Goethe-Universität — Press releases

Mar 26 2026

19:00

International study tracks genetic changes in Arabidopsis thaliana across 30 sites worldwide over five years

Evolution in Fast-Forward: How Thale Cress Adapts – or Goes Extinct

In an unprecedented field experiment, an international research team led by Goethe University Frankfurt, the University of California, Berkeley, and CNRS Montpellier investigated the evolutionary adaptation of thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) to a wide range of climates, from the Alps to the Negev Desert. At 30 locations worldwide, team members sowed the plants, monitored their development, and analyzed genetic changes. The result: many Arabidopsis populations rapidly adapted to local climates – some, however, went extinct. The findings demonstrate how genetic diversity ensures population survival.

FRANKFURT. The large-scale experiment began in autumn 2017 with 360 small plastic tubes containing a mixture of Arabidopsis thaliana seeds, an inconspicuous annual plant with small white flowers. The tubes were shipped to 30 locations across Western and Northern Europe, the Mediterranean region, and the United States. At each site, biologists from a global network sowed the seeds in twelve plots, each about a quarter of a square meter, establishing twelve Arabidopsis populations. These populations persisted into the following year thanks to their seeds.

For up to five years, researchers monitored plant growth and performance and collected tissue samples annually for genetic analysis. Their shared goal: to trace how plants evolve to adapt to highly diverse environments.

The network “Genomics of Rapid Evolution in Novel Environment” (GrENE-net) was launched in 2016 by Niek Scheepens, Professor of Plant Evolutionary Ecology at Goethe University Frankfurt, together with Dr. François Vasseur of the Centre d’Écologie Fonctionelle et Évolutive in Montpellier and Professor Moisés Expósito-Alonso of the University of California, Berkeley.

Plant samples from the first three years have now been genetically analyzed by the U.S. team. The result: in most climate zones, populations survived and adapted to their local environmental conditions. This became evident through millions of changes across their entire set of genes—the genome. Many of these genomic changes were statistically similar across all twelve populations at a given site. Moreover, sites with similar climates exhibited similar genetic changes, affecting genes related to traits such as drought tolerance or flowering time.

Scheepens explains: “Both findings show how climate exerts evolutionary selection pressure, favoring genes and gene variants that help the plant better adapt to its environment.”

However, some thale cress populations – mostly at particularly hot and dry sites – went extinct after three years, leaving their plots barren. Genome analyses revealed that strong genetic fluctuations had preceded these extinctions, and the twelve populations did not evolve in the same direction. Scheepens notes: “In these populations, random changes apparently dominated due to the relatively small population size within each plot. Instead of successful adaptation, so-called ‘genetic drift’ prevailed.”

Evolutionary ecologist Niek Scheepens concludes: “With this experiment, we can watch evolution unfold almost in real time. It demonstrates that evolutionary adaptation can occur very rapidly – provided sufficient genetic diversity is present. Rare plant species with small populations and low genetic diversity are therefore poorly equipped to cope with environmental changes, including climate change. Overall, our experiment is a compelling appeal to preserve biodiversity: diversity ensures survival.”

Publication: Xing Wu, Tatiana Bellagio, Yunru Peng, Lucas Czech, Meixi Lin, Patricia Lang, Ruth Epstein, Mohamed Abdelaziz, Jake Alexander, Carlos Alonso- Blanco, Heidi Lie Andersen, Modesto Berbel, Joy Bergelson, Oliver Bossdorf, Liana Burghardt, Mireille Caton- Darby, Robert Colautti, Carolin Delker, Panayiotis G. Dimitrakopoulos, Kathleen Donohue, Walter Durka, Gema Escribano- Avila, Steven J. Franks, Felix B. Fritschi, Alexandros Galanidis, Alfredo Garcia-Fernández, Ana García- Muñoz, Elena Hamann, Allison Hutt, José M. Iriondo, Thomas E. Juenger, Stephen R. Keller, Karin Koehl, Arthur Korte, Pamela Korte, Alexander Kutschera, Carlos Lara-Romero, Laura Leventhal, Daniel Maag, Arnald Marcer, Martí March- Salas, Juliette de Meaux, Belén Méndez-Vigo, Javier Morente-López, Timothy C. Morton, Zuzana Münzbergova, Anne Muola, Hanna Akiko Nomoto, Meelis Pärtel, F. Xavier Picó, Brandie Quarles- Chidyagwai, Marcel Quint, Niklas Reichelt, Agnieszka Rudak, Johanna Schmitt, Gregor Schmitz, Merav Seifan, Basten L. Snoek, Remco Stam, Marc Stift, John R. Stinchcombe, Mark A. Taylor, Peter Tiffin, Irène Till-Bottraud, Anna Traveset, Jean- Gabriel Valay, Martijn Van Zanten, Vigdis Vandvik, Cyrille Violle, Detlef Weigel, Maciej Wódkiewicz, François Vasseur, J. F. Scheepens, Moises Exposito- Alonso. Rapid adaptation and extinction in synchronized outdoor evolution experiments of Arabidopsis. Science (2026) https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adz0777

