Mammalogy (Mammals)

Reiter

Info

The Section of Mammalogy was founded in 1936. First curator was Heinrich Wolf, followed by Ernst von Lehmann, Fritz Dieterlen, Günter Nobis, Rainer Hutterer and Gustav Peters.

Today, Jan Decher (small mammals) and Eva Bärmann (large mammals) are curators of the mammal collection. Please send any inquiries to the appropriate curator. Requests for invasive sampling should follow our guidelines:

zfmk_theriologie_invasive_sampling_procedure.pdf

Associated with the Section is the Bat Banding Centre.

Staff

Scientist, permanent position

Dr. Jan Decher

Acting Head of Department, Curator

Tel: +49 228 9122-262

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: j.decher [at] zfmk.de

Technical or laboratory assistant

Jörg Adrian

Technical Assitant

Tel: +49 228 9122-263

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: j.adrian [at] zfmk.de

Ricarda Wistuba

Taxidermist

Tel: +49 228 9122-268

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: r.wistuba [at] leibniz-zfmk.de

Scientist, third-party funded

Christian Montermann

Research Associate

Tel: +49 228 9122-264

E-Mail: c.montermann [at] zfmk.de

Postdoc

Dr. Vera Rduch

Tel: +49 228 9122-372

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: v.rduch [at] leibniz-zfmk.de

MSc or Diploma Candidate

Michael Hilgert

E-Mail: m-hilgert [at] gmx.de

Janine Schmidt

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: jschm1 [at] uni-bonn.de

Bachelor Candidate

Thalia Jentke

Research Assistant Mammalogy, Bat banding centre

Tel: +49 228 9122-265

E-Mail: t.jentke [at] leibniz-zfmk.de

Honorary capacity

Dr. Rainer Hutterer

Former Custos and Head of Dept. Vertebrates, ZFMK Archive

Tel: +49 228 9122-261

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: r.hutterer [at] zfmk.de

Dr. Gustav Peters

Former Curator Theriology, Animal Sounds Archive

Tel: +49 228 9122-262

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: g.peters [at] zfmk.de

Alumni

Former students

Kai Robert Caspar

MSc Student

E-Mail: kai.caspar [at] uni-due.de

Marlene Weingarz

former MSc Student

Tel: +49 228 9122-260

Fax: +49 228 9122-212

E-Mail: s6mewein [at] uni-bonn.de

Projects

2022

ColLomic

High-quality genomes are an important basis for biological and evolutionary research. However, generating assemblies of high completeness and contiguity requires ideally fresh, flash-frozen samples. The availability of such samples has become a major limitation for biodiversity genomics, in particular for rare or endangered species, or species inhabiting remote regions. On the other hand, museum collections house millions of samples in Germany and worldwide.

Project lead:

Astrid Böhne

Funding:

Leibniz Association

2021

Biodiversity Processing HUB™

How to overcome this recent biodiversity dilemma and speed up the availability of material with undescribed diversity?!?

Project lead:

Björn Rulik

Funding:

Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig

2020

GBOL III: Dark Taxa

The BMBF-funded GBOL, the German Barcode of Life initiative, has been run successfully over the last eight years. It delivered an operative DNA barcode reference library for German animals, fungi and plants. However, a significant proportion of insect taxa has so far been excluded from GBOL and merely all biodiversity research, because no or only very insufficient expertise and information are available that allow to get a grip on them. They are called “Dark Taxa”.

Project lead:

Dr. Ralph S. Peters

Funding:

Federal Ministry of Education and Research

2019

Duiker skulls 3D

Duikers (Bovidae, Artiodactyla) are notoriously hard to classify, and several competing species definitions have been proposed. Using 3D geometric morphometrics we aim at investigating the morhological diversity of duiker skulls, evaluating the competing species definitions from a morphometric perspective.

Construction of the Rainforest Exhibition

The implementation of the permanent "Rainforest" exhibition is one of the most complex exhibition projects at the ZFMK. As the first part, the "Understorey" could be inaugurated in April 2016.

Project lead:

Corinna Seibt

Funding:

Alexander-Koenig-Society e.V., Landschaftsverband Rheinland

Automated detection of behaviour in Caucasian Tur

One female Caucasian Tur (Capra caucasica) was equipped with a collar that detected head movement using acceleration sensors in 3D. The animal was observed for up to two hours per day for several months and the noted behaviour was correlated with the sensor data in order to train an algorithm for automated behaviour detection. The analyses were done in R with the Random Forrest algorithm. The results show that over 20 different classes of behaviour (including head postures, rumination, different locomotion types) can be identified with very high accuracy (>95%).

