Glaw's_chameleon_(Calumma_glawi)_Ranomafana

Frank Rainer Glaw (born 22 March 1966 in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians ( gymnophiona)) and rep ...

working at the

Zoologische Staatssammlung München The Bavarian State Collection of Zoology (german: Zoologische Staatssammlung München) or ZSM is a major German research institution for zoological systematics in Munich. It has over 20 million zoological specimens. It is one of the largest natur ...

. Glaw studied

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

from 1987, where he completed his diploma. Thereafter, he attended the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

, from which he graduated in 1999, after completing his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

thesis titled ''Untersuchungen zur Bioakustik, Systematik, Artenvielfalt und Biogeographie madagassischer Anuren'' about the

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

s of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, supervised by Professor Wolfgang Böhme. Since 1997, he has been the

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of herpetology at the

. Glaw's focus during and after his thesis work was the

herpetofauna Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

of Madagascar. Since the end of the 1980s, he has been working closely with

Miguel Vences Professor Miguel Vences (born 24 April 1969 in Cologne) is a German herpetologist and evolutionary biologist. Much of his research is focused on the reptiles and amphibians of Madagascar. Life The son of Galician philosopher Sergio Vences F ...

, currently professor for evolutionary biology and zoology at the Technische Universität Braunschweig. Together, they published ''A Field Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar'' in 1992, a benchmark work on the amphibians and

reptiles Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the Class (biology), class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsid, sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, Squamata, squamates (lizar ...

of Madagascar, which, supported by the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

, was translated into Malagasy and made freely available online. It is now in its third edition. Glaw is a contributing author on over 200 descriptions of Madagascan

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

, such as the

chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 202 species described as of June 2015. The members of this family are best known for their distinct range of colors, bein ...

Brookesia micra ''Brookesia micra'', also known as the Nosy Hara leaf chameleon is a species of chameleons from the islet of Nosy Hara in Antsiranana, Madagascar. At the time of its discovery, it was the smallest known chameleon and among the smallest reptiles ...

'' and the microhylid frog '' Stumpffia pygmaea''. Several species are named after Frank Glaw: a species of chamaeleon, '' Calumma glawi''; a species of protist, ''

Eimeria glawi ''Eimeria'' is a genus of apicomplexan parasites that includes various species capable of causing the disease coccidiosis in animals such as cattle, poultry and smaller ruminants including sheep and goats. ''Eimeria'' species are considered to be ...

''; and a species of stick insect, '' Glawiana glawi''.

References

Beolens 2011, p. 102. Glaw & Vences 2007, p. 496. Zoologische Staatssammlung München 2005. Accessed 19. February 2012.

Works cited

* Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . * Glaw, Frank; Vences, Miguel (2007). ''A Field Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar, Third Edition''. Cologne, Germany: Vences & Glaw Verlag. 496 pp. .

External links

* Miguel Vences: ' * Zoologische Staatssammlung München: ' www.zsm.mwn.de, 2005. {{DEFAULTSORT:Glaw, Frank 1966 births German herpetologists German curators Herpetologists Living people University of Bonn alumni Scientists from Düsseldorf 20th-century German zoologists 21st-century German zoologists