Type specimens of Primates (Mammalia) in the collections of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin.

The present catalog documents all the primate type specimens held at the collection of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin [MfN]. Due to insufficient labeling at the time of receipt and description, many types remained unrecognized, labeled with synonymous or incorrect names until now. For identification of all types, including the previously unrecognized type specimens, approximately 8,000 primate specimens were revised in the MfN collection, 144 of them represent primary types (holotypes, lectotypes, and syntypes) and 141 paratypes or paralectotypes could be found.

Leptospira spp. in Small Mammals from Areas with Low and High Human Hantavirus Incidences in South-West Germany.

Introduction: Leptospirosis is caused by Leptospira spp. and is considered the most widespread zoonotic disease worldwide. It mimics nephropathia epidemica in humans, a disease mainly caused by Puumala hantavirus (PUUV).

Why do shrews twitter? Communication or simple echo-based orientation.

Shrews are very vocal animals. We tested behaviourally whether the high-pitched laryngeal 'twittering' calls of as-yet unclear function serve for communication or echo-based orientation. We used a representative species from each of the two largest phylogenetic groups of shrews.

Tactile guidance of prey capture in Etruscan shrews.

Whereas visuomotor behaviors and visual object recognition have been studied in detail, we know relatively little about tactile object representations. We investigate a new model system for the tactile guidance of behavior, namely prey (cricket) capture by one of the smallest mammals, the Etruscan shrew, Suncus etruscus. Because of their high metabolic rate and nocturnal lifestyle, Etruscan shrews are forced to detect, overwhelm, and kill prey in large numbers in darkness.