Gunther Köhler

Gunther Köhler (born 20 May 1965 in Hanau) is a German herpetologist. His research is primarily focused in Central America and in the West Indies.

Career

In 1995, Köhler received a doctorate in natural sciences at the Goethe University Frankfurt with his thesis on the systematics and ecology of black iguanas (genus Ctenosaura). Since November 1995, he is curator at the department of herpetology and since 2004 acting director of the department of terrestrial zoology at the Senckenberg Research Institute.

The projects of Köhler and his research group focus on the study of neotropical herpetofauna in Central and South America, in particular in Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua and Bolivia. The studies are taxonomic, zoogeographical and phylogenetic, with the genus Anolis forming one of the main groups.[1]

In 1994, he rediscovered Ctenosaura bakeri (the Utila iguana), a species previously known only from the type specimens described in 1901. Since April 1998, Köhler led a breeding program in collaboration with the Frankfurt Zoological Society in Utila.[2]

In 2016, he revised the Anolis species of Hispaniola in collaboration with Stephen Blair Hedges. Among them are eight newly discovered species that are restricted to small distribution areas and threatened with extinction.[3][4]

Köhler was involved in the original descriptions of more than 120 species of reptiles and amphibians in many genera, including Agama, Anolis, Brookesia, Ctenosaura, Paracontias, Stenocercus, Leptopelis and Pristimantis.[5][6]

In his spare time, Köhler is a member of the country music band Flaggstaff from Aschaffenburg.[7]

In 1992, Köhler's wife Elke founded the Herpeton Verlag, a special interest publishing house in Offenbach with the aim of providing reptile owners with particularly well-founded knowledge about their wards.[8]

References
  1. Portrait of the Department of Terrestrial Zoology at the Senckenberg Research Institute Archived 2018-05-07 at the Wayback Machine (German)
  2. Gunther Köhler, Elke Blinn: Natürliche Bastardierung zwischen Ctenosaura bakeri und Ctenosaura similis auf Utila, Honduras. Salamandra, Rheinbach, 31.3.2000, 36(1), p 77–79. (German)
  3. Frankfurter Neue Presse: Senckenberg-Wissenschaftler entdecken acht neue Echsen (German), 26 April 2016, retrieved 7 May 2018
  4. Gunther Köhler, S. Blair Hedges: A revision of the green anoles of Hispaniola with description of eight new species (Reptilia, Squamata, Dactyloidae) In: Novitates Caribaea No. 9, 2016, p 1–135
  5. Original descriptions of reptiles by Köhler at the Reptile Database
  6. Original descriptions of amphibians by Köhler at Amphibian Species of the World 6.0, an Online Reference
  7. Offenbach Post: „Flaggstaff“: Nicht nur für Linedancer (German), 16 December 2014, retrieved 7 May 2018
  8. Portrait of the Herpeton Verlag
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