Background information
GrENE-net project website: https://grene-net.org/

Picture download:
https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/184316322

Captions:
1 Genetic diversity ensures survival: thale cress, Arabidopsis thaliana. Photo: Niek Scheepens, Goethe University Frankfurt
2 Thale cress plants grew in twelve plots, each one-quarter of a square meter. Photo: Niek Scheepens, Goethe University Frankfurt
3 Each year during flowering, tissue samples were collected from all plants for genetic analysis. Photo: Niek Scheepens, Goethe University Frankfurt
4 The sites varied in climate, ranging from mountains to desert. Photo: Jean-Gabriel Valay, Jardin du Lautaret

Contact:
Professor J.F. Niek Scheepens
Evolutionary Ecology of Plants
Institute of Ecology, Evolution and Diversity
Department of Biological Sciences
Goethe University Frankfurt
Tel. +49 (0)69 798-42132
Scheepens@bio.uni-frankfurt.de
https://www.bio.uni-frankfurt.de/96381923/J_F__Niek_Scheepens

Bluesky: @goetheuni.bsky.social @cnrs.fr @mexpositoalonso.bsky.social @plantevoeco.bsky.social
LinkedIn: @Goethe-Universität Frankfurt @University of California, Berkeley @CNRS @Niek Scheepens @Moises (Moi) Exposito-Alonso

Mar 26 2026

16:24

International research team analyzes 27,000 CT scans from two U.S. long-term studies

The underestimated thymus: New studies reveal its relevance for healthy aging

People with a healthy thymus gland live longer and are less likely to fall ill. In addition, immunotherapies are more often successful in patients with a healthy thymus. This is shown by two international studies involving Universitätsmedizin Frankfurt. The results, now published in the journal Nature, open up new approaches to maintaining health during the aging process.

FRANKFURT. The thymus is a small organ located in the upper chest that plays a central role in the immune system: it produces T cells – specialized immune cells that recognize and fight pathogens. For a long time, the thymus was considered a “childhood organ" with little relevance in adulthood, as it shrinks and becomes fatty over the course of life. New studies fundamentally challenge this assumption.

“The publications in Nature underscore the extraordinary scientific and clinical relevance of this work. They impressively demonstrate the contribution modern imaging can make in revealing previously underestimated biological connections," says Professor Thomas Vogl, Director of the Clinic for Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at Universitätsmedizin Frankfurt. “If it becomes possible to analyze thymus health early and reliably, individual disease risks can be identified much earlier and counteracted in a targeted way – long before clinical symptoms appear." Thymus health, as determined using routinely collected computed tomography imaging data, could therefore offer a new approach to identifying disease risks at an early stage and initiating targeted preventive measures. In imaging, thymus health can be assessed based on the degree of fatty degeneration. Lower levels of fat infiltration generally indicate better immune function.

Groundbreaking insights from long-term studies
Two international studies led by Harvard University (Boston) and research partners in Maastricht, Aarhus, London, and Frankfurt support this hypothesis. Dr. Simon Bernatz, first author of the publication, physician and research associate at the Clinic for Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at Universitätsmedizin Frankfurt, explains: “Our analyses show for the first time that thymus health seems to be an independent predictor of survival and disease risks. Particularly noteworthy is that we were able to obtain this information from routine computer tomography (CT) scans."

