Cenozoic ecosystem dynamics in Europe deduced from arachnids preserved in amber

• Applicants: Danilo Harms, Ph.D.; Dr. Ulrich Kotthoff
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 441196329

We aim to use arachnid fossils preserved in EuropeanEocene/Oligocene (Baltic, Bitterfeld and Rovno) ambers forecosystem and climate reconstructions. Using detailed morphological and statistical analyses, we aim to document the arachnid faunas inthe different amber types and test four hypotheses concerning theecosystems the ambers originated in, comprising four aspects: a)diversity and community composition within the main Europeanambers, b) differences between the different amber types, c) effect ofecosystem shifts and climate variability from the Cretaceous untiltoday from an arachnid perspective, and d) evolutionary trends andbiogeographical scenarios that can be deduced from the amber faunacommunities. Several thousand arachnid fossils from Europeanambers are known from both museum and private collections.However, there is a lack of comprehensive analyses that unravel theenormous potential of these arachnid fossils for ecological traitanalyses, biogeographical and paleoclimatic reconstructions, andinvestigations of evolutionary shifts during the Paleogene andbetween the Paleogene and today. The proposed project bridges thisgap and will provide essential information for understanding theeffects of ecosystem and climate variability on European arthropodfaunas, and the habitats they inhabited over time. This will also helpto characterise the three most important European amber deposits,both chronologically and spatially.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Australia
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Mark S. Harvey