Forschungspublikationen

2026

Cristofari R, Davis LR, Bardon G, Nitta Fernandes FA, Figueroa ME, Franzenburg S, Gauthier-Clerc M, Grande F, Heidrich R, Hukkanen M, Le Maho Y, Ollikainen M, Paciello E, Rampal P, Stenseth NC, Trucchi E, Zahn S, Le Bohec C, Meyer BS. (2026). Lifestyle change accelerates epigenetic ageing in King penguins. Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-70527-8

Falk N, Watson SK, Rüegg V, Manser MB. (2026) Exploring mechanisms underlying heterospecific alarm call responses in meerkats and yellow mongooses. Behavioral Ecology. 37(3):arag031

Meireles JP, Hahn-Klimroth M, Lackey LB, van Eeuwijk N, Bertelsen MF, Dressen S, Dierkes PW, Abraham AJ, Clauss M. (2026). Aging populations threaten conservation goals of zoos. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Feb 3;123(5). doi:10.1073/pnas.2522274123

Meireles JP, Byrne S, Dierkes PW, Göbel M, Hahn-Klimroth M, Idoe A, Müller DWH, Pereboom Z, Pluháčková J, Reichler S, Rudolf von Rohr C, Schehka S, Stevens JMG, Verspeek J, Clauss M (2026): Global data from great ape zoo populations confirm a high prevalence of overweight individuals. American Journal of Primatology  Jul;88(7):e70185

Tan J, Weber S, Zuber R, Kummrow M, Schnyder M. (2026). Endoparasites in carnivores in Swiss zoological institutions between 2009 and 2024: evaluation of risk factors and deworming strategies. International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife. 101199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijppaw.2026.101199

2025

Bähler I, Federer K, Davis L, Weber S, Burkevica A, Schneider S, Dierkes PW, Clauss M. (2024). Automated scatter-feeding increases foraging activity of zoo-housed meerkats (Suricata suricatta) to durations observed in the wild and elicits sentinel behaviour during feedings. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research. 12:172–184. https://www.jzar.org/jzar/onlinefirst/view/828 (see also 2024 list — duplicate entry)

Clauss M, Roller M, Bertelsen MF, Rudolf von Rohr C, Müller DW, Schiffmann C, Kummrow M, Encke D, Ferreira S, Duvall ES, Maré C. (2025). Zoos must embrace animal death for education and conservation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Jan 7;122(1):e2414565121. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2414565121

Feucht V, Hahn-Klimroth M, Kleespies MW, Bratteler M, Bresser A, Buchberger S, Della Monica A, et al. (2025). Demographics, format, or topic – what influences the success of an environmental education program at the zoo? Environmental Education Research. Aug 13:1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2025.2543009

Glaberman S, Bulls SE, Platner L, Wagner P, Dreyer S, McCain S, Burgstaller S, Davis LR, Turner H, Bruins-van Sonsbeek LG, Fischer D. (2025). Do turtles get cancer? BioScience. Jul 9:biaf100. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaf100

Göbel M, Wilms T. (2025). Food-based enrichment and its influence on behaviour and display of stereotypies of three aye-ayes [Daubentonia madagascariensis (Gmelin, 1788)] at Frankfurt Zoo. Zoologischer Garten. 93:15–32. doi:10.53188/zg0036

Jupe M, Claus T, Brereton J, Abernethy Palmer G, Biddle R, Dijkgraaf N, von Ah B. (2025). Doing an amazon job with parrots: factors influencing breeding success in three EEP-managed parrot species. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research. Oct 31;13(4):1–8.

Kappelhof J, Diepeveen E, Derks MF, Madsen O, Rogers R, Goossens B, Reeta S, Martien AM, Windig J, Bosse M. (2025). Genomics reveals distinct evolutionary lineages in Asian elephants. Ecology and Evolution. 15(8):e72019. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40837538/

Kukofka P, Young R, Kunz JA, Nellissen L, Alavi SE, Rahmaeti T, Basalamah F, Haun DB, Schuppli C. (2025). The development of social attention in orangutans: comparing peering behavior in wild and zoo-housed individuals. iScience. Jan 17;28(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.111542

Laumer IB, Kansal S, van Cauwenberghe A, Rahmaeti T, Setia TM, Mundry R, Haun D, Schuppli C. (2025). Wild and zoo-housed orangutans differ in how they explore objects. Scientific Reports. 15(1):1–13.

