Short Description
The 'First Zoological Department (Vertebrates)', owing to its scientific collections – the Mammal, the Bird, the Fish, the Herpetological and the Archaeozoological Collection – as well as the Zoological Preparation unit, the most important institution in the field of vertebrate systematics in Austria.
Its more than 1 500 000 objects make this department one of the most comprehensive and one of the most relevant museum collections worldwide.
The Department’s equipment includes:
• stereomicroscop
- Zeiss SteREO Discovery.V8 (objective S Achromat 0.5x and 0.3x) with camera Axiocam 208 color (image & video), Wild Heerbrugg M5 & M5A [Fish Collection].
- Leica Wild M8 ZOOM [Mammal Collection].
- Leica Wild M 420, Leica M50, Zeiss Stemi SV11 [Herpetological Collection].
• Portable HQ40d meter, Hach company, for conductivity, oxygen, pH and temperature measurements. [Herpetological Collection].
• Jaz spectrometer, Ocean Optics company [Bird Collection].
• Photo station, Kaiser company, RB 5000 DL, Copy Lightning Unit 5556 [Fish Collection].
In addition, the corresponding technical libraries and faunistic data bases, including the Herpetofaunistic Database, must be emphasised.
Scientific curators are in charge of the different sections of the vertebrate collections. Due to this wide spectrum of competence, the staff of the vertebrate department is engaged in numerous national and international projects on nature and species protection.
Contact Person
Dr. Ernst Mikschi
Research Services
Possible after consultation:
• Vertebrate identification
• DNA analyses of tissue samples
• Provision of photo material
• Support of research/scientific work with respect to issues concerning the collection
Methods & Expertise for Research Infrastructure
The research and working focus is on vertebrate systematics, including faunal-zoogeographical, morphological, anatomical, physiological, embryological, taxonomical, molecular-genetical, chorological, ecological and ethological field and laboratory studies.
The determination of bone fragments from archaeological excavations (Archaeozoological Collection) with respect to species (differentiation of wild and domestic forms), sex, age of individuals, size, shape, pathological symptoms and traces from carving, allows conclusions to be drawn on the history of faunas, domesticates and economics.
Equipment
Austrian Armed Forces
Austria research platform
DiSSCo
MA 22, Vienna
Museum Alexander König, Bonn
ÖGH Austrian Society for Herpetology
SEH Societas Europaea Herpetologica
DGHT German Society for Herpetology and Terraristics
Schönbrunn Zoo
Turtle Island
Renner SC, Bates PJJ (2020) Historic changes in species composition for a globally unique bird community Scientific Reports 10:10739 doi:10.1038/s41598-020-67400-z
Renner SC et al. (2016a) Forests of opportunities and mischief: disentangling the interactions between forests, parasites and immune responses International Journal for Parasitology 46:571-579 doi:10.1016/j.ijpara.2016.04.008
Renner SC, Rappole JH, Milensky CM, Myint Aung, Nay Myo Shwe, Thein Aung (2015) Avifauna of the Southeastern Himalayan Mountains and neighboring Myanmar hill country Bonn Zoological Bulletin - Supplementum 62:1-75
Renner SC, Rappole JH, Myint Kyaw, Milensky CM, Päckert M (2017) Genetic confirmation of the species status of Jabouilleia naungmungensis Journal of Ornithology 159:63-71 doi:10.1007/s10336-017-1493-0
Renner SC et al. (2016b) Using multiple landscape genetic approaches to test the validity of genetic clusters in a species characterized by an isolation-by-distance pattern Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 118:292-303 doi:10.1111/bij.12737
van Hoesel W, Santiago Alarcon D, Marzal A, Renner SC (2020) Effects of forest structure on the interaction between avian hosts, dipteran vectors and haemosporidian parasites BMC Ecology 20:47 doi:10.1186/s12898-020-00315-5
Dvorak, M., Landmann, A., Teufelbauer, N., Wichmann, G., Berg, H.-M. & Probst, R. (2018): Erhaltungszustand und Gefährdungssituation der Brutvögel Österreichs: Rote Liste (5. Fassung) und Liste für den Vogelschutz prioritärer Arten (1. Fassung). – Egretta - Vogelkundliche Nachrichten aus Österreich, 55: 4-40.
Berg, H.-M. & Haring, E. (2016): Erster Nachweis der Steppenkragentrappe Chlamydotis macqueenii (J.E Gray, 1832) für Österreich. – Egretta - Vogelkundliche Nachrichten aus Österreich, 54: 150-154.
