Rüdiger Bieler (born 1955 in
Hamburg, Germany) is a German-American biologist whose primary scientific field of study is
malacology
Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (mollusks or molluscs), the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species after the arthropods. Mollusks include snails and slugs, clams, ...
, the study of
mollusks
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...
.
Training and career
Bieler studied biology, geography, and biology education at the
University of Hamburg (Germany), where he held a scholarship of the
Studienstiftung
The German Academic Scholarship Foundation (German: , or ''Studienstiftung'' for short) is Germany's largest and most prestigious scholarship foundation. According to its statutes, it supports "the university education of young people who, on ac ...
. After extensive field research in South Africa (with
Richard Kilburn
Richard Neil "Dick" Kilburn (Port Elizabeth, 7 January 1942– 26 July 2013) was a South African malacologist.
He attended the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, majoring in zoology and botany and graduated in 1967. After a brief spell as a ...
) he received a PhD (DSc) degree in
Zoology in 1985 under Otto Kraus. Following several
postdoctoral research fellowships under the mentorship of Richard S. Houbrick and
Mary E. Rice
Mary Esther Rice (August 3, 1926 – April 29, 2021) was an American invertebrate zoologist specializing in systematics, evolution and the development of marine invertebrates. She worked at the Smithsonian Institution as a curator, educator, r ...
(
Smithsonian Institution) at the
National Museum of Natural History (1985-1986), the
Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, Florida (1986-1987), and a NATO postdoctoral fellowship (1987-1988, also at the Smithsonian Marine Station), he became
Curator of Malacology at the
Delaware Museum of Natural History.
Since 1990, he is a Curator of
Invertebrate Zoology at the
Field Museum of Natural History
The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...
in Chicago (following predecessors
Fritz Haas Fritz Haas (January 4, 1886 – December 26, 1969 in Hollywood, Florida) was a Jewish German zoologist born in Frankfurt am Main. He specialized in the field of malacology.
He was trained in biology by herpetologist Oskar Boettger (1844–1910) and ...
and
Alan Solem). He also is a faculty member of the Committee of
Evolutionary Biology of the
University of Chicago.
Research
Much of Bieler's
taxonomic
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
research work has focused on marine
gastropods (sea snails), especially on sundials (
Architectonicidae) and worm-snails (
Vermetidae).
His evolutionary studies first concentrated on Gastropoda and later extended to
Bivalvia and included the earliest application of computer-assisted phylogenetic (
cladistic) analyses in that group. He was the lead author on a revised classification for all bivalves, see
, and on major work providing a new hypotheses of the branching pattern in the Bivalve
Tree of life (biology) based on both morphological-anatomical and molecular data. He serves as an editor for the phylum
Mollusca
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...
on the
World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) and as a Chief Editor for MolluscaBase.
Bieler led collaborative efforts in
molluscan systematics and evolutionary biology supported by the
National Science Foundation (NSF) serving as
Principal Investigator of Partnership for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy, PEET(PEET-Bivalves) and the Tree of Life project. He organized various international scientific symposia resulting in
peer-reviewed
Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...
symposium volumes on molluscan systematics and evolution.
He and collaborators developed a series of International Marine Bivalve Workshops that paired students and early-career faculty with leading scientists during intensive fieldwork experiences, resulting in jointly published peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals.
A regional focus of his work has been on the invertebrate animal diversity of South Florida and the
Florida Keys
The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and e ...
. He is affiliated with The Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research and Restoration of
Mote Marine Laboratory. The research concentrates on the development and documentation of baseline data of regional diversity, allowing the recognition of faunal changes due to human impact. Bieler's work in the Florida Keys encompasses an active participation in
coral reef restoration
Coral reef restoration strategies use natural and anthropogenic processes to restore damaged coral reefs. Reefs suffer damage from a number of natural and man-made causes, and efforts are being made to rectify the damage and restore the reefs. Thi ...
efforts,
[Grande, L (2017) Curators. Behind the Scenes of Natural History Museums. Chicago University Press, 412pp. ] and the survey and monitoring of shipwrecks off the Florida Keys for invasive marine species.
Honorary appointments
Bieler held honorary appointments with various research institutions, including the
Smithsonian Institution,
Harvard University, and the
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...
in New York. He was elected President of both the
American Malacological Society (AMU/AMS, 1996) and the International Malacological Society “
Unitas Malacologia” (1995-1998) and organized their congresses in Chicago in 1996 and Washington, DC. in 1998.
Bieler has served as President of the Institute of Malacology (publishers of
Malacologia - International Journal of Malacology) and as editor or associated editor for numerous scientific serials, including the
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. He is a Fellow of the
Linnean Society of London.
Actively involved in the administration of
natural history museums, he served in various roles including Zoology Department Chair (Field Museum, 1998-2002) and Board Trustee of the
Delaware Museum of Natural History (1991-1999).
Exhibitions and publications
Bieler has been a key contributor to several major museum exhibitions, including Pearls, Evolution on the Half Shell and Specimens!. His own work has been featured in permanent museum exhibitions, such as Abbott Hall of Conservation - Restoring Earth, in a book about the curatorial profession,
as well as
PBS NewsHour and PBS
Changing Seas
''Changing Seas'' is a public television series produced by South Florida PBS ( WPBT2- WXEL) in Miami, Florida, and narrated by announcers Craig Sechler
Craig Sechler (born September 8, 1951) is an American film and voice actor, based in Wash ...
episodes.
He has published, alone or in collaboration with others, more than 100 books, monographs, and articles.