Cranial morphology of the Gerenuk

Among antelopes, the gerenuk (Litocranius walleri) is unique since it browses almost exclusively on tree-foliage at great heights by standing on its hind legs. In addition to this peculiar behavior, the gerenuk is exceptional in having a distinct adult cranial morphology including a very elongate and thick occiput. The development of the typical shape of the occipital bone is a postnatal process, but to date the underlying mechanism remains unclear. We use 3D geometric morphometric for investigating the changes in skull shape from juvenile t adult gerenuks.

Integrative Analysis of the influence of pesticides and land use on biodiversity in Germany (INPEDIV)

The interdisciplinary joint project INPEDIV is funded for 3 years by the Leibniz Competition (March 2019 – February 2022). The aim of this study is to investigate consequences of organic and conventional farming for biodiversity in protected areas. By use of traditional methods and new technologies, we will examine agricultural land use effects on a broad range of plant and animal taxa across trophic levels at study sites in the Rhineland and in Brandenburg.

Project lead:

Dr. Livia Schäffler

Funding:

Leibniz Association

2018

Collecting expedition to Ghana

In August 2018, a team of exhibition planners, scientists and taxidermists of the Museum Koenig undertook a collection expedition to the Ankasa River Rainforest Reserve in the southwest of Ghana to collect original plant material for the authentic reproduction of the rainforest canopy habitat in the new Rainforest exhibition.

Project lead:

Corinna Seibt

Funding:

Landschaftsverband Rheinland

Diversity of Iranian gazelles

Der Iran mit seiner durch Gebirgszüge und Wüsten geprägten Landschaft ist Heimat für vier Gazellenarten (Gazella subgutturosa, G. bennettii, G. arabica und G. marica). Das Projekt soll dazu beitragen, mithilfe molekularer Methoden die Taxonomie der Gattung Gazella besser zu verstehen und den Schutz dieser Tiere im Iran voranzubringen.

Funding:

German Academic Exchange Service

2017

GGBC: Assessment, Monitoring and Management of Caucasian Biodiversity

A Georgian-German initiative to explore and barcode the biodiversity of the Caucasus area

Project lead:

Prof. Dr. Bernhard Misof

Funding:

Federal Ministry of Education and Research

2016

3D AMP

This plugin works with ImageJ and Fiji. You can use most kinds of (hyper)stacks with one or more channels in the commonimage formats.

Project lead:

Jörg Adrian

2014

eScience-Compliant Standards for Morphology

Increasing the Sustainability and Accessibility of Morphological Data through Ontology-based Standardization of Morphological and Taxonomic Descriptions and Graphical Image Content Annotations

Project lead:

Dr. Peter Grobe

Funding:

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Putu Mountain Survey, Liberia

Small Mammal Monitoring for an Iron Ore Mining project in the Putu Mountains of Liberia.

Project lead:

Dr. Jan Decher

Funding:

Putu Iron Ore Mining

Bumbuna Phase II Project

Baseline Study and Ecological Monitoring before and after the inundation of the Bumbuna Hydroelectric Project Reservoir.

Project lead:

Dr. Jan Decher

Funding:

Combined Ecology, BTO Services Ltd., UK

Longterm Mammal Monitoring…

Longterm Mammal Monitoring since 2000 in a "Forever Wild" protected private forest in central Vermont.

Project lead:

Dr. Jan Decher

Funding:

Colby Hill Ecological Project

New species of shrew from…

Exploration of the montane forest of Panay Island.

Project lead:

Dr. Rainer Hutterer

Funding:

University of Bochum

Island speciation within the…

Landsnails of the genus Theba show an endemic radiation on the Canary Islands and the adjacent West African Continent.

Project lead:

Prof. Dr. Bernhard Misof

Diversity of shrews in a…

Study of species diversity of shrews in tropical rainforests.

Project lead:

Dr. Rainer Hutterer

Funding:

University of Kisangani

Kleinsäugermonitoring im Ei...

Which terrestrial small mammals can be found in the different habitat types of the Eifel National Park? What are their microhabitat and food requirments?

Project lead:

Dr. Jan Decher

2011

GBOL- German Barcode of Life

"German Barcode of Life" ( GBOL ) is a project sponsored by the BMBF and includes the creation of inventories for the gentic characterization of the animals, fungi and plants of germany, using DNA-Barcodes.

