Sixty years of research of vertebrate biology

The Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the ASCR in Brno has been performing research of vertebrates since 1953 and celebrates its 60^th anniversary. It has been carrying out basic research of vertebrates in these research fields: biological diversity at the molecular, organismic and community levels, evolutionary relationship among populations and species, natural hybrid zones and speciation; population dynamics, changes and trends in the territorial structure of natural and disturbed habitats, including modelling and prognoses; physiological, behavioral, ecological and evolutionary mechanisms in the lives of vertebrates as regards their ontogenetic development, reproductive strategies, survival rates, feeding behavior, and inter- and intraspecific interactions; ectoparasites of higher vertebrates as hosts, vectors and reservoirs of human and animal diseases in natural foci.
These investigations seek to achieve original data about free-living vertebrates concerning their genetic, population and species diversity, phylogeny, population dynamics, interactions with the environment in association with human and animal microbial pathogens.