Günter Bechly

Günter Bechly ( born October 16, 1963 in Sindelfingen ) is a German paleontologist and entomologist (especially dragonflies) works with fossil insects. He is since 1999 a scientific curator for amber and fossil insects at the National Museum of Natural History Stuttgart.

Life

Bechly was born 1963 in Sindelfingen. His parents are Ursula Elfriede Bechly ( b. 1938, nee Kloss ) and Günter Hermann Bechly Erwin ( 1923-1991 ). He has been married since 2005 and has a son.

Bechly studied from 1987 to 1991 Biology at the University of Hohenheim and 1991-1994 Zoology, Parasitology and paleontology at the University of Tübingen. He graduated in 1994 with Gerhard Mickoleit on the morphology of the dragonfly wings and was awarded his doctorate in 1999 at Wolf -Ernst Reif summa cum laude on phylogeny of dragonflies. After nearly a year of academic traineeship in 1999 he took his work as a curator at the National Museum of Natural History in Stuttgart. Research visits resulted, inter alia, it to the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and many other natural history museums in the world.

Work

Bechlys work focuses on fossil dragonflies from all periods, evolution and phylogeny of dragonflies and other early flying insects, and fossil insects from the Upper Jurassic of Germany ( Solnhofen limestone ) and the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil ( Crato limestones ) and various amber inclusions. Bechly has described 167 new species. International attention was paid to the description of new fossil insect order of Chimärenflügler in 2011, which also provided new clues to the evolution of insect wings.

As a project manager Bechly organized in 2009 the exhibition " The River of Life - 150 years of evolutionary theory ," Rosenstein castle, which was one of the biggest events on Darwin in 2009 in Germany with more than 90,000 visitors. The concept for this exhibition was one of the winners of design competition " Evolution Today " the Volkswagen Foundation in 2008.

TV appearances include performances as a studio guest on " Planet Wissen " and "Sky Magazine " as well as various interviews with " Mittagsmagazin " ( ZDF), Landesschau KulTour " (SWR ), " nano " ( ZDF/3sat ] ), and L-TV and regional TV News.

Eponymy

The following new taxa are named after Günter Bechly:

• Bechlyidae Jarzembowski & Nel, 2002 ( monotypic family of Protozygoptera from the Upper Carboniferous )
• Bechlya eric robin soni Jarzembowski & Nel, 2002 ( oldest small dragonfly from the Upper Carboniferous of England)
• Gorgopsidis bechlyi Wunderlich, 2004 ( jumping spider from Baltic amber ).
• Colossocossus bechlyi Menon & Heads, 2005 ( Riesenzikade from the Crato Formation ).
• Protobaetisca bechlyi Staniczek, 2007 (ephemera from the Crato Formation ).
• Cretevania bechlyi Jennings, JT, Krogmann, L. & Mew, SL, 2013 ( wasp from Burmese amber )