Taxa of mollusks described and named
Bieler has described and named, alone or with collaborators, various taxa of mollusks new to science (compiled from MolluscaBase.org, there with full literature links
* ''Adelphotectonica'' Bieler, 1987
* ''Cupolaconcha'' Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014
* ''Toulminella'' Bieler & Dockery III, 2007
* ''Ammonicera mexicana'' Sartori & Bieler, 2014
* ''Architectonica arcana'' Bieler, 1993
* ''Architectonica gualtierii'' Bieler, 1993
* ''Cornirostra floridana'' Bieler & Mikkelsen, 1998
* ''Ctenoides obliquus'' Mikkelsen & Bieler, 2003
* ''Cupolaconcha guana'' Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014
* ''Cupolaconcha sinaiensis'' Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014
* ''Divariscintilla cordiformis'' Mikkelsen & Bieler, 1992
* ''Divariscintilla octotentaculata'' Mikkelsen & Bieler, 1992
* ''Divariscintilla yoyo'' Mikkelsen & Bieler, 1989
* ''Granosolarium gemmiferum'' Bieler, 1993
* ''Heliacus hyperionis'' Bieler, 1993
* ''Heliacus oceanitis'' Bieler, 1993
* ''Heliacus turritus'' Bieler, 1987
* Imparidentia Bieler, Mikkelsen & Giribet, 2014
* ''Mathilda boucheti'' Bieler, 1995
* ''Mathilda maculosa'' Bieler, 1995
* ''Novastoa bahamensis'' Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014
* ''Novastoa caboverdensis'' Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014
* ''Pseudotorinia armillata'' Bieler, 1993
* ''Pseudotorinia sestertius'' Bieler, 1993
* ''Solatisonax kilburni'' Bieler, 1993
* ''Solatisonax propinqua'' Bieler, 1993
* ''Spirolaxis argonauta'' Bieler, 1993
* ''Spirolaxis exornatus'' Bieler, 1993
* ''Stephopoma levispinosum'' Bieler, 1997
* ''Tuba fuscocincta'' Bieler, 1995
* ''Ceraesignum'' Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014
* ''Pyrgoheliacus'' Bieler, 1987
* ''Ammonicera'' mcleani Sartori & Bieler, 2014
* ''Ammonicera sleursi'' Sartori & Bieler, 2014
* ''Architectonica consobrina'' Bieler1993
* ''Ceraesignum robinsoncrusoei'' Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014
* ''Ctenoides miamiensis'' Mikkelsen & Bieler, 2003
* ''Ctenoides vokesi'' Mikkelsen & Bieler, 2003
* ''Cupolaconcha maldivensis'' Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014
* ''Dendropoma expolitum'' Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014
* ''Divariscintilla luteocrinita'' Mikkelsen & Bieler, 1992
* ''Divariscintilla troglodytes'' Mikkelsen & Bieler, 1989
* ''Granosolarium excavatum'' Bieler, 1993
* ''Heliacus geminus'' Bieler, 1993
* ''Heliacus nereidis'' Bieler, 1993
* ''Heliacus proteus'' Bieler, 1993
* ''Heliacus verdensis'' Bieler, 1984
* ''Mathilda houbricki'' Bieler, 1995
* ''Mathilda richeri'' Bieler, 1995
* ''Novastoa batavia'' Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014
* ''Novastoa pholetor'' Golding, Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2014
* ''Pseudotorinia bullisi'' Bieler, Merrill & Boss, 1985
* ''Pseudotorinia yaroni'' Bieler, 1993
* ''Solatisonax orba'' Bieler, 1993
* ''Solatisonax rehderi'' Bieler, 1993
* ''Spirolaxis cornuarietis'' Bieler, 1993
* ''Stephopoma abrolhosense'' Bieler, 1997
* ''Tenagodus barbadensis'' Bieler, 2004
* ''Thylacodes vandyensis'' Bieler, Rawlings & Collins, 2017
Species named for Bieler
Several recent and fossil species were named in his honor, including:
* ''Architectonica bieleri'' Perrilliat, 2013 (Architectonicidae: Late Paleocene, Baja California, Mexico)
* ''Haplocochlias bieleri'' Rubio, Fernández-Garcés & Rolán, 2013 (Skeneidae: Recent, Florida)
* ''Mathilda bieleri'' Smiriglio & Mariottini, 2007 (Mathildidae: Recent, Mediterranean)
* ''Minidonta bieleri'' Sartori, Gargominy & Fontaine, 2013 (Endodontidae: Recent, presumed extinct, French Polynesia)
* ''Niveria bieleri'' Fehse, Greco & Bystrica, 2016 (Triviidae: Recent: Florida Keys)
* ''Rinaldoconchus bieleri'' Bandel, 1996 (Architectonicidae: Upper Triassic, Europe)
* ''Solatisonax bieleri'' Nielsen & Frassinetti, 2007 (Architectonicidae: Miocene, Chile)
* ''Solatisonax rudigerbieleri'' Tenório, Barros, Francisco & Silva, 2011 (Architectonicidae: Recent, Brazil)
* ''Stephopoma ruedigeri'' Landau, da Silva & Heitz, 2016 (Siliquariidae: Lower-Middle Miocene, Venezuela)
* ''Vermetus bieleri'' Scuderi, Swinnen & Templado, 2017 (Vermetidae: Recent, Eastern Atlantic)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bieler, Rudiger
21st-century American biologists
21st-century American zoologists
20th-century German zoologists
German malacologists
American malacologists
Evolutionary biologists
Fellows of the Linnean Society of London
1955 births
University of Hamburg alumni
Studienstiftung alumni
University of Chicago faculty
Living people
German emigrants to the United States
Scientists from Hamburg