Dr. Karin Schneeberger
Applied Zoology and Nature Conservation
Loitzer Str. 26
17489 Greifswald
Research Interests
I am interested in individual differences in behavior and their consequences for group living and conservation. Furthermore, the social nature of bat societies together with their ecological variability, high longevity and being host of famous infectious diseases make bats an interesting study system to investigate their immune system. I use basic immunological methods to answer questions such as how the immune system of bats is adapted to their environment, how they age and what cues bats use to gain information about the health status of conspecifics in order to avoid disease transmission.
For information in current and past projects, as well as for the list of publications, please visit www.karinschneeberger.com.
Publications
Schneeberger K., Schulze M., Scheffler I., Caspers B. A. (2021). Evidence of female preference for odor of distant over local males in a bat with female dispersal. Behav Ecol, arab003
Schneeberger K., Röder G., Taborsky M. (2020) The smell of hunger: Norway rats provision social partners based on odour cues of need. PloS Biology, 18(3):e3000628
Schneeberger K., Taborsky M. (2019) The role of sensory ecology and cognition in social decision: costs of acquiring information matter. Editorial of special issue “The role of sensory ecology and cognition in social decision”. Function Ecology, 34(2):302-309
Schneeberger K. (2019) Die geheimen Wanderungen der Fledermäuse. Fauna Focus 49
Schmid R., Schneeberger K., Taborsky M. (2017) Feel good, do good? Disentangling reciprocity from unconditional prosociality. Ethology, 00:1-8
Schweinfurth M. K., Neuenschwander J., Engqvist L., Schneeberger K., Rentsch A. K., Gygax M., Taborsky M. (2017) Do female rats form social bonds? Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 71:98
Schneeberger K. (2016) Food sharing and nonhuman reciprocal altruism. In: Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science (eds. Weekes-Shackleford V. A., Shackleford T. K.), Springer International Publisher, published online
Schneeberger K. (2016) Cooperative grooming. In: Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science (eds. Weekes-Shackleford V. A., Shackleford T. K.), Springer International Publisher, published online
Schneeberger K., Voigt C.C., Müller C., Caspers B. (2016) Multidimensionality of chemical information in male greater sac-winged bats (Saccopteryx bilineata). Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 4: 83
Schneeberger K., Voigt C.C. (2015) Zoonotic viruses and conservation of bats. In: Bats in the Anthropocene: Conservation of bats in a changing world (eds. Voigt, C.C., Kingston, T.). Springer Verlag
Tian J., Courtiol A., Schneeberger K., Greenwood A., Czirják G.Á. (2015) Circulating white blood cell counts in captive and wild rodents are influenced by body mass rather than testes mass, a correlate of mating promiscuity. Functional Ecology 29: 823-829
Schneeberger K., Courtiol A., Czirják G.Á., Voigt C.C. (2014) Immune profile predicts survival and reflects senescence in a small, long-lived mammal, the greater sac-winged bat (Saccopteryx bilineata). PLoS One 9(9): e108268
Schneeberger K., Czirják G.Á., Voigt C.C. (2014) Fruvigory is associated with low measures of plasma oxidative stress and high antioxidant concentration in free-ranging bat. Naturwissenschaften 101 (4): 285-290
Schneeberger K., Czirják G.Á., Voigt C.C. (2013) Inflammatory challenge increases measures of oxidative stress in a free-ranging, long-lived mammal. Journal of Experimental Biology 216: 4514-4519
Voigt C.C., Schneeberger K., Luckner A. (2013) Ecological and dietary correlates of stable hydrogen isotope ratios in fur and body water of syntopic tropical bats. Ecology 94 (2): 346-355
Schneeberger K., Czirják G.Á., Voigt C.C. (2013) Measures of the constitutive immune system are linked to diet and roosting habits of neotropical bats. PloS One 8 (1): e54023
Schneeberger K. (2013) Eco-immunology and oxidative stress of Neotropical bats. Dissertation
Schneeberger K., Dietz M., Taborsky M. (2012) Reciprocal cooperation between unrelated rats depends on cost to donor and benefit to recipient. BMC Evolutionary Biology 12 (1): 41
Voigt C.C., Voigt‐Heucke S.L., Schneeberger K. (2012) Isotopic data do not support food sharing within large networks of female vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) Ethology 118 (3): 260-268
Voigt C.C., Schneeberger K., Voigt-Heucke S.L., Lewanzik D. (2011) Rain increases the energy cost of bat flight. Biology Letters 7 (5): 793-795