GIEßEN: University Collections: Justus Liebig University Gießen

Abstract

The collection of the Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics at the Justus Liebig University Gießen comprises a broad range of invertebrates and vertebrates, skulls, eggs, bird nests, and genetic resources. In total, more than half a million specimens of organismic samples and more than 20,000 specimens of genetic samples are stocked. The collection is complemented by anatomic maps and models. As the Justus Liebig University strongly emphasizes organismic aspects of academic training in biology, a large part of the collection is regularly used for teaching Germany’s native fauna. For example, approximately 5000 invertebrates out of 90 taxa are used for mandatory courses on taxonomic identification. The collection also contains voucher specimens of scientific studies and research projects of the past decades. A collection’s highlight is the material sampled for the faunistic inventory of the Hoher Vogelsberg area in Hesse, which is part of the largest volcanic region in Europe. Another highlight is one of the largest DNA reference collections for worldwide freshwater mollusks. It is on of the most complete wet collections of macrozoobenthic taxa of worldwide ancient lakes, i.e. extant lakes orders of magnitudes older than most lakes on earth. This part of the collection is also a valuable DNA reference collection for some poorly studied regions such as the Tibetan Plateau.