Project lead:

Prof. Dr. J. Wolfgang Wägele

Funding:

Federal Ministry of Education and Research

FREDIE - Freshwater Diversity…

Freshwater Diversity Identification for Europe: Barcoding all European freshwater fishes, freshwater molluscs and mayflies.

Project lead:

PD Dr. Fabian Herder

Funding:

Leibniz Association

2008

Zooarchaeology in Morocco

Analysis of vertebrate faunas from palaeolithic sites.

Project lead:

Dr. Rainer Hutterer

Funding:

Deutsches Archäologisches Institut

Publications

Published in

2024

Rduch, V., Dey, L.-S., Ghazaryan, A., Husemann, M., Iankoshvili, G., Krammer, H.-J., Lambrecht, M., Marabuto, E., Mengual, X., Müller, B., Peters, R.S., Rulik, B., Salden, T., Silva-Brandão, K.L., Espeland, M., Thormann, J., Töpfer, T., Weiss, C., Żyła, D. & Hein, N. (2024): Exkursion in den Kaukasus: Der CaBOL BioBlitz 2022 in Armenien und Georgien. Koenigiana 18: 21-40

[read more]

2023

Jafari, S., Müller, B., Rulik, B., Rduch, V. & Peters, R. S. (2023): Another crack in the Dark Taxa wall: a custom DNA barcoding protocol for the species-rich and common Eurytomidae (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea) . Biodiversity Data Journal 11: e101998.

[read more]

Links:

Link [Open Access]...

Leese F., Woppowa L., Bálint M., Höss S., Krehenwinkel H., Lötters S., Meissner K., Nowak C., Rausch P., Rduch V., Rulik B., Weigand A. M., Zimmermann J., Koschorreck J. & Züghart W. 2023: DNA-basierte Biodiversitätsanalysen im Natur- und Umweltschutz: Welche Optionen haben wir für eine Standardisierung? Eine Handlungsempfehlung aus Forschung und Praxis. BfN-Schriften 666: 1-53. Bundesamt für Naturschutz, Bonn. DOI 10.19217/skr666

[read more]

Links:

Link [Open Access]

Bourlat S.J., Koch M., Kirse A., Langen K., Espeland M., Giebner H., Decher J., Ssymank A., Fonseca V.G. (2023): Metabarcoding dietary analysis in the insectivorous bat Nyctalus leisleri and implications for conservation. Biodiversity Data Journal 11: e111146. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.11.e111146

[read more]

Rduch, V. (2023): The Puku Antelope (Kobus vardonii). Die Neue Brehm Bücherei. Militzke Verlag GmbH, 266 pp.

[read more]

Links:

https://www.neuebrehm.de/buecher/771-the-puku-antelope

Töpfer, T., Franken, C., Rohland, H., Hutterer, R., Erdenebat; U., Batbayar, T. (2023): A Gyrfalcon Falco rusticolus from a Uyghurian well in Karabalgasun (Ordu-Baliq), Central Mongolia. – Journal of Global Archaeology 2023/6: 138-161.

[read more]

Links:

Full text

2022

Bakwo Fils, E. M., Flora, K. Z. J. , Evis, M. D., Aaron, M. M., Decher, J. (2022): New records and updates on the geographic distribution of the Egyptian Tomb Bat Taphozous perforatus (E. Geoffroy, 1818) in Cameroon. - Journal of Threatened Taxa 14:xxxxx–xxxxx.

[read more]

Böhme, W., Koppetsch, T., Rduch, V. (2022): Melanism in monitor lizards (Squamata: Varanidae), with a first case in the Nile Monitor, Varanus (Polydaedalus) niloticus (Squamata: Varanidae). - Herpetology Notes 15: 257-262; https://www.biotaxa.org/hn/article/view/72870

[read more]

Documents:

boehme_et_al._2022_melanism_in_monitor_lizards.pdf

Rduch, V. (2022): Die Puku-Antilope (Kobus vardonii). Neue Brehm Bücherei. VerlagsKG Wolf, 288 pp.

[read more]

Links:

https://www.neuebrehm.de/buecher/767-die-puku-antilope

2021

Decher, J., I. Bakarr, A. Hoffmann, T. Jentke, A. N. Klappert, G. Kowalski, K. Kuzdrowska, B. Malinowska & L. Rychlik. (2021). Aktualisierung unserer Kenntnisse über die Kleinsäugergemeinschaften im Nationalpark Unteres Odertal. Nationalpark-Jahrbuch Unteres Odertal 18:145-150.

