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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

  • 2026/01

    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

    Van de Meutter, F., Bot, S., Mortelmans, J., Mengual, X.

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    New hoverfly records for Greece with the description of a new species of Cheilosia (Diptera, Syrphidae)

    Boletín de la Asociación Española de Entomología/Boletín de la Asociación Española de Entomología/Suplementos del Boletín de la Asociación Española de Entomología, 3-4, 49

  • 2025/11

    Vink, C.J., Sirvid, P.J., Duperre, N.

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    A redescription of the Pacific Bounty hunter, Pacificana cockayni Hogg, 1904 and an attempt to reunite with its family.

    New Zealand Journal of Zoology, 5, 52

  • 2025/11

    de Santis, M.D., de Dios, R.V.P., Lamas, C.J.E., Mengual, X.

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    Contribution to the Neotropical Campylochetini: A review of Campylocheta Rondani, 1859 (Diptera: Tachinidae) with new synonyms, three new species and an identification key to Neotropical species

    Austral Entomology, 4, 64

  • 2025/11

    Lehmitz, R., Hohberg, K., Husemann, M., Peters, R.S., Scheunemann, N., Bálint, M., Balke, M., Bieberich, J., Bista, I., Borsch, T., Bourlat, S.J., Bussmann, R.W., Damm, U., Dey, L., Flocco, C.G., Grossart, H., Haase, P., Höfer, H., Krashevska, V., Krogmann, L., Lücking, R., Arbizu, P.M., Meier, R., Mengual, X., Mercado-Salas, N.F., Moore, J.M., Orr, M.C., Otte, V., Overmann, J., Pauls, S.U., Pereira, R.J., Peters, J., Potapov, A., Printzen, C., Raub, F., Raupach, M.J., Rduch, V., Retter, A., von Reumont, B.M., Rossel, S., Schmelz, R.M., Schmitt, T., Scholler, M., Stolle, E., Thines, M., Vasilita, C., Wesener, T., Zahiri, R., Zaitsev, A., Zimmermann, J., Żyła, D., Misof, B., Tockner, K.

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    Unknown Germany - An integrative biodiversity discovery program

    npj Biodiversity, 1, 4

  • 2025/11

    Ribeiro-Junior, M.A., Koch, C., Flecks, M., Campbell, P.D., Calvo, M., Spawls, S., Vidal, N., Meiri, S.

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    What is revealed from a widely distributed species in Africa and Southwest Asia? The case of the Telescopus dhara–obtusus species complex (Squamata: Colubridae)

    Zoological journal of the Linnean Society, 3, 205

  • 2025/11

    MILDE, M., FERNANDES MARTINS, T., HARMS, D., HAMMEL, J.U., DUNLOP, J.A., KOTTHOFF, U., CHITIMIA-DOBLER, L.

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    A new species of the Recent genus Amblyomma (Parasitiformes: Ixodidae) discovered in Dominican amber

    Palaeoentomology, 6, 8

  • 2025/11

    Koch, A.

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    Carl Hagenbeck’s Trade in Reptiles, His Historical Reptile Exhibitions, and His Herpetological Legacy

  • 2025/11

    Louis, M., Rey‐Iglesia, A., Routledge, J., de Jager, D., Skovrind, M., Heide‐Jørgensen, M.P., Kaiser, T.M., Kovacs, K.M., Lydersen, C., Rosing‐Asvid, A., Szpak, P., Lorenzen, E.D.

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    Impact of Tusk Anomalies on the Long‐Term Foraging Ecology of Narwhals

    Ecology and Evolution, 11, 15

  • 2025/11

    Kaiser, H.

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    Comments on the retraction of an article by Faiz et al. (2017) on the putative occurrence of a King Cobra, Ophiophagus hannah (Cantor, 1836), in Pakistan

    Herpetology Notes, 18

  • 2025/11

    Al-Sheikhly, O.F., Böhme, W., Abdulzahra, H.K.

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    Die Seeschlange Hydrophis lapemoides (Gray, 1849) (Serpentes: Elapidae: Hydrophiinae): erster dokumentierter Nachweis aus irakischen Küstengewässern / The Arabian Gulf Sea Snake Hydrophis lapemoides (Gray, 1849) (Serpentes: Elapidae: Hydrophiinae): first documented record from Iraqi marine waters

    SAURIA – Zeitschrift für Terraristik & Herpetologie, 3, 47

  • 2025/11

    Böhme, W.

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    Neobiota in unserer Umwelt

  • 2025/11

    Miguel, A.R., Sitole, B.I., Calonga, N.A.M., Duarte, C.H., Armando, D., Nanvonamuquitxo, C.J.A., Kaiser, H.

