Biodiversity and earth system dynamics

Actuopalaeontology

Marine Geology

Marine Sedimentology

Palaeoclimate & Palaeoenvironmental Research

The section is primarily focusing on the quantitative, semi-quanitative and qualitative reconstruction of selected palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental parameters, as well as the dynamics of these parameters in space and time.

Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment

Tübingen, Schöningen

As of October 2009, the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment (SHEP) was built and established at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen. In May of 2017, SHEP became an institute of the Leibniz Association.

Palaeozoology I – Amber Research

The Senckenberg Research Institute and Nature Museum has been active in palaeontological research for more than 150 years. There has been a Bernstein (Amber) Collection for over 100 years but little research has been done on this collection.

Crustacea

In the Crustacea section we mainly study decapods. These are animals that the non-specialist will easily classify as crustaceans.

Historical Geology & Facies

The section belongs to the Division of Palaeontology and Historical Geology – Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt

Marine Invertebrates I

Focus of our research in section Marine Invertebrates I is the phylum Porifera (sponges). Furthermore, the taxa Cnidaria (corals in particular), Tunicata (ascidians and salps) and Ctenophora (warty comb jellies) are part of our research collections.

Meteorite Research

The name meteorite is greek and means: that which originates in the atmosphere.  The section Meteoritenforschung studies mineralogical and chemical properties of meteorites.

Palaeoanthropology

The Section Palaeoanthropology closely cooperates with the Research Centre ROCEEH of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and with New York University in the field of Human Paleobiomics.

Palaeobotany

Palaeobotany is a lifely discipline nestled between geosciences and biosciences. It deals with the evolution of plant life from its beginnings on the one hand, and pays attention to the rocks containing the respective fossils on the other.

Palaeoentomology

The section Palaeoentomology manages and curates the collection of fossil invertebrates, mostly fossil Insects, from the Messel pit fossil site. Due to excavations in the Messel pi, each year new finds get integrated into the collection.

Palaeoherpetology

In the section Palaeoherpetology, established in the Messel research department, we are chiefly concerned with lower vertebrates, particularly lizards and snakes.

Palaeoclimate & Palaeoenvironmental Research

The section is primarily focusing on the quantitative, semi-quanitative and qualitative reconstruction of selected palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental parameters, as well as the dynamics of these parameters in space and time.

Palaeozoology II

The section within the Division of Palaeontology and Historical Geology was instituted in 1967 with focus on fossil Cnidaria. The head of the section at that time, Dr Rudolf Birenheide, was a specialist on fossil corals, in particular from the Devonian.

Palaeozoology III

Devonian geology and palaeontology are the main working fields. Special focus is put on taxononomy, phylogeny and palaeobiogeography of Devonian brachiopods.

Palynology & Microvertebrata of the Palaeozoic

Die Palynologie ist ein Wissenschaftszweig, der sowohl in der Geologie/Paläontologie aber auch in der Botanik beheimatet ist.

Quaternary Small Mammals

The scientific field of the section is biodiversity and evolution of Quaternary small mammal assemblages, which are investigated in the framework of international research projects and collaborations.

Quaternary Microfloras

The Quaternary plants section was established in 2000 when the Institute of Quaternary Palaeontology, Weimar, was joined with the Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft. The section continues the traditions of palaeobotanical research in Weimar, based on the abundant plant remains of the Thuringian Travertine deposits.

ROCEEH

The research center “The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans (ROCEEH)”, supported by the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, investigates the role of culture in early expansions of humanity. The project encompasses the time from three million to 20.000 years ago, and spans the whole geographical area from Africa to Europe.

Human Ethology Film Archive

In 2014 the archive, which comprises approx. 800 hours of film today, was entrusted to Senckenberg, where it is welcomed as the, now, world’s largest archive on human bio-cultural diversity and an ideal complement to our research on human evolution.

Tertiary Mammals & Morphometrics

In the Section Tertiary Mammals and Morphometrics, palaeoanthropologists and palaeontologists are working on questions on the evolution of mammals and their adaptation to the environment.

Geology and Palaeontology

Since nearly 200 years the Museum of Natural History Görlitz got a stuff position of a geological curator for the first time. While one third of the tasks in the 1990s consisted of collection work, research and public relations, the focus of the work later shifted in favor of research with the resulting collection work.

Geochronology

The Geochronology Section of the Senckenberg Natural History Collections Dresden exists since 2007 and comprises three laboratories for sample preparation and one geochronology laboratory (LA-ICP-MS) with double door system and gas bottle storage area.

Palaeobotany

Palaeozoology

Erforschung der vorzeitlichen Tierwelt

Die Paläozoologie als wesentlicher Teilbereich der Paläontologie (der Lehre von den Lebewesen der erdgeschichtlichen Vergangenheit) befasst sich mit den Fossilien, die ehemaligen tierischen Lebewesen zugeordnet werden können. In der Sektion Paläozoologie der SNSD spielen neben dem Benennen und Zuordnen (Taxonomie und Systematik) auch Fragestellungen rund um die Evolution der Organismen und Lebensgemeinschaften sowie die Veränderung der Lebensräume in Zeit und Raum eine sehr wichtige Rolle.

Petrography