German paleontology in the early 21st century.

Kießling W, Nützel A (2010)


Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2010

Journal

Abstract

German paleontology has a long
tradition and is still very active and innovative in
many fields. Fields with the
highest impacts are Neogene to Recent micropaleontology
with paleoceanographic and climate focus as well as geobiology and paleoecology.
Systematic paleontology is well represented
in Germany and leading taxonomic exper-
tise is present for many groups although the
impact of this resear
ch is necessarily low.
Conservation of this expertise is important
but visibility should
be enhanced by cooper-
ation with researchers from other disciplines
. Analytical paleobiology is too weak in
Germany with a few exceptions, as is the de
ep-time perspective of evo-devo research
and efforts should be made not to fall further behind here.
The greatest risk for German paleontology is the continued closure of university
departments and the replacement of retired paleontologists by non-paleontologists.
This threatens the future of our students in science and the paleontological research
community may fall below a critical mass
which is needed for innovative research.
Some of these problems fa
ll in the responsibility of th
e paleontologists themselves
(e.g., lack of innovative approaches, appare
nt absence of practical/ economic applica-
bility, tactical mistakes) but others are the re
sult of administrative actions to save or
shift resources independent of the quality of research and teaching.

Authors with CRIS profile

How to cite

APA:

Kießling, W., & Nützel, A. (2010). German paleontology in the early 21st century. Palaeontologia Electronica.

MLA:

Kießling, Wolfgang, and Alexander Nützel. "German paleontology in the early 21st century." Palaeontologia Electronica (2010).

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