Palandačić et al. (2020) European minnows through time: museum collections aid genetic assessment of species introductions in freshwater fishes (Cyprinidae: Phoxinus species complex). Heredity, 124, 410–422. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41437-019-0292-1
Palandačić et al. (2017) Contrasting morphology with molecular data: an approach to revision of species complexes based on the example of European Phoxinus (Cyprinidae). BMC Evolutionary Biology, 17 (1), 1. https://bmcevolbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12862-017-1032-x
Ramler et al. (2017) Morphological divergence of lake and stream Phoxinus of Northern Italy and the Danube basin based on geometric morphometric analysis. Ecology and Evolution, 2017, 7(2): 572-584.
Palandačić et al. (2015) Molecular data suggest a multispecies complex of Phoxinus (Cyprinidae) in the Western Balkan Peninsula. Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 92, 118-123. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790315001670
Palandačić et al. (2012) Molecular data as a possible tool for tracing groundwater flow in karst environment: example of Delminichthys adspersus in Dinaric karst system. Ecohydrology, 5(6): 791-797. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eco.269/abstract
Palandačić et al. (2012) Fish migrate underground: the example of Delminichthys adspersus (Cyprinidae). Molecular Ecology, 21(7): 1658-1671. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2012.05507.x/pdf
Englmaier GK, Tesfaye G, Bogutskaya NG (2020) A new species of Enteromius (Actinopterygii, Cyprinidae, Smiliogastrinae) from the Awash River, Ethiopia, and the re-establishment of E. akakianus. ZooKeys 902:107-150. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.902.39606
Bogutskaya NG, Ahnelt H (2019) New data on the western Balkan leuciscids Alburnoides and Alburnus (Teleostei, Leuciscidae) from the Vjosa River, Albania. ZooKeys 870:101-115. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.870.36235
Bogutskaya NG, Diripasko OA, Zupančič P, Jelić D, Naseka A (2019) Phenotypic diversity in an endangered freshwater fish Squalius microlepis (Actinopterygii, Leuciscidae). ZooKeys 897: 115-147. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.897.38768
Bogutskaya NG, Jelić D, Vucić M, Jelić M, Diripasko OA, Stefanov T, Klobučar G (2019) Description of a new species of Phoxinus from the upper Krka River (Adriatic Basin) in Croatia (Actinopterygii: Leuciscidae), first discovered as a molecular clade. Journal of Fish Biology 96(2): 378-393 https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.14210
Bogutskaya NG, Stefanov T, Naseka AM, Diripasko OA (2019) A recent record of Romanogobio antipai (Actinopterygii, Cyprinidae, Gobioninae) from the Danube River in Bulgaria. ZooKeys 825: 105–122. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.825.32434
Bogutskaya NG, Zupančič P, Jelić D, Diripasko OA, Naseka AM (2017) Description of a new species of Alburnus Rafinesque, 1820 (Actinopterygii, Cyprinidae, Leuciscinae) from the Kolpa River in the Sava River system (upper Danube drainage), with remarks on the geographical distribution of shemayas in the Danube. ZooKeys 688: 81−110. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.688.11261
Jouladeh Roudbar A, Eagderi S, Esmaeili HR,·Coad BW, Bogutskaya NG (2016) A molecular approach to the genus Alburnoides using COI sequences data set and the description of a new species, A. damghani, from the Damghan River system (the Dasht-e Kavir Basin, Iran) (Actinopterygii, Cyprinidae). ZooKeys 579: 157−161 https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.579.7665
Kartavtsev YuF, Batischeva NM, Bogutskaya NG, Katugina AO, Hanzawa N (2016) Mitochondrial DNA Part A DNA Mapping, Sequencing, and Analysis Molecular systematics and DNA barcoding of Altai osmans, oreoleuciscus (Pisces, Cyprinidae, Leuciscinae), and their nearest relatives, inferred from sequences of cytochrome b (Cyt- b), cytochrome oxidase c (Co-1), and complete mitochondrial genome. Mitochondrial DNA Part A 28(4):502-517 https://doi.org/10.3109/24701394.2016.1149822
Diripasko OA, Bogutskaya NG, Dem’yanenko KV, Izergin LV (2015) Sea of Azov: a brief review of the environment and fishery. Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management, 18(2):184-194 https://doi.org/10.1080/14634988.2015.1039428