International Colloquium – Biology of the Soricidae IV

Department of Systematic Zoology, with help of the Institute of Biology (Faculty of Biology and Chemistry, University of Białystok), organised the „International Colloquium – Biology of the Soricidae IV”. The conference took place at the Collegium Biologicum AMU in Poznań during 11-14 September 2016 and was the continuation of the previous three meetings organised in Powdermill (USA, 1990 and 2002), and Syktyvkar (Russia, 2010). In the Poznań conference, almost 60 persons (including 2 producers of shrew traps and members of the Organizing Committee) from 16 countries (mainly from Europe and USA, but also from India, Japan or Malaysia) participated. Topics of 30 talks (presented in seven thematic sessions) and 20 posters covered ecology, behaviour and physiology of shrews, their genetic and morphological diversity, paleobiology, zoogeography, as well as parasites and diseases. Plenary lectures were given by the world-famous specialists: Jeremy B. Searle (Cornell University, USA), Satoshi Ohdachi (Hokkaido University, Japan), Dina Dechmann (Max Planck Institute, Germany), Nikolay A. Shchipanov (Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russia) and Vasyl Tkach (University of North Dakota, USA). His Magnificence, Rector of our University, professor Andrzej Lesicki was the honourable patron of the conference, whereas Vice Rector for Research and International Cooperation, the Poznań RNA Research Centre (KNOW – Leading National Research Centre) and Dean of the Faculty of Biology AMU supported it financially.