Centre of Natural History
(+49) 40 42838-5633
Dr. Martin Husemann (Head of Entomology) +49 40 42 838 2373, martin.husemann@uni-hamburg.de (Entomology, Phylogenetics, Population Genetics)
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Dreyer (will retire in September 2014), Prof. Dr. Dirk Brandis, Zoological Museum Kiel
Prof. Dr. Matthias Glaubrecht, Professur Biodiversität der Tiere, Tel.: +49 40 42 838-2275, Matthias.Glaubrecht@uni-hamburg.de
As the structure of the Zoological Museum Hamburg and the other parts of the Natural History Museums of the University of Hamburg is currently changing, we will not submit our current organogram, as this will change soon. We hope to be able to soon also change the NORe statues and integrate (add) the other Natural History Museums of the University of Hamburg) to NORe, however, we will first have to await the implementation of the new structure in the University of Hamburg as well the senate.
Director of the Zoological Museum at the University of Hamburg is in hierarchy under Director of the Zoological Institute (Prof. Dr. Jörg Ganzhorn) Head of the MIN Faculty (Prof. Dr. Gräner) President of the University of Hamburg (Prof. Dr. Lenzen)
| Permanent (P) | Non – Permanent (NP) | |
|---|---|---|
| a) TOTAL scientific staff | 8 | 0 |
| b) Scientific staff linked to Collections | 8 | 0 |
| c) Post-docs / PhD students | 0 | 30 |
| d) Others (Associates, etc.) | 0 | 10 |
| TOTAL (a+b+c+d) | 16 | 40 |
| Permanent (P) | Non – Permanent (NP) | |
|---|---|---|
| e) Exhibitions | 4 | 0 |
| f) Collection Managers / technicians | 10 | 0 |
| g) Others | 2 | 3 |
| TOTAL (e+f+g) | 16 | 3 |
- Morphology laboratory (several rooms)
- SEM
- TEM
- Genetic laboratory (several rooms) Moreover, each department has one collection laboratory for systematics, taxonomy, washing of samples, etc.
SEM, TEM, CLSM, martSCAN3D (Breuckmann GmbH, Meersburg, Germany) mit Optocat. PolyWorks v. 11 (InnovMetric Software Inc., Québec, Canada); SAGA 2.0.7 (System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses, SAGA Development Team 2011); µsurf custom Oberflächentopometer (Nanofocus AG, Germany; zPrinter 650 (zcorporation); MicroScribe G2x, animal facilities, Histo-scanner
All collections are used for research in systematics, morphology, evolutionary research, ecology, etc and are constantly developed based on the research and new material added.
- In the focus of research in the Invertebrates 1 are the morphology and evolution of different animal taxa and different organ systems.
- The work in the department Invertebrates 2 focuses on the assessment of biodiversity and distribution patterns and its potential drivers across different marine benthic habitats and regions with special emphasis on deep-sea areas and the Southern Ocean. The latter are difficult to sample, yet have been intensely studied over the last few years due to increased effort in the framework of international projects. Across national natural history collections the ZMH represents a unique position in marine biodiversity research of the Southern Ocean deep sea. It has a close collaboration with the German Centre of Marine Biodiversity Research (DZMB, Senckenberg located in Wilhelmshaven and Hamburg).
In the entomology department research covers the evolution of the genus Nasonia (Hymenoptera), the life history and taxonomy of Pteromalidae (Hymenoptera), higher level phylogeny of Hymenoptera, biodiversity of Malagasy Odonata, taxonomy and biology of Phasmatodea and Mantodea, taxonomy and biology of Trichoptera, phylogeny and evolution of primarily wingless hexapods.
In Malacology biodiversity and evolution of land snails is studied with the main focus of the department is biodiversity research about land snails. The spectrum of subjects reaches from species surveys, taxonomical revisions, and phylogenetic analyses to analyses of speciation processes. Geographical focuses are South-eastern Europe, Asia anterior, Uganda and Columbia. Moreover, biogeography and macroecology as well as molecular phylogeny of the bilaterian phyla, considering especially the lophophorate lineages are important research areas.
