Phylogenetic systematics of animals

The primary questions asked in our research group are: What is a species, and how can we recognize it? We study this in animals, mostly invertebrates, from island and continental systems. Our focus groups are insects, mainly grasshoppers and bushcrickets (Orthoptera), and reptiles. We use data from hybridization capture, whole-genome resequencing, and ddRAD sequencing to establish phylogenetic frameworks. We then combine the results from this approach with morphological, behavioral, bioacoustic data and classical DNA barcoding to identify and describe species. At a more detailed level, we use population genomic and ecological data to assess the conservation status of potentially threatened species.

Group leader: Dr. Oliver Hawlitschek

Research themes

• Systematics and taxonomy of the grasshopper subfamily Gomphocerinae (Orthoptera: Acrididae)
• Evolution of song and courtship in hybrid zones of grasshoppers
• Systematics of phasmids of the Malagasy region
• Conservation genomics of reptiles of the Comoros Archipelago
• Faunal inventories of the Comoros Archipelago