Thematic symposia (4)
Evolutionary biology is not only a biological subdiscipline but provides us with the foundation stone for biology in general. However, to date two of the least understood phenomena in evolutionary biology are the diversity of biological organisms, or biodiversity, which is far from being discovered, and its causation (i.e. the evolutionary processes leading to it). Surprisingly, decades after the “Modern Synthesis” as most comprehensive scientific achievement in this field and centuries after the commencement of research in biological systematics, we are still unable to satisfyingly answer apparently simple questions such as (i) how many species inhabit the earth today, (2) how did this diversity originate, and (3) how is this diversity distributed. While many contributions in malacology center around morphology, anatomy, and in particular phylogenetic relationships within and among its constituent taxa, rarely molluscs have been utilized explicitly as models for the study of general aspects in evolutionary biology. However, we feel that also this particular group with its many features and facettes is highly suitable for providing some fundamental insights into the mechanisms of the genesis of biodiversity, its pattern in historical biogeography and the underlying processes of speciation and radiation. Thus, it is the aim of this symposium to bring together experts and their expertise based on molluscs to provide some of those fundamental studies and data that are of relevance for evolutionary biology with aspects as outlined above, in order to facilitate the influence of malacology within evolutionary biology.
Contact:
Dr. Matthias Glaubrecht; Dr. Thomas von Rintelen, Museum of Natural History, Humboldt University Berlin, Invalidenstrasse 43, D-10115 Berlin, Germany