In ichthyology one of the major research areas is habitat modeling for fish species and other taxa. There is a great need to produce predictive models to relate biological (community, population and individual) data to environmental factors - such that the development of methods to be used to help interpret and predict changes in environments and faunas.
A major goal of the research is therefore to develop new types of habitat models where predictions are based on detailed knowledge of habitat use and population dynamics of fishes and other taxa. Moreover, biodiversity, ecology and speciation of estuarine andfluvial fishes is studies besides the systematics, morphology, taxonomy and habitat use of Elasmobranchs, Ostarioclupeomorpha and Percomorpha.
The main research focus in the herpetology department: Research interests include
- Biodiversity and systematics of SE Asian amphibians: Three projects currently investigate the species inventory of East Malaysian (Borneo) protected areas, the frog communities in disturbed habitats on the island of Sumatra, and the correlation of frog communities and watershed areas on Sumatra. These works include genetic barcoding of the respective areas.
- Funktional morphology: Some of the studies focus on larval morphology, their functional and phylogenetic significance in the evolution of frogs. Other work is done on the morphology and function of the breast should apparatus of frogs. Studies on reptiles include work on the nasal morphology of reptiles, (in collaboration) the genetic phylogeny of African house snakes, and the taxonomy and systematics of Agamidae.
In mammalogy the evolution and functional morphology of the dentition of herbivorous mammals is investigated. The functional analysis of dentition of herbivore mammals constitutes the basis for the understanding of habitat driven adaptation in food ecology. In order to produce a convincing reconstruction of habitat specific food adaptation in extant as well as in fossil ungulates, new methods for inferring dietary preferences and are being developed.
Our focus in on the analysis of functional adaptation of the masticatory system (Enamel Ridge Morphometry, ontogenetic wear gradients and experimental occlusal mechanics). In our present work therefore bio-mechanic considerations play an important role. Moreover, the use of resources in terrestrial habitats is analyzed and the occlusal fingerprint analyser (OFA) is used as a virtual 3D tool for reconstructing masticatory movement of teeth in mammalian dentitions.
Mitteilungen aus dem Hamburgischen Zoologischen Museum und Institut Entomologische Mitteilungen aus dem Hamburgischen Zoologischen Museum und Institut Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg Abhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg
| Typology | Primary types | Individual specimens/objects | % registered cards | % recorded cards in database | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | |||||
| 1.2 | |||||
| 1.3 | |||||
| 1.4 | |||||
| ... |
| Typology | Primary types | Individual specimens/objects | % registered cards | % recorded cards in database | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | Zoology | 14766 | 10000000 | 30 | 10 |
Many scientific libraries, for entomology we host the most important library in north Germany.
740 educational science dispositions per year (guided tours for people of 5 to 99 yeas, with the following topic: wales and dolphins, evolution of wales, of primates, dinosaur and relatives, insects, North and Eastern Sea, endangered Biodiversity. Birthday parties with following themes: dinosaurs, wales, safari, native animals).
Long museum night from 6 p.am to 2 am. With guided tours to the collections, activities around a scientific topic e.g. neozoa, biodiversity. Science night from 5 p.am to 12 p.am with a look in the research program of the museum. Advanced training for teachers, educational student courses.
- open house days attract many visitors (usually about 2000 in a few hours)
- Press work
Dr. Jakob Hallermann +49 42838 2283, hallermann@ uni-hamburg.de Daniel Bein +49 42838 2276 Daniel.bein@uni-hamburg.de
increasing of 10 % per year
Education for teachers, training for customs’ administrators
Yes, several bachelor and master courses ranging from systematics, vial evolution, ecology to outreach activities in special classes
No
Customs employee training
Open house, long nights of the museums and of science
Dr. Jakob Hallermann ++49 42838 2283, hallermann@ uni-hamburg.de Daniel Bein ++40 42838 2276 Daniel.bein@uni-hamburg.de
Taxonomy
Phylogenetic systematics
Functional morphology Habitat modelling Ecomorpholopgy Marine biology
DNA Barcoding
Tropical Biodiversity
continuous efforts in above mentioned disciplines
GBIF
European Journal of Taxonomy