Curriculum
Vitae of Thomas Wesener, PhD
Present Address
Forschungsmuseum
A. Koenig
Sektion
Myriapoda
Adenauerallee
160
D-53113 Bonn, Germany
EMail: twesener@uni-bonn.de
Phone: 0049 (0) 228 9122 425
Date and Place of Birth
24 May
1980, Hattingen, Germany
Languages: German (mother tongue); English (spoken and written fluently); Latin
(only written), French (spoken: basic level, adequate reading skills)
Education
Postdoctoral Researcher, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, U.S.A., 2008–2010,
Molecular Phylogeny of the millipede suborder Trigoniulidea.
Ph.D in Natural Sciences, Friedrich-Wilhelm University Bonn, Bonn, Germany; 2005–2008. Thesis 'ausgezeichnet' (0.0),
Defense Magna cum Laude.
'Diplom' (M.A.) in
Biology,
Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany; 1999–2003. With Honors Thesis, Final Grade 'sehr gut'.
High School Diploma,
Gesamtschule Marxstraße, Hattingen, Germany, 1990–1999.
International Collaborators (ongoing projects only)
Prof. Dr. Henrik Enghoff, University and Museum of Zoology,
Copenhagen, Denmark, Phylogeny of the Spirobolida
suborder Trigoniulidea.
Dr. Markus Koch, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhem University, Bonn,
Germany, Discovery of a condylus in millipedes, - a
new character complex for arthropod systematics (Diplopoda, Pentazonia)
Dr. Frank Glaw, Bavarian State Collections, Munich, Germany, A Firemillipede - Snake mimicry ring on Madagascar.
Dr. Michael J. Raupach, Senckenberg at the Sea, German Center for
Marine Biodiversity Research, Wilhelmshaven, Germany, DNA barcodes and description of new species of the Malagasy Giant
Pill-Millipede genus Sphaeromimus (Diplopoda, Sphaerotheriida,
Arthrosphaeridae).
Dr. Petra Sierwald, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago,
Illinois, U.S.A., Sphaerotheriida and Glomerida
species and genus catalogue.
Prof. Dr. Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira, University of Lavras,
Invertebrados Cavernícolas, Lavras, Brazil,
Description of Cave Millipedes.
Nattarin Wongthamwanich, Department
of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330,
Thailand, Giant
Pill-Millipedes of the family Zephroniidae in Thailand.
Public Outreach & Service to the Scientific
Community
- Reviewer for: Zootaxa, Zoological
Journal of the Linnean Society, New Zealand Journal of Zoology,
International Journal of Myriapodology, Frontiers in Zoology, Terrestrial
Arthropod Review, Zookeys, Invertebrate Systematics.
- Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) Curator
for Millipedes (Diplopoda).
-
Interviews about 'How to uncoil your partner-“mating songs” in giant
pill-millipedes (Diplopoda: Sphaerotheriida). Naturwissenschaften 98 (11):
967–975' :
http://www.springerlink.com/content/u3h307757876t723/fulltext.pdf
Wired.com:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/10/millipede-stridulation/
SpiegelOnline:
http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/0,1518,793597,00.html
- Interviewed for the findings of the 2007
Madagascar Expedition, articles in popular German Newspapers:
Printed versions: Die Welt, Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), tageszeitung (taz), FOCUS, Bonner
Generalanzeiger, more than 40 local newspapers.
Online: SpiegelOnline, Weltonline,
Wissenschaftonline, numerous other websites, reaching as far as France,
Turkey and Madagascar.
Radio
interviews: Radio Bonn/Rhein-Sieg, WDR.
- Interviewed for the findings of the 2003
Madagascar Expedition with articles in popular German Newspapers
Printed versions: National
Geographic Germany, Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ), Berliner
Zeitung, plus a high number of local papers.
Publications
Peer-reviewed Articles
18. Wesener, T., Raupach, M.J. & P. Decker
(2011). Mountain Refugia Play A Role In Soil Arthropod
Speciation On Madagascar. A Case Study Of The Endemic Giant Fire-Millipede
Genus Aphistogoniulus (Diplopoda, Spirobolida, Pachybolidae). PLoS
ONE 6 (12): 1–15.
17. Wesener, T., Köhler, J., Fuchs, S. & D.
van den Spiegel (2011). How to uncoil your partner-“mating songs” in giant pill-millipedes
(Diplopoda: Sphaerotheriida). Naturwissenschaften 98 (11): 967–975.
16. Wesener, T. (2011). Re-discovery after
more than a century: a redefinition of the Malagasy endemic millipede genus
Zehntnerobolus, with a description of a new species (Diplopoda,
Spirobolida, Pachybolidae). Zootaxa 3018: 21–26.
15. Shear, W.A., T.H. Jones & T. Wesener (2011). Glomerin and homoglomerin from the North
American pill millipede Onomeris sinuata (Loomis, 1943) (Diplopoda,
Pentazonia, Glomeridae). International
Journal of Myriapodology 4: 1–10.
14. Wesener, T. (2010). Revision of the
American Pill Millipedes I: Onomeris
and Trichomeris (Diplopoda,
Glomerida, Glomeridae). Zootaxa 2725: 28-40.
