Chemnitz scientist discovers genetic peculiarity
An international team of researchers, including the Chemnitz Museum of Natural History, examined several sawshark specimens caught by local fishermen at depths of between approximately 150 and 250 metres.
These animals inhabit the little-studied depths of the sea. A look at the animals’ DNA is particularly revealing: the Balinese sawsharks differ genetically significantly from comparable species. It is therefore possible that they represent a geographically isolated population or even a previously
unknown species. However, this question has not yet been conclusively resolved. The specimens examined are exclusively late-stage embryos. Further studies on adult specimens are therefore required for a definitive identification.
These scientifically valuable specimens will be permanently preserved in the natural history collections of the Museum für Naturkunde Chemnitz and the Indonesian Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense in Cibinong. Such collections are essential archives of nature: they enable researchers to examine specimens even many years
to study animals, compare them with one another and gain new insights into biological diversity.
Even though not all specialist fields represented in the collections of Chemnitz’s oldest municipal museum have been staffed by scientists
, the collections continue to grow steadily and significantly. To this end, the Museum of Natural History maintains a wide range of collaborations with citizen scientists from various disciplines.
In this particular case, Jesco Seifert, a member of the Friends of the Chemnitz Museum of Natural History and a full-time pharmacist at the University of Leipzig, initiated a study as part of an international collaboration with the Indonesian research centre BRIN (National Research and Innovation Agency) and the Pacific Shark Research Centre in California, the results of which were published in an international scientific journal on 9 October.