Vermes
The sub-collection comprises over 100,000 specimens from various animal groups. It provides important comparative data on a global scale for research into biodiversity, climate change and parasitology in changing ecosystems.
Overview
The Vermes sub-collection (worm-like animals) is unique in Germany in terms of its composition. It comprises more than 100,000 specimens from a wide variety of worm-like animal groups and contains extensive type specimens.
Of particular historical significance is the integrated collection of Carl Asmund Rudolphi (1771–1832), the founder of helminthology. It also includes the estate of collection and acquisition documents from his historic workplace.
The sub-collection brings together free-living and parasitic forms from marine, limnic and terrestrial habitats. Among others, it includes:
- Plathelminthes (flatworms), including free-living Turbellaria as well as parasitic Trematoda and Cestoda
- Gnathostomulida (jawed worms)
- Nemertini (nemerteans)
- Rotatoria (rotifers)
- Acanthocephala (acanthocephalans)
- Gastrotricha (gastrotrichs)
- Nematoda (roundworms) and Nematomorpha (threadworms)
- Kinorhyncha (spiny-necked worms)
- Priapulida (priapulids)
- Loricifera (corset worms)
- Sipunculida (sipuncules) and Echiurida (hedgehog worms)
- Pogonophora (bearded worms)
- Annelida, comprising Oligochaeta (oligochaetes), Hirudinea (leeches) and Polychaeta (polychaetes)
- Chaetognatha (arrow worms)
Collection structure (selection):
- approx. 100,000 specimens
- 3,912 type specimens
- approx. 14,000 wet specimens
- approx. 16,000 microscopic specimens
- numerous dry specimens (e.g. tubes)
- Specialist library with approx. 19,000 offprints, monographs and books
Access
A large proportion of the collection has been digitised and can be searched via internal and publicly accessible database systems. The sub-collection is available to researchers for academic work, particularly in relation to taxonomic, morphological, ecological and parasitological studies.
Specialist support and further development are provided within the framework of national and international research collaborations.
History
The origins of the sub-collection date back over 300 years and lie in the early zoological holdings of the Academy of Sciences’ natural history cabinet. Over the course of the 19th century, the collection was relocated several times before being brought together in the current museum building in 1889.
Significant additions were made through research voyages in the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as through major expeditions such as the German Deep-Sea Expedition to Valdivia (1898–1899) and the German South Polar Expedition (1901–1903). These historical collections remain an important reference for comparative studies to this day.
Since the late 20th century, the deep sea has once again become a central focus of research. Expeditions in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans have expanded the sub-collection, particularly with regard to organisms of the meiofauna, i.e. bottom-dwelling animals measuring less than one millimetre in size.
Research
The Vertebrate Collection is a key research facility for taxonomy, morphology, zoogeography and biodiversity research. Thanks to its broad systematic coverage, it is particularly well-suited to comparative studies spanning long periods of time.
A key focus is on analysing changes in ecosystems, for example in connection with climate change and the biodiversity crisis. Meiofaunal animal groups serve as bioindicators in this context, as they are sensitive to environmental changes.
Another focus is on parasitology, particularly host-parasite relationships in changing ecosystems. By comparing historical and current collections, long-term changes in distribution and morphology can be traced.