Insights

Bavarian State Collection for Botany and Bavarian State Collection Zoology SNSB researchers determine the exact diet of Australian carnivorous plants by analyzing the genes of their prey. Even tiny parasites on captured insects could be detected in this way. The scientists have now published the results of their study in the journal Scientific Reports. Carnivorous […]

Zoologische Staatssammlung München Four instead of only two tentacles located on their heads: This feature could be one of the reasons for the vast diversity among snails. Using genetic analysis, researchers at the SNSB and the University of Tokyo have discovered that snails began to develop four tentacles instead of two about 300 million to […]

AI-based Robotics Assist With the Discovery of Small Invertebrates Biodiversity studies that analyse large numbers of specimens are being published at an unprecedented scale. The study objects, primarily insects, are often obtained using Malaise traps. The traps were invented by the Swedish entomologist Rene Malaise to collect sawflies, but they are very efficient for other […]

Zoologische Staatssammlung München The extinct dwarf elephant Palaeoloxodon tiliensis from the Greek island of Tilos seemingly possessed a similar hearing range to its larger relatives living today. Like them, it would hear in low frequency ranges. SNSB zoologist Anneke van Heteren, together with scientists from the National University and the Kapodistrias University of Athens, was […]

Bavarian State Collection of Zoology An international team, led by the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology (ZSM-SNSB), has discovered a minuscule new species of chameleon. The sole known, apparently adult male of the new species has a body size of just 13.5 mm, making it the smallest known male of the roughly 11,500 known non-avian […]

Bavarian State Collection of Zoology Researchers at the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology (SNSB-ZSM), the Ludwig-Maximilians University and Hochschule München have discovered that the web-footed gecko Pachydactylus rangei from Namibia fluoresces neon-green under UV light in a stripe along its flank and around its eye. These markings, best visible from the perspective of a gecko, […]

Bavarian State Collection for Zoology Madagascar is home to almost half of all known 217 chameleon species. However, their habitats are also threatened to a dramatic level and the vast majority of the primary rainforest has already been destroyed. Scientists from Germany and Madagascar have now discovered three new species and revalidated another species. The […]

DNFS and CETAF We are proud to announce that the CETAF Code of Conduct on Access and Benefit Sharing has just been officially recognised as the first best practice on ABS by the European Commission. The CETAF Code of Conduct (CoC) was submitted officially for recognition as best practice to the EU under Article 8 […]

GeoBio-Center at LMU and Bavarian State Collection for Zoology A collaborative research project carried out under the auspices of the GeoBio-Center at LMU has developed an integrative approach to the classification of fossil cichlids, and identified the oldest known member of the Tribe Oreochromini. Cichlids (Cichlidae) are a group of small to medium-sized fish that […]

Bavarian State Collection for Zoology Scientists of the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology (SNSB-ZSM) and the University of Göttingen have discovered two new species of giant stick insects, which measure more than 20 centimeters body length and are among the largest insects in Madagascar. Unlike most other stick insects the adult males of these phasmids […]