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Prof. Dr. Bettina Reichenbacher

My group has two main fields of research, "Teleost fishes" and "Miocene palaeoenvironments".

1) Teleost Fishes (fossil & extant)

I am interested in understanding why speciation happens. I intend to understand the processes that form micro- and macroevolutionary changes. As far as possible, my students work based on a "total evidence approach". This means study of fossil and extant species based on data derived from skeletons, otoliths, dentitions, scales and, in the case of extant species, molecular sequences.
Research questions focus on evolutionary processes in the context of the geological history and environmental changes.
Groups currently under study:

  • Killifishes:
    Revision of the fossil killifish record from Europe
    Aphanius and Aphaniops from Iran, click here for more information.
  • Gobioidei (gobies), with focus on their evolutionary history
  • Cichlidae, with focus on the fossil record from East Africa (Kenya), click here for more information.

Our recent publications on extant and fossil killifish

  • Charmpila, E. A., Teimori, A., & Reichenbacher, B. (2024). Otolith-based species identification in the killifish Aphaniops (Teleostei; Cyprinodontiformes; Aphaniidae) using both morphometry and wavelet analysis. Acta Zoologica, online first, 1–18. Link to article (open access)
  • Herbert Mainero, A., Vasilyan, D., & Reichenbacher, B. (2024). Two new genera of killifish (Cyprinodontiformes) from the Middle Miocene of the Bugojno Basin, Bosnia and Herzegovina: insights into the lost diversity of Valenciidae. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 22(1). Link to article (open access)
  • Bidaye, R. G., Al-Jufaili, S. M., Charmpila, E. A., Jawad, L., Vukić, J., Reichenbacher, B. (2023). Possible links between phenotypic variability, habitats and connectivity in the killifish Aphaniops stoliczkanus in Northeast Oman. Acta Zoologica, 104:262–278. DOI: 10.1111/azo.12428 Link to article (open access)
  • Herbert Mainero, A., Al-Jufaili, S. M., Jawad, L., Reichenbacher, B. (2023). Sex dimorphism and evidence of sexually selected traits: A case study on the killifish Aphaniops stoliczkanus (Day, 1872). Acta Zoologica 104: 473–487. DOI: 10.1111/azo.12436 Link to article (open access)
  • Teimori, A., Esmaeili, H. R., Zarei, F., Reichenbacher, B. (2022). COI gene sequences confirm the taxonomic validity of the tooth-carp Aphaniops hormuzensis (Teleostei: Aphaniidae) from southern Iran. Zoology in the Middle East 68:1, 34-40. DOI: 10.1080/09397140.2021.1965071 Link to article

Our recent publications on extant and fossil gobies

  • Dirnberger M., Bauer E., & Reichenbacher B. (2024): A new freshwater gobioid from the Lower Miocene of Turkey in a significantly amended total evidence phylogenetic framework. Journal of Systematic Paleontology 22(1), 2340498. Link to article (open access)
  • Reichenbacher, B. & Přikryl, T. (2024). Revision and phylogenetic placement of one of the earliest freshwater gobies from the Lower Oligocene of Central Europe. Historical Biology, online first, 1–19. Link to article (open access)
  • Reichenbacher, B. & Bannikov, A. F. (2023). Diversity of gobioid fishes in the late middle Miocene of northern Moldova, Eastern Paratethys–part II: description of †Moldavigobius helenae gen. et sp. nov. PalZ 97: 365–381. Link to article (open access)
  • Reichenbacher, B., Vukić, J., Šanda, R., Schliewen, U. K., Esmaeili, H. R., & Kassar, A. (2023). Skeletal traits and otoliths can unravel the relationships within European Gobiidae (Gobius lineage sensu lato). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 199(3): 656-687. Link to article (free access)
  • Gierl, C., Dohrmann, M., Keith, P., Humphreys, M., Esmaeili, H. R., Vukić, J., Šanda, R., & Reichenbacher, B. (2022). An integrative phylogenetic approach for inferring relationships of fossil gobioids (Teleostei: Gobiiformes). PLOS ONE, 17(7), e0271121. Link to article (open access)
  • Reichenbacher, B. & Bannikov, A. F. (2022). Diversity of gobioid fishes in the late middle Miocene of northern Moldova, Eastern Paratethys: part I: an extinct clade of Lesueurigobius look-alikes. PalZ 96, 67–112. Link to article (open access)

Recent publications on Cichlidae

2) Miocene palaeoenvironments and chronostratigraphy

Research questions include topics on biostratigraphy and chronostratigraphy, palaeogeography, regional geology, palaeoenvironment and palaeoclimate. Regionally my work concentrates on Europe and Eurasia, with a focus on the North Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB) and ancient Paratethys realm, and Central Kenya. You can find some introductory information on the NAFB (or Molasse Basin) here.

Recent publications on the NAFB, Central and Eastern Paratethys

  • Hajek Tadesse, V., Wacha, L., Horvat, M., Galović, I., Bakrač, K., Grizelj, A., Mandic, O., & Reichenbacher, B. (2023). New evidence for the Early Miocene palaeoenvironmental changes in the North Croatian Basin, insights implicated by microfossil assemblages. Geobios, 77: 1-25.
  • Hofmayer, F., Hadler Boggiani, B., Soman, R., Andrade, J. D., Ćorić, S., & Reichenbacher, B. (2023). An integrative palaeoenvironmental and chronostratigraphic study of the Lower Miocene in the North Alpine Foreland Basin – Are global climate signals detectable? Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 627, 111719. doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo Link to article
  • Vernyhorova, Y. V., Holcová, K., Doláková, N., Reichenbacher, B., Scheiner, F., Ackerman, L., Rejšek, J., De Bortoli, L., Trubač, J., & Utescher, T. (2023). The Miocene Climatic Optimum at the interface of epicontinental sea and large continent: A case study from the Middle Miocene of the Eastern Paratethys. Marine Micropaleontology, 181, 102231. doi.org/10.1016/j.marmicro.2023.102231 Link to article (free access)