Maren Birgit Gaulke (born 4 April 1955) is a German herpetologist 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.
A student of earth and life sciences, Gaulke received her doctorate from the University of Kiel in 1988. In the mid-1980s she began her field work in Southeast Asia and the Philippines, where her biological studies collected new insights into the ecology, ethology and trophic dependencies of tropical animals. [1] This led to the first description of several new reptile species, including Cyclemys pulchristriata Fritz , Gaulke & Lehr, 1997, Dendrelaphis flavescens Gaulke, 1994, Gekko ernstkelleri Rösler, Siler, Brown, Demegillo & Gaulke, 2006, Luperosaurus corfieldi Gaulke, Rösler & Brown, 2007 and Lycodon fausti Gaulke, 2002.
Her main interest is monitor lizards, close relatives of the Komodo dragons, which are the world's largest living lizards. [2] She described the species Varanus mabitang Gaulke & Curio, 2001, Varanus palawanensis Koch, Gaulke & Böhme, 2010, Varanus rasmusseni Koch, Gaulke & Böhme, 2010 and Varanus samarensis Koch, Gaulke & Böhme, 2010. In 2017, she was part of the first team to describe the Philippine frog species Sanguirana acai from the islands of Negros, Masbate and Panay. [3]
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 of Munich. [2] [4]
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 and R. Dennis King. In addition, her scientific contributions have appeared in several international journals, including Hamadryad, Zootaxa , [5] Elaphe, Herpetozoa , Asiatic Herpetological Research, Salamandra and Copeia .
In 2008, Gernot Vogel and Johan van Rooijen named the bronze snake species Dendrelaphis marenae in honor of Maren Gaulke. [3]
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 one species is also found in the Americas as an invasive species. About 80 species are recognized.
Dendrelaphis is a genus of colubrid snakes, distributed from Pakistan, India and southern China to Indonesia, Timor-Leste, the Philippines, Australia, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. There are over forty described species. Asian species are known commonly as bronzebacks, while the Australo-Papuan species are simply called treesnakes. All are non-venomous and entirely harmless to humans.
The emerald tree monitor or green tree monitor, is a small to medium-sized arboreal monitor lizard. It is known for its unusual coloration, which consists of shades from green to turquoise, topped with dark, transversedorsal banding. This coloration helps camouflage it in its arboreal habitat. Its color also makes the emerald tree monitor highly prized in both the pet trade and zoos alike.
The Panay monitor is an endangered monitor lizard native to Panay Island in the Philippines. Unlike most monitors, it is a specialized frugivore.
The golden-spotted tree monitor, also known commonly as the golden speckled tree monitor, is a species of monitor lizard in the family Varanidae. The species is endemic to Waigeo Island in Indonesia.
The yellow-headed water monitor, also commonly known as Cuming's water monitor, the Mindanao water monitor, and the Philippine water monitor, is a large species of monitor lizard in the family Varanidae. The species is endemic to the Philippines. It thrives in mangrove, forest and water margins in tropical refuges, where it feeds on birds, fishes, mammals, and carrion.
The turquoise monitor is a species of monitor lizards found in Indonesia. Specifically, it is found on Halmahera Island and in the Maluku Islands.
The Ceram mangrove monitor is a species of monitor lizards found in Indonesia. Specifically, it is found on some of the central Moluccan Islands including: Ambon, Seram, Obi, Buru, and Banda. On Ambon and probably on New Guinea V. cerambonensis occurs sympatrically with Varanus indicus. It is in the indicus species group of the subgenus Euprepiosaurus.
Finsch's monitor is a species of monitor lizard in the family Varanidae. The species is native to New Guinea and Australia.
The Rennell Island monitor is a species of monitor lizards found in the Solomon Islands archipelago. It is also known as the Hakoi Monitor. It belongs to the subgenus Euprepiosaurus along with the canopy goanna, the peach-throated monitor, Kalabeck's monitor, and others.
The Palawan water monitor is a quite large species of monitor lizard in the family Varanidae. The species is endemic to the Philippines.
The marbled water monitor, also known commonly as the Philippine water monitor, is a large species of monitor lizard in the family Varanidae. The species is endemic to the Philippines.
Varanus macraei, the blue-spotted tree monitor or blue tree monitor, is a species of monitor lizard found on the island of Batanta in Indonesia. It is named after herpetologist Duncan R. MacRae, founder of the reptile park Rimba on Bali.
Ashok Captain is an Indian herpetologist who has authored books and papers on Indian snakes. He was also a competing cyclist from 1977 to 1989.
Dendrelaphis schokari, also known as the common bronze-back or Schokar's bronzeback, is a species of non-venomous arboreal snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Sri Lanka.
Dendrelaphis girii, Giri's bronzeback tree snake or Giri's bronzeback, is a species of diurnal, arboreal, Colubrid snake endemic to the Western Ghats of southwestern India.
Dendrelaphis nigroserratus is a species of snakes belonging to the bronzebacks (Dendrelaphis). It is found only in western and southwestern Thailand and the adjacent southeastern Myanmar. A specimen has been preserved in the British Natural History Museum, London since the early 20th century. Due to its resemblance to Wall's bronzeback, the scientific name was formerly assigned under Dendrelaphis cyanochloris, the species name for Wall's bronzeback. It was formally described as a distinct species in 2012 by Gernot Vogel, Johan Van Rooijen and Sjon Hauser. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature report, it became one of the 367 important new species discovered in the Greater Mekong during 2012 and 2013.
Varanus reisingeri, known commonly as Reisinger's tree monitor and the Yellow tree monitor, is a species of monitor lizard in the family Varanidae. The species is endemic to Indonesia. It was at one point at least considered an allopatric insular subspecies of the green tree monitor, due to physical and genetic similarities.
The large-scaled water monitor is a species of monitor lizard.
Dendrelaphis marenae, commonly known as Maren's bronzeback, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae, found in Southeast Asia.
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