    Beobachtungen zum Droh-und Abwehrverhalten der Äskulapnatter

    Feldherpetologisches Magazin, 23

  • 2026/04

    Ingenbrand, E., Thiesmeier, B., Böhme, W.

    Show more...

    Postmortale Blaufärbung bei Waldeidechsen mit Anmerkungen zu Farbabweichungenlebender Wald-und Zauneidechsen

    Feldherpetologisches Magazin, 23

  • 2026/04

    Schmied, H., Böhme, W.

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    Abfolge passiver Abwehrmechanismen einer juvenilen Barren-Ringelnatter –Bemerkungen zur Evolution der Thanatose bei westpaläarktischen Wassernattern

    Feldherpetologisches Magazin, 23

  • 2026/04

    Skoracki, M., Patan, M., Töpfer, T., Hromada, M., Sikora, B.

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    First record of Picobiinae mites (Acariformes: Syringophilidae) parasitising potoos (Aves: Nyctibiiformes), with description of a new species

    Systematic Parasitology, 2, 103

  • 2026/04

    KAISER, H., KAISER, C.M., NISHIKAWA, K.

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    Bufo praetextatus Boie, 1826 is a nomen dubium: an historical analysis of its original description supports the prevailing usage of Bufo japonicus Temminck & Schlegel, 1838

    Zootaxa, 2, 5792

  • 2026/04

    Erickson, M.F., McLean, D.J., Herberstein, M.E.

    Show more...

    Are Toxic Butterflies More Easily Detected by Human ‘Predators’?

    Ecology and Evolution, 4, 16

  • 2026/04

    Khan, M., Joshi, M., Ryrholm, N., Huemer, P., Espeland, M., Ivanov, V., Mutanen, M.

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    Target capture efficiently resolves the long‐standing taxonomic dead end of Diachrysia moths

    Systematic Entomology, 2, 51

  • 2026/04

    Krings, W., Becker, S., Huttegger, G., Gorb, S.N., Horstmann, M.

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    Beyond morphology: Material alterations as inducible defenses in Daphnia longicephala

    Journal of Biosciences, 2, 51

  • 2026/03

    Vogt, L.

    Show more...

    The Semantic Ladder: A Framework for Progressive Formalization of Natural Language Content for Knowledge Graphs and AI Systems

  • 2026/03

    Becher, E., Hausdorf, B.

    Show more...

    Phylogeny and Species Delimitation in the Land Snail Genus Chilostoma (Gastropoda: Helicidae) and East–West Alpine Disjunctions

    Zoologica scripta

  • 2026/03

    Walther, F., Gryl, I., Hausdorf, B.

    Show more...

    Himalocharopa machhapuchhre gen. nov. sp. nov. from Nepal (Gastropoda: Punctoidea)

    Archiv für Molluskenkunde International Journal of Malacology, 1, 155

  • 2026/03

    Paul, S., Haque, M.T., Herberstein, M.E., Khan, M.K.

    Show more...

    Seasonal climatic variability shapes immune responses and infection risks in the common bluetail damselfly

    Oecologia, 4, 208

  • 2026/03

    Böhme, W.

    Show more...

    Nachruf auf ein DGHT-Urgestein: Dietmar Kiehlmann (1939 – 2026)

    elaphe, 2, 2026

  • 2026/03

    Böhme, W.

    Show more...

    Das „ammodytes-Problem“

    elaphe, 2, 2026

  • 2026/03

    Böhme, W.

    Show more...

    Ehrung für Wolfgang Bischoff

    Sekretär, 1, 26

  • 2026/03

    Böhme, W., Jacobs, H.J.

    Show more...

    Heinrich Kuhls erste, aber unpubliziert gebliebene Beschreibung der Madeira-Eidechse, Teira dugesii (Milne-Edwards, 1829)

    Sekretär, 1, 26

  • 2026/03

    Wesener, T.

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    Revision of the Termitodesmidae, an almost forgotten obligate termitophilous millipede family (Diplopoda, Glomeridesmida)

    Insectes Sociaux

  • 2026/03

    Parmar, D., Kaiser, H.

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    Hanging in the balance: an ecological and conservation assessment reveals growing threats to the Bamboo Pitviper, Trimeresurus (Craspedocephalus) gramineus (Shaw, 1802), in the Dangs Forest of Gujarat, India.

    Discover Ecology, 2

  • 2026/03

    Nève, G., Bennett, D., Bot, S., Hadrava, J., Hadravova, T., Hlaváček, A., Mazánek, L., Mengual, X., Nidergas, V., Ricarte, A., Ssymank, A., Van de Meutter, F., van der Ent, L., van Steenis, J., van Steenis, W., Wakki, B.

    Show more...

    September records of Hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) at the Mercantour National Park and its surroundings: a mixture of migratory and resident species

    Journaal van Syrphidae, 1, 5

  • 2026/03

    Reemer, M., Mengual, X.

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    Ubristes mirabilissimus sp. nov., a new stingless bee mimicking hoverfly from the Ecuadorian Amazon (Diptera, Syrphidae, Microdontinae)

    Evolutionary Systematics, 1, 10

  • 2026/03

    Koch, A.

    Show more...

    The entomologist Erich Schmidt (1890–1969), his premature dismissal from the Museum Koenig Bonn, and the Nazi plot against the Alexander Koenig Foundation

    Natural History Collections and Museomics, 3

  • 2026/03

    Chitimia-Dobler, L., Mey, C., Harms, D., Hammel, J., Dunlop, J.A., Kotthoff, U., Mans, B.J.

    Show more...

    Redescription of Alloceraea cretacea (Acari: Ixodida) with an additional nymphal fossil added to this species: Novel insights into the evolution of the Haematobothrion

    Parasitology

  • 2026/03

    Abdulhakeem, M.A., Almalki, A.M., Kaiser, H., Shohdi, W.M.

    Show more...

    A frog-eat-frog novelty: first record of “reverse age-class cannibalism” in the Arabian Toad, Sclerophrys arabica (Heyden, 1827), from King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Royal Natural Reserve, Saudi Arabia

    Herpetology Notes, 19

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