Varpu Vahtera
PhD, Adjunct professor
varpu.vahtera@utu.fi +358 29 450 4176 +358 50 411 0355 Vesilinnantie 5 Turku Office: 164 ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6710-6358 |
Molecular systematics; Chilopoda
I work as a curator of myriapodology and arachnology at the Zoological Museum. I obtained my Master's degree from the University of Turku (2003) and PhD degree from the University of Helsinki (2008). I have conducted two postdoctoral periods, one at Museum of Comparative Zoology (Harvard University) and one at the Finnish Museum of Natural History (LUOMUS). Despite of my strong laboratory background, fieldwork
is very close to my heart.
I am a molecular systematist studying the diversity and evolutionary relationships of both invertebrates and vertebrates. My main research focus is on scolopendromorph centipedes but I am also involved in many other projects studying the diversity of e.g. millipedes, arachnids, amphibians and reptiles from all over the world.
- A new insular species of Gehyra (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Papua New Guinea closely related to Gehyra oceanica (2024)
- Systematics and Biodiversity
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Bacterial diversity associated with the brown stone centipede, Lithobius forficatus (Chilopoda, Lithobiomorpha) (2024)
- Annales Zoologici Fennici
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - An Eocene fossil plutoniumid centipede: a new species of Theatops from Baltic Amber (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha) (2023)
- Journal of Systematic Palaeontology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - A new species of Lepidodactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea (2023)
- Zootaxa
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - The Effect of Sampling Bias on Evaluating the Diversity and Distribution Patterns of Iranian Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) (2023)
- Diversity
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Changes in Biomass and Diversity of Soil Macrofauna along a Climatic Gradient in European Boreal Forests (2022)
- Insects
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Lepidodactylus browni (Squamata, Gekkonidae) Placed in the Synonymy of L. orientalis (2022)
- Journal of Herpetology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - An overview of the extant genera and subgenera of the order Scolopendromorpha (Chilopoda): a new identification key and updated diagnoses (2020)
- Zootaxa
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Five million years in the darkness: A new troglomorphic species of Cryptops Leach, 1814 (Chilopoda, Scolopendromorpha) from Movile Cave, Romania (2020)
- ZooKeys
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Phylogeny of Lithobiidae Newport, 1844, with emphasis on the megadiverse genus Lithobius Leach, 1814 (Myriapoda, Chilopoda) (2020)
- Cladistics
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Taxonomy of Micronesian monitors (Reptilia: Squamata: Varanus): endemic status of new species argues for caution in pursuing eradication plans (2020)
- Royal Society Open Science
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - The millipede family Polyxenidae (Diplopoda, Polyxenida) in the faunas of the Crimean Peninsula and Caucasus, with notes on other European Polyxenidae (2020)
- Zootaxa
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - The omission of critical data in the pursuit of ‘revolutionary’ methods to accelerate the description of species (2020)
- Systematic Entomology
(B1 Non-refereed article in a scientific journal) - A molecular phylogeny for the Pacific monitor lizards (Varanus subgenus Euprepiosaurus) reveals a recent and rapid radiation with high levels of cryptic diversity (2019)
- Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Effects of reindeer grazing and recovery after cessation of grazing on the ground-dwelling spider assemblage in Finnish Lapland (2019)
- PeerJ
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Puolikas maapalloa pian ilman kurnuttajia? (2019) Sääksjärvi IE, Vahtera V, Weijola V
(E1 Popularised article) - Tuhatjalkaiset ja maasiirat (2019) Elämää maan kätköissä Vahtera Varpu, Uddström Annika
(E1 Popularised article) - Tuhatjalkaiset. Myriapods. Myriapoda (2019) Suomen lajien uhanalaisuus – Punainen kirja 2019 Varpu Vahtera
(D2 Article in a professional compilation book) - A new species of Chalcoscirtus (Araneae: Salticidae) from Altai, South Siberia, Russia (2018)
- Entomologica Fennica
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Rediscovery of Geophilus carpophagus Leach (Chilopoda:
Geophilomorpha) from Finland (2018)- Memoranda Societatis Pro Fauna Et Flora Fennica
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)