GRK 503:  Evolutionary Transformations and Mass Extinctions

• Subject Area: Basic Research in Biology and Medicine
• Term: from 1998 to 2004
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 272675

The history of life on earth is characterized by periods of unusually rapid change, where extinction and subsequent evolution of various new forms took place within a relatively short period of geological time. During such radical evolutionary changes (mass extinctions or events), dominant groups of organisms suddenly disappeared and were replaced by new groups. The latter emerged from the older forms through reconstruction of their organisation, i.e. through evolutionary transformation. The recent biosphere of the earth has been profoundly influenced by these processes. The multidisciplinary studies of these processes planned in the course of the Graduiertenkolleg will focus on the following events: transition from Eocene to Oligocene, the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary and events in the Upper Devonian. Research will be done on the original conditions of the events and evolutionary transformations as well as their further development. Furthermore, general patterns that occured in the course of these events will be determined.

• DFG Programme: Research Training Groups
• Applicant Institution: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
• Co-Applicant Institution: Freie Universität Berlin
• Participating Institution: Leibniz-Institut für Zoo- und Wildtierforschung (IZW); im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.; Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Ulrich Zeller
• Participating Researchers: Privatdozent Dr. Martin Aberhan; Professor Dr. Holger Heinrich Dathe; Professorin Dr. Hannelore Hoch; Professor Dr. Heribert Hofer; Professor Dr. Helmut Keupp; Professor Dr. Bernhard Krebs; Professor Dr. Thomas Martin; Privatdozentin Dr. Barbara Mohr; Professor Dr. Gerhard Scholtz; Professor Dr. Hans-Peter Schultze; Professor Dr. Dieter Stöffler (†); Professor Dr. Walter Sudhaus