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    Beyond the asymptote: a near-complete reptile inventory in the Miombo woodland and on Mount Morué, Mocuba Municipality, with a major range extension for the lizard Nucras boulengeri Neumann, 1900

    Herpetology Notes, 18

  • 2025/11

    Hausdorf, B.

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    Changing Views on Speciation

    Molecular Ecology

  • 2025/11

    Duperre, N.

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    Description of two new spider species from Ecuadorian caves, along with a note on the distribution of Plato troglodita Coddington, 1986 (Araneae, Theridiosomatidae).

    Zootaxa, 3, 5719

  • 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

  • 2025/10

    Bhusal, D.R., Kharel (Sitaula), R., Shrestha, B.R., Baral, S., Pandey, B., Pathak, P., Kumar, B., Karki, P., Joshi, S.N., Sharma, A.K., Upadhya, M.P.

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    Landscape Heterogeneity and Changing Bioclimatic Parameters Link to Potential Expansion of Gazalina chrysolopha (Lepidoptera; Notodontidae) in Nepal: A Possible Bioagent for Seasonal Hyperacute Panuveitis (SHAPU) in South Asia

    Ecology and Evolution, 10, 15

  • 2025/10

    Krings, W., Brütt, J., Gorb, S.N.

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    Correction: Elemental analyses reveal distinct mineralization patterns in radular teeth of various molluscan taxa

    Scientific reports, 1, 15

  • 2025/10

    Freitas, A.V.L., Kaminski, L.A., Magaldi, L.M., Gueratto, P.E., Silva-Brandão, K.L., Francini, R.B., Paluch, M., Tavares, E.V., de Medeiros Melo, A.B.

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    A New Actinote Hübner (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Heliconiinae: Acraeini) from Northeastern Brazil

    Neotropical Entomology, 1, 54

  • 2025/10

    Four new species of Neischnocolus (Araneae: Mygalomorphae: Theraphosidae) from Western Ecuador

    Zootaxa, 4, 5706

  • 2025/10

    Bot, S., Mengual, X., Van de Meutter, F., Skevington, J.H.

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    Review of the genus Cheilosia Meigen, 1822 (Diptera: Syrphidae) from the Caucasus, with the description of 14 new species

    European Journal of Taxonomy, 1, 1023

  • 2025/10

    Bisschop, J., Fisler, L., Pétremand, G., Mengual, X.

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    A hoverfly survey in the inner alpine municipality of Bergün-Filisur (Switzerland) by means of variable route sampling (Diptera, Syrphidae)

    Alpine Entomology, 9

  • 2025/10

    Kukla, Y., Riedel, J., Rödder, D.

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    Sticky Innovation, Limited Expansion: Biogeography and Evolutionary Ecology of Toepads in Geckos

    Journal of Biogeography

  • 2025/10

    Böhme, W., Denzer, W., Wüster, W.

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    Noli tangere nomina probata! Taxonomists must prioritise stability and protection of well-established scientific names in herpetology

    Salamandra, 4, 61

  • 2025/10

    Ginal, P., Hackenbroch, H., Le Manh, H., Nguyen, T.Q., Le, M.D., Rödder, D., Ziegler, T.

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    Assessment of the threat status of bird species from Vietnam – Implementation of the One Plan Approach to conservation

    Nature Conservation, 60

  • 2025/10

    Daluwatta Galappaththige, H.S.S., Fernandes Erickson, M., McLean, D.J., L'Herpiniere, K.L., Binns, G.E., Hämäläinen, L., O'Neill, L.G., Douch, J.K., Kikuchi, D.W., Rowland, H.M., Mappes, J., Herberstein, M.E.

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    Complementary approaches to measure predation pressure on butterfly populations in Australia

    Royal Society Open Science, 10, 12

  • 2025/10

    Vogel, J., Martin, J., Forshage, M., Salden, T., Staverløkk, A., Verheyde, F., Nordlander, G., Herz, A., Peters, R.S.

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    The Leptopilina Förster, 1869 of the Western Palearctic, and an updated list of the world species (Hymenoptera, Figitidae, Eucoilinae)

    Journal of Hymenoptera Research/Journal of Hymenoptera research, 98

  • 2025/10

    Michalik, P., Vink, C.J., Ramírez, M.J., Dederichs, T.M., Sirvid, P.J., Pawson, S.M., Harms, D.

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    Alone no more—Integrative taxonomy of odd‐clawed spiders challenges the monotypy of Pianoa and Gradungula ( )

    Systematic Entomology

  • 2025/10

    Meng, G., Podsiadlowski, L., Dimitrov, D., Huber, B.A.

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    The Complex Interplay between Evolutionary Flexibility and Diversification in a Family of Spiders

    Systematic Biology

  • 2025/10

    Below, P., Gorb, S.N., Friedrich, F., Krings, W.

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    Morphological and biomechanical adaptations of larval mandibles in Trichoptera (Insecta)

    Physiological Entomology

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