Luder V, Schulthess L, Cortesi S, Rivero Davis L, Magno M. (2025). AniTrack: a power-efficient, time-slotted and robust UWB localization system for animal tracking in a controlled setting. 10th IEEE International Workshop on Advances in Sensors and Interfaces (IWASI). Jul 3–4; Manfredonia, Italy. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.00216

Peter J, Luder V, Rivero Davis L, Schulthess L, Magno M. (2025). Smart Feeding Station: non-invasive, automated IoT monitoring of Goodman's Mouse Lemurs in a semi-natural rainforest habitat. IEEE International Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference (I2MTC). https://arxiv.org/pdf/2503.09238

Scherer L, Dervas E, Dutitre E, Kraus H, Clauss M, Kummrow M. (2025). Evaluation of humane procedures for euthanasia and fixation suitable for histological examination of bladder-tipped anemones (Entacmea quadricolor). Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine. Nov 17;56(4):871–880. https://doi.org/10.1638/2025-0020

Sehner S, Willems EP, Baumeyer A, Davis L, van Schaik CP, Burkart JM. (2025). Sensitivity to immature skill deficits. Food sharing experiments in squirrel monkeys (Saimiri boliviensis) and common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus). Journal of Comparative Psychology. Feb 13;139(3):178–191. https://doi.org/10.1037/com0000399

2024

Ackermann M, Kubacki J, Heaggans-Ebbeson S, Hayward GS, Lechmann J. (2024). Epidemiological, serological, and virological analysis of an outbreak of elephant hemorrhagic disease in Switzerland. bioRxiv. Mar 14. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.03.14.585086v1.abstract

Aduriz A, Lanthier I, Lair S, Vergneau-Grosset C. (2024). Evaluation of mortality causes and prevalence of renal lesions in zoo-housed chameleons: 2011–2022. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine. Jun;55(2):381–392.

Bähler I, Federer K, Davis L, Weber S, Burkevica A, Schneider S, Dierkes PW, Clauss M. (2024). Automated scatter-feeding increases foraging activity of zoo-housed meerkats (Suricata suricatta) to durations observed in the wild and elicits sentinel behaviour during feedings. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research. 12:172–184. https://www.jzar.org/jzar/onlinefirst/view/828

Brok PS, Jost SM, Verhulst NO. (2024). Selection of sheep skin bacteria to reduce blood feeding by biting midges under laboratory conditions. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. Nov;172(11):1062–1071. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/eea.13503

Cigler P, Davis LR, Gmür SL, Clauss M, Hatt JM, Ohlerth S, Mastromonaco G, Kummrow M. (2024). Evidence for seasonal shift in the reproduction of Aldabra giant tortoises (Aldabrachelys gigantea) in managed care in the northern hemisphere compared to the natural habitat in the southern hemisphere. Zoo Biology. 43:458–469.

Cristofari R, Davis L, Bardon G, Nitta Fernandes FA, Figueroa ME, Franzenburg S, Gauthier-Clerc M, Grande F, Heidrich R, Hukkanen M, Le Maho Y. (2024). Sedentary life accelerates epigenetic ageing in King penguins. bioRxiv. Sep 24. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.09.24.614416v1.full.pdf

Fröhlich M, van Noordwijk MA, Mitra Setia T, van Schaik CP, Knief U. (2024). Wild and captive immature orangutans differ in their non-vocal communication with others, but not with their mothers. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. Jan;78(1):12.

Garand E, Krauss C, Müller DWH, Davis LR, Codron D, Clauss M, Miranda F. (2024). Larger than life? Body mass records of zoo-managed giant anteaters (Myrmecophaga tridactyla). Zoo Biology. 43:537–544.

Göbel M, Jebram J, Westerhüs U, Kremper R, Selzer D. (2024). Breeding station for the European hamster (Cricetus cricetus Linnaeus, 1785) at Opel-Zoo Kronberg. Zoologischer Garten NF. 92:85–97.

Göbel M, Kaiser S, Richter H, Wagner P, Wehrenberg G. (2024). Specifically unspecific – simple devices as feasible and effective enrichment for small mammals. Animal Behavior and Cognition. 11(3):305–329.

