Varpu Vahtera
PhD, Adjunct professor
varpu.vahtera@utu.fi +358 29 450 4176 +358 50 411 0355 Vesilinnantie 5 Turku : 164 |
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
- Bacterial diversity associated with the brown stone centipede, Lithobius forficatus (Chilopoda, Lithobiomorpha) (2024)
- Annales Zoologici Fennici
- An Eocene fossil plutoniumid centipede: a new species of Theatops from Baltic Amber (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha) (2023)
- Journal of Systematic Palaeontology
- A new species of Lepidodactylus (Squamata: Gekkonidae) from Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea (2023)
- Zootaxa
- The Effect of Sampling Bias on Evaluating the Diversity and Distribution Patterns of Iranian Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) (2023)
- Diversity
- Changes in Biomass and Diversity of Soil Macrofauna along a Climatic Gradient in European Boreal Forests (2022)
- Insects
- Lepidodactylus browni (Squamata, Gekkonidae) Placed in the Synonymy of L. orientalis (2022)
- Journal of Herpetology
- An overview of the extant genera and subgenera of the order Scolopendromorpha (Chilopoda): a new identification key and updated diagnoses (2020)
- Zootaxa
- Five million years in the darkness: A new troglomorphic species of Cryptops Leach, 1814 (Chilopoda, Scolopendromorpha) from Movile Cave, Romania (2020)
- ZooKeys
- Phylogeny of Lithobiidae Newport, 1844, with emphasis on the megadiverse genus Lithobius Leach, 1814 (Myriapoda, Chilopoda) (2020)
- Cladistics
- Taxonomy of Micronesian monitors (Reptilia: Squamata: Varanus): endemic status of new species argues for caution in pursuing eradication plans (2020)
- Royal Society Open Science
- The millipede family Polyxenidae (Diplopoda, Polyxenida) in the faunas of the Crimean Peninsula and Caucasus, with notes on other European Polyxenidae (2020)
- Zootaxa
- The omission of critical data in the pursuit of ‘revolutionary’ methods to accelerate the description of species (2020)
- Systematic Entomology
- 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
- Effects of reindeer grazing and recovery after cessation of grazing on the ground-dwelling spider assemblage in Finnish Lapland (2019)
- PeerJ
- Puolikas maapalloa pian ilman kurnuttajia? (2019) Sääksjärvi IE, Vahtera V, Weijola V
- Tuhatjalkaiset ja maasiirat (2019) Elämää maan kätköissä Vahtera Varpu, Uddström Annika
- Tuhatjalkaiset. Myriapods. Myriapoda (2019) Suomen lajien uhanalaisuus – Punainen kirja 2019 Varpu Vahtera
- A new species of Chalcoscirtus (Araneae: Salticidae) from Altai, South Siberia, Russia (2018)
- Entomologica Fennica
- Rediscovery of Geophilus carpophagus Leach (Chilopoda:
Geophilomorpha) from Finland (2018)- Memoranda Societatis Pro Fauna Et Flora Fennica