Writings

• Bechly, G. ( 1996): Morphological studies on Flügelgeäder the recent dragonflies and their home group representative (Insecta; pterygota; Odonata ) with special reference to phylogenetic systematics and the basic plan of the * Odonata. - Petalura, spec. vol. 2: 402 pp.
• Bechly, G. ( 2004): Evolution and systematics. - P 7-16 in: Hutchins, M., Evans, AV, Garrison, RW & Schlager, N. ( ed.): Grzimek 's Animal Life Encyclopedia. 2nd Edition. Volume 3, Insects. 472 pp. - Gale Group, Farmington Hills, MI.
• Bechly, G. ( 2010): Additions to the fossil dragonfly fauna of the Lower Cretaceous Crato Formation of Brazil (Insecta: Odonata ). - Palaeodiversity, 3 ( Supplement "Contributions to the Willi Hennig - Symposium on Phylogenetics and Evolution, University of Hohenheim, 29 September - 2 October 2009 " ): 11-77.
• Bechly, G., Brauckmann, C., Zessin, W. & Gröning, E. (2001): New results Concerning the morphology of the most ancient dragonflies (Insecta: Odonatoptera ) from the Namurian of Hagen- porch (Germany). - J. zool Syst. evol. Res, 39 (2001): 209-226.
• Bechly, G., Haas, F., Schawaller, W., narrow foot, H. & Schmid, U. ( 2001): Native vermin - The fascinating evolution of insects. - Stuttgarter Beitr Naturk. Ser. C, 49: 96 pp.
• Bechly, G., Nel, A., Martínez- Delclos, X., Jarzembowski, EA, Coram, R., Martill, D., Fleck, G., Escuillié, F., Wisshak, MM & Maisch, M. (2001): A revision and phylogenetic study of Mesozoic Aeshnoptera, with description of several new families, genera and species (Insecta: Odonata: Anisoptera ). - New paleontological papers, 4: 219 pp.
• Bechly, G. & Wichard, W. ( 2008): damselfly and dragonfly nymphs in Eocene Baltic amber (Insecta: Odonata ), with aspects of Their palaeobiology. - Palaeodiversity, 1: 37-74.
• Fleck, G., Bechly, G., Martínez- Delclos, X., Jarzembowski, EA, Coram, R. & Nel, A. ( 2003): Phylogeny and classification of the Stenophlebioptera ( Odonata: Epiproctophora ). - Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, ns 39 (1): 55-93.
• Fleck, G., Bechly, G., Martínez- Delclos, X., Jarzembowski, E. & Nel, A. ( 2004): A revision of the Upper Jurassic - Lower Cretaceous dragonfly family Tarsophlebiidae, with a discussion on the phylogenetic positions of the Tarsophlebiidae and Sieblosiidae ( Insecta, Odonatoptera, Panodonata ). - Geodiversitas, 26 (1): 33-60.
• Huguet, A., Nel, A., Martínez- Delclos, X., Bechly, G. & Martins - Neto, R. ( 2002): Preliminary phylogenetic analysis of the Protanisoptera (Insecta: Odonatoptera ) [ Essai d'analyze phylogénétique of Protanisoptera (Insecta: Odonatoptera ) ]. - GEOBIOS, 35: 537-560.
• Jarzembowski, EA, Martínez- Delclos, X., Bechly, G., Nel, A., Coram, R. & Escuillé, F. ( 1998): The Mesozoic non- calopterygoid Zygoptera: descriptions of new genera and species from the Lower Cretaceous of England and Brazil and Their phylogenetic Significance ( Odonata, Zygoptera, Coenagrionoidea, Hemiphlebioidea, Lestoidea ). - Cretaceous Research, 19: 403-444.
• Martill, D. M., Bechly, G. & Loveridge, R. F. ( Ed.) ( 2007): The Crato Fossil Beds of Brazil: Window into at Ancient World. xvi 625 pp. - Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
• Nel, A., Bechly, G., Jarzembowski, E. & Martínez- Delclos, X. (1998): A revision of the fossil petalurid dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata: Anisoptera: Petalurida ). - Paleontologia Lombarda, N.S., 10: 68 pp.
• Nel, A., Bechly, G., Prokop, J., Bethoux, O. & Fleck, G. (2012 ): Systematics and evolution of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic damselfly -like Odonatoptera of the " protozygopteran " grade. - Journal of Paleontology, 86 (1): 81-104.
• Olmi, M. & Bechly, G. ( 2001): New parasitic wasps from Baltic amber (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Dryinidae ). - Stuttgarter Beitr Naturk. Ser. B, 306: 1-58.
• Schmid, U. & Bechly, G. (2009 ) (ed. ): Evolution - The river of life. - Stuttgarter Beitr Naturk. Ser. C, 66/67: 197 pp. (second revised edition published 2010)
• Staniczek, A., Bechly, G. & Godunko, R. J. (2011): Coxoplectoptera, a new fossil order of Palaeoptera ( Arthropoda: Insecta ), with comments on the phylogeny of the stem group of mayflies ( Ephemeroptera). - Insect Systematics & Evolution, 42: 101-138.