Markus Bertling

Area of Taxonomic Interest: Trace fossils (and other fossils)

Country: Germany

Homepage: https://www.uni-muenster.de/Geomuseum/museum/markus.html

Role: († 13 February 2022)

Elected: December 2017, see BZN 75: 4.

Markus Bertling is an ichnologist specialized in bioerosion structures, namely those in plant and bone substrate recently, but has also published on various other subjects in palaeontology. The series of Workshops on Ichnotaxonomy (WIT) is one of his “babies”, and to a lesser extent, the International Bioerosion Workshops (IBW).

Summary of Research & Education:

Since 1998, Markus is curator for palaeontology at the Geomuseum of the WWU (Westphalian Wilhelm’s University) in Münster/Germany. Before, he had studied geology and palaeontology there, with his Ph.D. thesis (1991) treating the ecology of Jurassic coral reefs in northern Germany. It included taxonomic in-depth studies of several relevant groups, such as Scleractinia, Bivalvia, Serpulidae, Bryozoa and borings of various producers. The latter lit the spark for his continuing interest in trace fossils in general, striving especially for a uniform ichnotaxonomic approach as well as proper usage of the Code in this field. (Many ichnologists come from the geological side and thus are unfamiliar with central nomenclatural procedures, unfortunately.) Markus is driven by the idea that speaking with one language is crucial in science, implying that organisms – just as their traces – must be known by one name (each, of course).

Contact Details:

Geomuseum der WWU
Corrensstr. 24
D-48149 Münster
Germany
Tel. ++49-251-8333964
Fax  ++49-251-8333968
E-Mail markus (dot) bertling (at) wwu (dot) de