13. Wesener, T., &
K. Schütte (2010). Swarming behaviour and mass occurrences in the world's
largest Giant Pill-Millipede species, Zoosphaerium
neptunus, on Madagascar and its implication for conservation efforts
(Diplopoda: Sphaerotheriida). Madagascar
Conservation and Development 5 (2): 89–94.
12. Wesener, T.,
Raupach, M. J. & P. Sierwald (2010). The origins of the Giant
Pill-Millipedes from Madagascar (Diplopoda: Sphaerotheriida:
Arthrosphaeridae). Molecular Phylogenetics and
Evolution 57: 1184–1183.
11. Wesener, T.,
Bespalova, I. & P. Sierwald (2010). Madagascar's living giants:
discovery of five new species of endemic giant pill-millipedes from
Madagascar (Diplopoda: Sphaerotheriida: Arthrosphaeridae: Zoosphaerium). African Invertebrates 51 (1): 133–161.
10. Wesener, T. &
van den Spiegel, D. (2009). A first phylogenetic analysis of Giant
Pill-Millipedes (Diplopoda: Sphaerotheriida), a new model Gondwanan taxon,
with special emphasis on island gigantism. Cladistics 25: 545–573. (cover article)
9. Wesener, T.,
Enghoff, H. & P. Sierwald (2009). Review of the Spirobolida on
Madagascar, with descriptions of twelve new genera, including three genera
of 'Fire Millipedes' (Diplopoda). ZooKeys 19: 1–128. (Monograph)
8. Wesener, T. &
Enghoff, H. (2009). Revision of the millipede subfamily Spiromiminae, a
Malagasy group with Indian connections? (Diplopoda, Spirobolida, Pachybolidae). Tropical
Zoology 22 (1): 71–120.
7. Wesener, T., Enghoff , H., Hoffman, R. L.,
Wägele, J.-W. & P. Sierwald (2009). Revision
of the endemic giant fire millipedes of Madagascar, genus Aphistogoniulus
(Diplopoda, Spirobolida, Pachybolidae). International Journal of
Myriapodology 3: 15–52. (cover article)
6. Wesener, T.
(2009). Unexplored richness: discovery of 31 new species of Giant
Pill-Millipedes endemic to Madagascar, with a special emphasis on
microendemism (Diplopoda, Sphaerotheriida). Zootaxa,
2097: 1–134. (Monograph)
5. Wesener, T.,
Enghoff, H. & J.-W. Wägele (2008). Pachybolini – a tribe of giant
Afrotropical millipedes: arguments for monophyly and the description of a
new genus from Madagascar (Diplopoda: Spirobolida: Pachybolidae). Invertebrate Systematics 22:
37–53.
4. Wesener, T. & J.-W.
Wägele (2008). The giant pill-millipedes of Madagascar: revision of the
genus Zoosphaerium (Myriapoda, Diplopoda, Sphaerotheriida). Zoosystema 30 (1): 5–85.
3. Wesener, T. &
D. VandenSpiegel (2007). Microsphaerotherium ivohibiense, a new genus and species of Giant-Pill Millipedes
from Madagascar (Diplopoda, Sphaerotheriida, Arthrosphaerinae). Journal
of Afrotropical Zoology 3:
153–160.
2. Wesener, T. &
P. Sierwald (2005a). New giant pill-millipede species from the littoral forest of Madagascar (Diplopoda, Sphaerotheriida, Zoosphaerium). Zootaxa 1097: 1–60.
1. Wesener, T. & P.
Sierwald (2005b). The Giant Pill-Millipedes of Madagascar: Revision of the
Genus Sphaeromimus, with a Review of the Morphological Terminology
(Diplopoda, Sphaerotheriida, Sphaerotheriidae). Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Fourth
Series, 56 (29): 557–599.
Book chapters and congress
contributions
4. Wesener, T. (2009). Diversity, Phylogeny and Biogeography of
the millipedes from Madagascar [in German, title translated]. Koenigiana 3 (2): 57–66. (cover
article)
3. Wesener, T. (2008). Centipedes and
Millipedes of the Eastern Frisian Islands [in German, title translated]. Flora und Fauna der
ostfriesischen Inseln. R. Niedringhaus, V. Haeseler, P. Janiesch (Eds), Schriftenreihe
Nationalparkverwaltung Niedersächsisches Wattenmeer 11: 135–137.
2. Wesener, T. & Wägele, J.-W. (2007). Giant Pill-Millipedes (Diplopoda: Sphaerotheriida)
in the Littoral Forest Fragments of Southeastern Madagascar. IN: Biodiversity, Ecology and Conservation
of Littoral Ecosystems in Southeastern Madagascar, Tolagnaro (Fort Dauphin).
J. Ganzhorn, S. M. Goodman & M. Vincelette (eds), Smithsonian
Institution, Washington D.C., SI/MAB Series 11, 145–151.
1. Wesener, T.
(2006). Giant-pill millipede diversity on Madagascar (Diplopoda:
Sphaerotheriida). Peckiana 4,
2005 [2006], 189–193.
