-Olfactory communication in vertebrates
-Reproductive strategies
-Sexual selection

link to the avian olfaction project

At the moment we are running or planning various projects in which you can get involved as a bachelor student or master student. For more information download the following PDF:    

2012 Niko Tinbergen Award of the Ethologische Gesellschaft
since 07/09 Postdoc
05/09 Birth of my son Leander
02/08 - 02/09 Research assistant with Sebastian Steinfartz
01/06 - 11/06 Grant of the „Berliner Chancengleichheitsprogramm“ Humboldt Universität Berlin
2006 Birth of my daughter Dana
09/02 – 12/07 Ph.D. -student at the Leibniz-Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, IZW (Berlin), incl. Childcare
10/97 - 12/01 University Bielefeld
04/95 - 09/97 Johannes-Gutenberg-University, Mainz
06/94 Abitur at the Einstein Gymnasium Rheda-Wiedenbrück

Title of Ph.D. Thesis:

Olfactory communication in the greater sac-winged bat, Saccopteryx bilineata

Title of Diploma Thesis:

Sexuelle Prägung auf ein evolutiv neues Schmuckmerkmal beim Zebrafinken, Taenopygia guttata (Universität Bielefeld; Betreuerin: Prof. Dr. Klaudia Witte)

Caspers, B.A., Krause, E.T. (2013) Intraspecific Olfactory Communication in Zebra Finches (Taeniopygia guttata) – Potential Information Apart from Visual and Acoustic Cues. In: East ML, Dehnhard M (eds.) Chemical Signals in Vertebrates 12. Springer Verlag, Berlin, Germany, p. 341-351

Krause, E.T., Caspers, B.A. (2012) Are olfactory cues involved in nest recognition in two social species of estrildid finches?. PLoS One 7: e36615 link

Krause, E.T., Krüger, O., Kohlmeier, P., & Caspers, B.A. (2012): Olfactory kin recognition in a songbird. Biology letters 8:327-329. Top ten cited article 2012 of Biol Lett

Caspers, B.A., & Steinfartz, S. (2011): Preference for the other sex: Olfactory sex recognition in terrestrial fire salamanders (Salamandra salamandra). Amphibia-Reptilia 32:503-508.

Eccard J.A., Fey K., _Caspers B.A., _& Ylönen H. (2011): Breeding state and season affect interspecific interaction types: indirect resource competition and direct interference. Oecologia /167:623–633/ /DOI 10.1007/s00442-011-2008-y

Caspers BA, Schroeder FC, Franke S, Voigt CC (2011). Scents of Adolescence: The Maturation of the Olfactory Phenotype in a Free-Ranging Mammal. PLoS ONE 6(6): e21162. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021162.

Krause ET, Steinfartz S, Caspers BA (2011). Poor-nutritional conditions during the early larval stage reduce risk taking activities of fire salamander larvae (Salamandra salamandra). Ethology 117: 416-421.

Caspers BA, Krause ET (2011). Odour-based natal nest recognition in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), a colony-breeding songbird. Biology Letters 7: 184–186 Top ten cited article 2011 of Biol Lett & evaluated by F1000

Caspers, B.A. & Voigt, C. C. (2009): Temporal and spatial distribution of male scent marks in the polygynous greater sac-winged bat. Ethology 115: 713-720

Caspers BA, Junge C, Weitere M, Steinfartz S. 2009. Habitat adaptation rather than genetic distance correlates with female preference in fire salamanders (Salamandra salamandra). Frontiers in Zoology 6:13 (doi:10.1186/1742-9994-6-13).

Caspers, B.A., Schroeder, F.C., Franke, S., Streich, J.W., & Voigt, C.C. (2009): Odour based species recognition in two sympatric species of sac-winged bats (S. bilineata, S. leptura): Combining chemical analysis and odour preference tests. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 63: 741-749

Caspers, B., Wibbelt, G., & Voigt, C.C. (2009): Histological examinations of facial glands in the greater sac-winged bat Saccopteryx bilineata (Chiroptera, Emballonuridae), and its potential use in territory marking. Zoomorphology 128:37-43

Voigt, C.C., Behr, O., Caspers, B., Helversen von, O., Knörnschild, M., Mayer, F., & Nagy, M. (2008) Songs, Scents and Senses: Sexual Selection in the greater sac-winged bat, Saccopteryx bilineata. J. Mammal. 98:1401-1410

Caspers, B., Franke, S., & Voigt, C.C. (2008): The wing-sac odour of male greater sac-winged bats Saccopteryx bilineata (Emballonuridae) as a composite signal. pp. 151-160 In J. Hurst, R.J. Beynon, S.C. Roberts, and T.D. Wyatt (eds.) Chemical Signals of Vertebrates XI. Springer Verlag, Berlin, Germany

Hoffmann, F.F., Hejduk, J., Caspers, B., Siemers, B. & Voigt C.C. (2007) In the mating system of the bat Saccopteryx bilineata (Chiroptera; Emballonuridae) bioacoustic constraints impede male eavesdropping on female echolocation calls for their surveillance. Can. J. Zool. 85:863-872

Witte, K. & Caspers, B. (2006): Sexual Imprinting on a novel blue ornament in zebra finches. Behaviour 143: 969-991

Voigt, C.C., Caspers, B. & Speck, S. (2005): Bats, Bacteria and Bat Smell: Sex-Specific Diversity of Microbes in a Sexually Selected Scent Organ. Journal of Mammalogy. 86(4):745-749

Krause ET, Caspers BA (2011). Der Geruchssinn von Zebrafinken – Können Singvögel doch riechen? Gefiederte Welt