Elke Zimmermann (zoologist)

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Elke Zimmermann (born May 24, 1958 in Stuttgart ; † July 25, 2019 there ) was a German zoologist , primatologist and behavioral scientist . She was an author, editor and professor for zoology and headed the institute for zoology at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover . She dealt with lemurs , shrews , rodents , cats and dogs .

Life

After graduating from the Königin-Charlotte-Gymnasium in Stuttgart (1977), Zimmermann studied biology from 1977 to 1981 with a diploma at the University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim and obtained his doctorate ( Dr. rer. Nat. ) There in 1985 at the Institute of Zoology on neurobiology Basics of acoustic communication using the poison dart frog model, funded by a grant from the German National Academic Foundation . From 1985 to 1989 Zimmermann was a research assistant there within the framework of the DFG priority program Fundamentals of Primate Keeping and during this time completed his habilitation on acoustic communication in animals.

From 1990 to 1992 Zimmermann moved to the University of Konstanz , where he worked as a senior research assistant at Hubert Markl 's chair .

Zimmermann established the research group / department of biocommunication at the German Primate Center in Göttingen with a DFG Heisenberg grant and worked there from 1992 to 1996. In 1996, Zimmermann was offered a university professorship (C4) for general zoology at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hanover and was director of the Institute of Zoology. In 2013 she received a visiting professorship from the University of Montpellier (France), and she also taught as a visiting professor at the University of Mahajanga (Madagascar).

Act

Zimmermann's zoological research focused on experimental behavioral and evolutionary research with the working groups behavioral ecology and nature conservation genetics, biocommunication and cognitive ethology. Zimmermann was particularly interested in the relationships between communication, cognition, behavior and health and the evolution of animals in social systems of different complexity, as well as in patterns, processes and mechanisms of the evolution of biodiversity. Here comes cryptic Artkomplexen as the evolution of biodiversity of Malagasy primates (lemurs, mouse lemurs) of particular importance. The work of Zimmermann's team went, for example, to B. the discovery of new species of lemurs and their parasites as well as poison frogs. In 1981 Zimmermann also succeeded in detecting ultrasonic sounds in non-human primates for the first time using new bioacoustic techniques. The successful first offspring of the Goodman lemur ( Microcebus lehilahytsara ) from the highland rainforest of eastern Madagascar can be traced back to the Zimmermann team .

Zimmermann was a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, member of the scientific advisory board of the German Primate Center in Göttingen, senator at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, member of the advisory board of the DFG-GK 289: Perspektiven der Primatologie, chairwoman of the Society for Primatology eV (1998-2001) and initiator and spokesperson of DFG-FOR 499: Acoustic communication of affects in non-human mammals and humans. She is a founding member of the Center for Systemic Neurosciences in Hanover and an elected member of EPHE, Sorbonne, Paris (France).

In addition, the working group was active in the keeping and breeding of tropical wild animals for zoos, research institutes and private households (especially mouse lemurs and pointed squirrels), for national and international research funding organizations, nature conservation organizations and ministries as an expert and consultant.

Zimmermann was one in 1997 to the Erstbeschreibern of gold brown mouse lemurs ( Microcebus ravelobensis ) in 2006 to Erstbeschreibern of aeecl's sportive lemur ( Lepilemur aeeclis ), the randrianasolo's sportive lemur ( Lepilemur randrianasoli ) of Danfoss' mouse lemur ( Microcebus danfossi ) and the sahamalaza sportive lemur ( Lepilemur sahamalazensis ) and in 2007 to the Erstbeschreibern of manasamody-Wieselmaki ( Lepilemur manasamody ) connected to the Grewcock-Wieselmaki ( Lepilemur grewcocki ) synonymised was the Bongolava mouse lemur ( Microcebus bongolavensis ) and Otto's Sportive Lemur ( Lepilemur otto ).

Zimmermann published the books Das Züchten von Terrarientieren - Pflege, Behavior, Reproduction (1983), Reptiles and Amphibians: Care, Behavior, Reproduction (1993), Evolution of Emotional Communication: from Sounds in Nonhuman Mammals to Speech and Music in Man (2013) and The Dwarf and Mouse Lemurs of Madagascar (2016). In 2013, she wrote the entry about the Senegal-Galago ( Galago senegalensis ) for Kingdons Mammals of Africa in collaboration with Thomas M. Butynski and Leanne T. Nash .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary notice for Elke Zimmermann in the Hannoverschen Allgemeine from July 31, 2019, p. 24, accessed on July 31, 2019
  2. ↑ GRK 289: Perspektiven der Primatologie: Integration of genetic, neurobiological and ethological research approaches . German Research Foundation. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  3. ↑ FOR 499: Acoustic communication of affects in non-human mammals and humans: production, perception and neural processing . German Research Foundation. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  4. ↑ Center for Systems Neuroscience (ZSN) Hanover: Members ( English , PDF) Stiftung Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Carpenter, Elke
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German zoologist
DATE OF BIRTH May 24, 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Stuttgart
DATE OF DEATH July 25, 2019
Place of death Stuttgart