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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

  • 2026/03

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

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

    Oecologia, 4, 208

  • 2026/03

    Böhme, W.

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

    elaphe, 2, 2026

  • 2026/03

    Böhme, W.

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    Das „ammodytes-Problem“

    elaphe, 2, 2026

  • 2026/03

    Böhme, W.

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    Ehrung für Wolfgang Bischoff

    Sekretär, 1, 26

  • 2026/03

    Böhme, W., Jacobs, H.J.

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    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.

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    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

  • 2026/02

    Meng, G., Carvalho, L.S., Podsiadlowski, L., Huber, B.A.

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    Low coverage whole genome sequencing reveals a new subfamily of daddy long-legs spiders from Brazilian Caatinga (Araneae: Pholcidae)

    Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny, 84

  • 2026/02

    Sapparojpattana, P., Jeratthitikul, E., Siriwut, W., Srisonchai, R., Wesener, T., Sutcharit, C., Likhitrakarn, N.

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    Five new species of the pill millipede genus Rhopalomeris Verhoeff, 1906 (Diplopoda, Glomerida) from Thailand

    Contributions to Zoology, 1, 95

  • 2026/02

    Koureas, D., Beja, P., Blaxter, M., Böhne, A., Bourlat, S., Ekrem, T., Emerson, B., Heil, K., Melo-Ferreira, J., Price, B., Vos, R., Addink, W., Alioto, T., Aravanopoulos, F., Astrin, J., Aury, J., Barnes, I., Bruschini, C., Buzan, E., Cochrane, G., Cserkész, T., Dailianis, T., Duijm, E., Dunshea, G., Fernández, R., Ferreira, S., Formenti, G., Fratini, S., Gkagkavouzis, K., Goble, C., Grabowski, M., Grüning, B., Gut, I., Gut, M., Harrison, P., Hausmann, A., Höglund, J., Iacolina, L., Iannucci, A., Jakobsen, K., Kõljalg, U., Lantz, H., Lewin, H., Macher, J., Manousaki, T., Martin, F., Mengual, X., Oliveira, P., Oomen, R., Raupach, M., Riesgo, A., Roest Crollius, H., Somogyi, A., Struck, T., Svardal, H., Tooming-Klunderud, A., Triantafyllidis, A., Vinnere Pettersson, O., Wagner, M., Wincker, P., Yan, N., Alonso, J., Casino, A., Ciofi, C., Daňková, G., Hollingsworth, P., Lawniczak, M., Mazzoni, C., Waterhouse, R.

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    Biodiversity Genomics Europe (BGE) Project – Abridged Grant Proposal

    Research Ideas and Outcomes, 12

  • 2026/02

    Becker, D., Lefebvre, R., Saulnier Masson, R., Vasilyan, D.

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    A new genus and species of Pliohyracidae (Hyracoidea, Mammalia) from the Pliocene of Jradzor, Armenia

    Swiss Journal of Palaeontology, 145

  • 2026/02

    Different sex determination systems in two closely related Eurasian minnow (Phoxinus) species

    Heredity

  • 2026/02

    Schwarzhans, W.W., Moritz, T., Goedert, J.L.

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    Coryphaenoides richi sp. nov. (Macrouridae, Teleostei) from the deepmarine, Oligocene Makah Formation of Washington State, U.S.A.

    Zitteliana, 100

  • 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

    Ludreschl, C., Kirse, A., Hartke, T..R., Bhansali, S., Bourlat, S..J., 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

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