Huijsmans TE, Van Soom A, Smits K, Wauters J, Hagan D, Hildebrandt TB. (2024). Elephant gestation: insights into idiopathic abortions and stillbirth. Zoo Biology. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39258751/

Kirchgeorg S, Chang JJ, Ip YC, Jucker M, Geckeler C, Lüthi M, van der Loo E, Mächler E, Franco-Sierra ND, Herrera MA, Pellissier L. (2024). eProbe: sampling of environmental DNA within tree canopies with drones. Environmental Science & Technology. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c00476

Kleinlugtenbelt CL, Clauss M, Weber H, Wenker C, Stagegaard J, Bernhard A, Ziemssen E, Baumgartner K. (2024). Killing zoo animals to feed carnivores in German-speaking zoos and its acceptance by staff, visitors, and media. Zoologischer Garten NF. 92:99–114. https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-260936

Overberg J, Göbel M, Heymann EW. (2024). Enclosure use of a group of yellow-breasted capuchins (Sapajus xanthosternos) at Allwetterzoo Münster. Zoologischer Garten. 92:185–205. doi:10.53188/zg0032

Schuppli C, Young R, Kukofka P, Kunz JA, Nellissen L, Alavi SE, Basalamah F, Haun D. (2024). The development of social attention in orangutans: comparing peering behaviour in wild and zoo-housed individuals. bioRxiv. May 31. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.31.596770

Wilson VA, Sauppe S, Brocard S, Ringen E, Daum MM, Wermelinger S, Gu N, Andrews C, Isasi-Isasmendi A, Bickel B, Zuberbühler K. (2024). Humans and great apes visually track event roles in similar ways. PLoS Biology. Nov 26;22(11):e3002857. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002857

2023

Bulls SE, Platner L, Ayub W, Moreno N, Arditi JP, Dreyer S, McCain S, Wagner P, Burgstaller S, Davis LR, Bruins-van Sonsbeek LG. (2022). Cancer prevalence is related to body mass and lifespan in tetrapods and remarkably low in turtles. bioRxiv. Jul 14 (in review). https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.07.12.499088

Geckeler C, Aucone E, Schnider Y, Simeon A, von Bassewitz JP, Zhu Y, Mintchev S. (2024). Learning occluded branch depth maps in forest environments using RGB-D images. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters. https://doi.org/10.1109/lra.2024.3355632

Kamare B, Preti ML, Bernardeschi I, Lantean S, Dagenais P, Milinkovitch M, Beccai L. (2023). Study and preliminary modeling of microstructure and morphology of the elephant trunk skin. Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems. Jul;10:101–114. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39504-8_7

Kleinlugtenbelt CLM, Burkevica A, Clauss M. (2023). Large carnivore feeding in European zoos. Zoologischer Garten NF. 91:9–39. https://www.vdz-zoos.org/fileadmin/Zooga/Volume_91_1/Kleinlugtenbelt_et_al_2023_Large_carnivore_feeding_in_European_zoos_ZooGart_91-1.pdf

Kleinlugtenbelt CLM, Burkevica A, Clauss M. (2023). Body condition scores of large carnivores in 44 European zoos. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research. 11:414–421. https://doi.org/10.19227/jzar.v11i4.741

Kleinlugtenbelt CLM, Clauss M, Burkevica A, De Cuyper A. (2023). Fasted and furious? Considerations on the use of fasting days in large carnivore husbandry. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research. 11:318–323. https://doi.org/10.19227/jzar.v11i3.713

Ramos-Madrigal J, Sun X, Sinding MS, Martins NF, Ciucani MM, Mak SS, Lanigan LT, Clausen CC, Bhak J, Jeon S, Kim C. (2023). Conservation implications of elucidating the Korean wolf taxonomic ambiguity through whole-genome sequencing. Ecology and Evolution. Aug;13(8):e10404. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10404

Sehner S, Willems EP, Baumeyer A, Davis L, van Schaik CP, Burkart JM. (2023). The evolution of information donation: a targeted comparison between marmosets and squirrel monkeys. Research Square (preprint, in review). Jan. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2498407/v1

2022

Schiffmann C, Hellriegel L, Clauss M, Stefan B, Knibbs K, Wenker C, Hård T, Galeffi C. From left to right all through the night: Characteristics of lying rest in zoo elephants. Zoo Biology. 2023 Jan;42(1):17-25. https://doi.org/10.1002/zoo.21693

Çilingir FG, A'Bear L, Hansen D, Davis LR, Bunbury N, Ozgul A, Croll D, Grossen C. Chromosome-level genome assembly for the Aldabra giant tortoise enables insights into the genetic health of a threatened population. GigaScience. 2022 Oct 11;11.  https://doi.org/10.1093/gigascience/giac090

Joshi A, Young D, Huang L, Mosberger L, Munk B, Vinzelj J, Flad V, Sczyrba A, Griffith GW, Podmirseg SM, Warthmann R. Effect of Growth Media on the Diversity of Neocallimastigomycetes from Non-Rumen Habitats. Microorganisms. 2022 Oct 5;10(10):1972. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/10/10/1972

