Maren Birgit Gaulke (born 4 April 1955) is a German

herpetologist Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...

whose research focus has been the biology of monitor lizards, snakes, and turtles. She is a consultant with national and international institutions and contributes to status classifications of endangered species and the establishment of protected areas.

Biography

A student of earth and life sciences, Gaulke received her doctorate from the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...

in 1988. In the mid-1980s she began her field work in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, where her biological studies collected new insights into the ecology, ethology, and trophic dependencies of tropical animals. This led to the first description of several new reptile species, including '' Cyclemys pulchristriata'' ; '' Dendrelaphis flavescens'' ; '' Gekko ernstkelleri'' ; ''

Luperosaurus corfieldi ''Luperosaurus corfieldi'' is a species of gecko, a lizard in the Family (biology), family Gekkonidae. The species is Endemism, endemic to the Philippines. Etymology The Specific name (zoology), specific name, ''corfieldi'', is in honor of Engli ...

'' ; and '' Lycodon fausti'' . Her main interest is

monitor lizard Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus ''Varanus,'' the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and West African Nile monitor, one species is also found in south America as an invasive species. A ...

s, close relatives of the

Komodo dragon The Komodo dragon (''Varanus komodoensis''), also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large reptile of the monitor lizard family Varanidae that is endemic to the Indonesian islands of Komodo (island), Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Dasami, and Gili ...

, which are the world's largest living lizards. She described the species ''

Varanus mabitang The Panay monitor (''Varanus mabitang'') is an endangered monitor lizard native to Panay Island in the Philippines. Unlike most monitors, it is a specialized frugivore. Distribution and habitat The Panay monitor occurs only on Panay, inhabiting ...

'' ; '' Varanus palawanensis'' ; '' Varanus rasmusseni'' ; and '' Varanus samarensis'' . In 2017, she was part of the first team to describe the Philippine frog species ''

Sanguirana ''Sanguirana'' is a genus of true frogs (family Ranidae) found in the Malay Archipelago, including the Philippines, the Maluku Islands, Sulawesi, and Seram. ''Sanguirana'' was first introduced as a sub-genus of ''Rana Rana may refer to: Astro ...

acai'' from the islands of

Negros Negros (, , ) is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . The coastal zone of the southern part of Negros is identified as a site of highest marine biodiversity importance in the Coral Tr ...

Masbate Masbate, officially the Province of Masbate (Masbateño language, Masbateño: ''Probinsya san Masbate''; ), is an island Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located near the midsection of the nation's archipelago. Its provi ...

, and

Panay Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and a total population of 4,542,926, as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City of Il ...

. Vogel, Gernot; van Rooijen, Johan (2008). "Contributions to a review of the ''Dendrelaphis pictus'' (

Gmelin Gmelin may refer to: * Karl Christian Gmelin, Carl Christian Gmelin (1762–1837), German botanist, author of ''Flora Badensis, Alsatica et confinium regionum cis- et transrhenania'' (1806) * Charles Gmelin (1872–1950), British Olympic athlete * ...

, 1789) complex – 2. the eastern forms". ''Herpetozoa'' 21 (1/2): 3–29. Gaulke works as a consultant with national and international institutions on the status classification of endangered species and the establishment of protected areas. She is also an "extraordinary employee" at the Geobio Center at the

Ludwig Maximilians University The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

of Munich.

Selected publications

As main author or co-author, Gaulke has published the books ''Nature Travel Guide Philippines'' (2002), ''Nature Travel Guide Australia'' (2007, with Alexander Volker Altenbach), ''Water Dragons and Sailors'' (2008, with Heiko Werning), and ''The Herpetofauna of Panay Island'', Philippines (2011). She contributed chapters to the books ''Anoxia: Evidence for Eukaryote Survival and Paleontological Strategies'' (2012) by Alexander Volker Altenbach, Joan M. Bernhard, and Joseph Seckbach and ''Varanoid Lizards of the World'' (2004) by

Eric Pianka Eric Rodger Pianka (January 23, 1939 – September 12, 2022) was an American herpetologist and evolutionary ecologist. Early life Pianka was born in Siskiyou County in 1939. At age 13, he was seriously injured in a bazooka blast in the fron ...

, Dennis R. King, and Ruth Allen King. In addition, her scientific contributions have appeared in several international journals, including ''Hamadryad'', ''

Zootaxa ''Zootaxa'' is a peer-reviewed scientific mega journal for animal taxonomists. It is published by Magnolia Press (Auckland, New Zealand). The journal was established by Zhi-Qiang Zhang in 2001 and new issues are published multiple times a week ...

'', ''Elaphe'', '' Herpetozoa'', ''Asiatic Herpetological Research'', ''Salamandra'' and ''

Copeia ''Ichthyology & Herpetology'' (formerly ''Copeia'') is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research in ichthyology and herpetology that was originally named after Edward Drinker Cope, a prominent American researcher in these fi ...

''.

Dedication names

In 2008, herpetologists Gernot Vogel and

Johan van Rooijen Johan may refer to: * Johan (given name) * ''Johan'' (1921 film), a Swedish film directed by Mauritz Stiller * Johan (2005 film), a Dutch romantic comedy film * Johan (band), a Dutch pop-group ** ''Johan'' (album), a 1996 album by the group * Joh ...

named the bronzeback snake species ''

Dendrelaphis marenae ''Dendrelaphis marenae'', also known commonly as Gaulke's bronze-back tree snake and Maren's bronzeback, is a species of snake in the subfamily Ahaetuliinae of the family Colubridae. The species is native to Southeast Asia. Etymology The speci ...

'' in honor of Maren Gaulke.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaulke, Maren University of Kiel alumni 1955 births Living people German herpetologists Women herpetologists 21st-century German educators 20th-century German scientists 20th-century German women educators 20th-century German educators