[read more]

Monadjem, A., Richards, L. R., Decher, J., Hutterer, R., Mamba, M. L. , Guyton, J., Naskrecki, P., Markotter, W., Wipfler, B., Kropff, A. S., Dalton, D. L. (2021): A phylogeny for African Pipistrellus species with the description of a new species from West Africa (Mammalia: Chiroptera). - Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 191:548-574.

[read more]

Bärmann, E. V., Klappert, A. N., Chen, A. (2021): Litocranius walleri (Artiodactyla: Bovidae). - Mammalian Species 53(1005): 65-77.

[read more]

Böhme, W., Rduch, V. (2021): Über Schweine – gelöste und ungelöste Fragen aus Südamerika. – Koenigiana 15(2): 87-96.

[read more]

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 192 (1): 206-235.

[read more]

Hutterer, R., Schröder, O., Linstädter, J. (2021): Food and ornament: use of shellfish at Ifri Oudadane, a Holocene settlement in NE Morocco. African Archaeological Review 38: 73-94.

[read more]

Decher, J., Weber, N. (2021): Fledermaus-Portrait Nr. 14. Der Westliche Afrika-Langzungenflughund (Megaloglossus azagnyi Nesi, Kadjo &Hassanin, 2012). Nyctalus (N.F.) Berlin 19:467-471.

[read more]

Decher, J., R. Norris, M. Abedi-Lartey, J. Oppong, R. Hutterer, M. Weinbrenner, M. Koch, L. Podsiadlowski & C. W. Kilpatrick. (2021): A survey of small mammals in the Volta Region of Ghana with comments on zoogeography and conservation. - Zoosystema 43:253-281.

[read more]

Pradhan, N., R. W. Norris, J. Decher, J. K. Peterhans, C. R. Gray, G. Bauer, M. D. Carleton, and C. W. Kilpatrick.(2021): Phylogenetic relationships and biogeography of the Hybomys division (Muridae: Murinae: Arvicanthini), rodents endemic to Africa's rainforests. - Journal of Vertebrate Biology 70:21034.21031.

[read more]

Rduch, V & Jentke, T. (2021): Eine Forschungsreise nach Sambia: Alarmierende Neuigkeiten von den Puku-Antilopen (Kobus vardonii) im Kasanka-Nationalpark. Koenigiana 15(1): 3-20

[read more]

Rduch, V. & Jentke, T. (2021): Alarming decline of bovids in Kasanka National Park, Zambia: a case study of the puku antelope (Kobus vardonii). African Journal of Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/aje.12843

[read more]

Links:

https://doi.org/10.1111/aje.12843

Pages

Teaching

Staff of the Mammal Section participate in the Master's programm OEP at Uni Bonn by giving a lecture series (during summer semester) and practical course (during winter semester) on the "Evolution of Mammals" .

The lecture series provides an overview of the worldwide diversity of mammals, including their phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history. In the practical, hands-on work with collection specimens will provide more in-depth knowledge about the topics covered in the lecture, with a special focus on adaptations of mammals to their respective environment.

Collection

Focus of the scientific mammal collections are small mammals of the Palearctic and Africa, but there are also important collections from South America and East Asia.

The collection houses about 120,000 specimens representing 1,800 species of mammals. There are 100 primary type specimens (holo-, lecto- and neotypes) and 500 paratypes; including those of extinct species.

We constantly work on digitization of our collection. The digital catalogue can be found here: https://collections.zfmk.de/.

Contact person

Dr. Jan Decher

Acting Head of Department

Curator

Mammalogy

Bat Banding Centre

+49 228 9122-262

+49 228 9122-212

j.decher [at] zfmk.de

Collection Management Vertebrata

The collection manager supports the sections in the organisation of the vertebrate collections.

to management

Digital Catalogue Mammalia

here you find our constantly updated digital catalogue

Mammalia Catalogue

Search form

Mammalogy (Mammals)

Reiter

Scientist, permanent position

Technical or laboratory assistant

Scientist, third-party funded

Postdoc

MSc or Diploma Candidate

Bachelor Candidate

Honorary capacity

Former students

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2014

2011

2008

Pages

2024

2023

2022

2021

Pages

Contact person

Collection Management Vertebrata

Digital Catalogue Mammalia