Sehner S, Willems EP, Baumeyer A, Davis L, van Schaik CP, Burkart JM. The evolution fo information donation: A targeted comparison between marmosets and squirrel monkeys. https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-2498407/v1 

Fröhlich M, van Schaik CP. Social tolerance and interactional opportunities as drivers of gestural redoings in orang-utans. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 2022 Sep 12;377(1859):20210106. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2021.0106

Fröhlich M, van Schaik CP, van Noordwijk MA, Knief U. Individual variation and plasticity in the infant-directed communication of orang-utan mothers. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 2022 May 25;289(1975):20220200. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0200 

Perrin K, Lopez J, Molenaar F, Titus SE, Trimpert J, Abdelgawad A, Clauss M, Schiffman C. Current surveillance practices for shedding of elephant endotheliotropic herpesviruses in breeding and bachelor Asian elephant Elephas maximus herds in Europe. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research. 2022 Oct 31;10(4):183-7. https://doi.org/10.19227/jzar.v10i4.665 

Štefanić S, Grimm F, Mathis A, Winiger R, Verhulst NO. Xenosurveillance proof-of-principle: Detection of Toxoplasma gondii and SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in mosquito blood meals by (pan)-specific ELISAs. Current Research in Parasitology & Vector-Borne Diseases. 2022 Jan 1;2:100076. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crpvbd.2022.100076 

2021

Balasubramaniam KN, Kaburu SS, Marty PR, Beisner BA, Bliss‐Moreau E, Arlet ME, Ruppert N, Ismail A, Anuar Mohd Sah S, Mohan L, Rattan S (2021) Implementing social network analysis to understand the socioecology of wildlife co‐occurrence and joint interactions with humans in anthropogenic environments. Journal of Animal Ecology  90,12: 2819-2833.

Cerling TE, Bernasconi SM, Hofstetter LS, Jaggi M, Wyss F, Rudolf von Rohr C, Clauss M. (2021) M. CH4/CO2 ratios and carbon isotope enrichment between diet and breath in herbivorous mammals. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. May 28;9:638568.

Clauss M, Scriba M, Kioko J, Ganzhorn JU, Kiffner C (2021) Camera trap data do not indicate scaling of diel activity and cathemerality with body mass in an East African mammal assemblage. Ecology and Evolution 11: 13846-13861

Clauss M, Trümpler J, Ackermans NL, Kitchener AC, Hantke G, Stagegaard J, Takano T, Shintaku Y, Matsuda I (2021) Macroscopic digestive anatomy of ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta), including a comparison of frozen and formalin-stored specimens. Primates 62: 431-441

Clauss M, Zerbe P, Bingaman Lackey L, Codron D, Müller DWH (2021) Basic considerations on seasonal breeding in mammals including their testing by comparing natural habitats and zoos. Mammalian Biology 101: 373-386

Clavadetscher I, Bond ML, Martin LF, Schiffmann C, Hatt J-M, Clauss M (2021) Development of an image-based body condition score for giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) and a comparison of zoo-housed and free-ranging individuals. Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research 9: 170-185

Fröhlich M, Bartolotta N, Fryns C, Wagner C, Momon L, Jaffrezic M, Mitra Setia T, van Noordwijk MA, van Schaik CP. Multicomponent and multisensory communicative acts in orang-utans may serve different functions. Communications Biology. 2021 Jul 27;4(1):917.

Fröhlich M, Bartolotta N, Fryns C, Wagner C, Momon L, Jaffrezic M, Setia TM, Schuppli C, van Noordwijk MA, van Schaik CP. Orangutans have larger gestural repertoires in captivity than in the wild—A case of weak innovation?. Iscience. 2021 Nov 19;24(11).

Heldstab SA, van Schaik CP, Müller DWH, Rensch E, Bingaman Lackey L, Zerbe P, Hatt J-M, Clauss M, Matsuda I (2020) Reproductive seasonality in primates: patterns, concepts and unsolved questions. Biological Reviews 96: 66-88

Roller M, Müller DWH, Bertelsen MF, Bingaman Lackey L, Hatt J-M, Clauss M (2021) The historical development of juvenile mortality and adult longevity in zoo-kept carnivores. Zoo Biology (online) doi 10.1002/zoo.21639

Wendler P, Ertl N, Flügger M, Sós E, Hatt J-M, Clauss M (2021) Foot care in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in European zoos. Der Zoologische Garten NF