The researchers developed a deep learning framework – an artificial intelligence system – to quantify CT images. They analyzed more than 27,000 CT scans collected as part of two major U.S. long-term studies: the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), which examined lung health in current and former smokers over twelve years, and the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), one of the most well-known and enduring studies on cardiovascular health.

In both independent cohorts, good thymus health was closely linked to better health outcomes. In the NLST study, it was associated with lower overall mortality (50 percent), reduced lung cancer incidence (36 percent), and decreased cardiovascular mortality (63 to 92 percent). The FHS cohort confirmed the association with lower mortality from cardiovascular disease – independent of age, sex, and smoking status.

New perspectives in cancer medicine: the thymus as a biomarker
A second recent study by the same authors significantly expands these findings and suggests that thymus health may also predict the success of modern cancer immunotherapies. The study analyzed more than 3,400 cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. It found that patients with high thymus health had significantly better treatment outcomes. This was particularly true for lung cancer and melanoma, but also for breast and kidney cancer.

Remarkably, this association was independent of established tumor-based biomarkers such as PD-L1 or tumor mutational burden (TMB). Thymus health therefore provides additional information, as it reflects not the tumor itself but the performance of the immune system. At the same time, it was shown that good thymus function is associated with greater diversity of T-cell receptors and an overall stronger immune response.

“Our results suggest that thymus health is also a decisive and previously underestimated factor in the success of immunotherapies. In the future, it could help to select therapies more precisely and tailor them more individually to patients," says Dr. Simon Bernatz.

The thymus as a key organ for healthy aging
The findings provide comprehensive evidence for the first time that the thymus remains active and plays a crucial role even in adulthood. A healthy thymus appears to help maintain long-term immune stability, better control inflammatory processes, and protect the body more effectively against age-related diseases. This places the thymus at the center as a key regulator of immune-mediated aging and general disease susceptibility in adulthood.

Another key insight: thymus health is closely linked to modifiable lifestyle factors. Negative influences may arise particularly from smoking, obesity, and lack of physical activity, as well as from chronic inflammatory processes promoted by unhealthy diets or prolonged stress. Conversely, the findings suggest that a healthy lifestyle can positively influence thymus function and thereby improve overall health and potentially the success of medical treatments.

Implications for research and therapy
These results fundamentally change the perception of the thymus—from a neglected organ of childhood to a central regulator of immune aging and disease susceptibility in adulthood. As a biomarker, it could in the future improve early detection of at-risk patients, guide the selection of appropriate immunotherapies, and optimize the timing of treatment. In addition, targeted strategies to strengthen or regenerate the thymus are becoming a focus of research. The health of this small organ may have a decisive impact on quality of life, life expectancy, and treatment success.

Publications:
(1) Simon Bernatz, Vasco Prudente, Suraj Pai, Asbjørn K. Attermann, Yumeng Cao, Jiachen Chen, Asya Lyass, Borek Foldyna, Leonard Nürnberg, Keno Bressem, Christopher Abbosh, Charles Swanton, Mariam Jamal-Hanjani, Michael T. Lu, Joanne M. Murabito, Kathryn L. Lunetta, Nicolai J. Birkbak, Hugo J. W. L. Aerts. Thymic health consequences in adults. Nature (2026) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10242-y
(2) Simon Bernatz, Vasco Prudente, Suraj Pai, Asbjørn K. Attermann, Alessandro Di Federico, Andrew Rowan, Selvaraju Veeriah, Lars Dyrskjøt, Leonard Nürnberg, Joao V. Alessi, Patrick A. Ott, Elad Sharon, Allan Hackshaw, Nicholas McGranahan, Christopher Abbosh, Raymond H. Mak, Danielle Bitterman, Mark Awad, Biagio Ricciuti, Charles Swanton, Mariam Jamal-Hanjani, Nicolai J. Birkbak, Hugo J. W. L. Aerts. Thymic health and immunotherapy outcomes in patients with cancer. Nature (2026) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10243-x

Picture download:
https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/184316333

Caption:
Thymus health may differ: CT scan of a more healthy (left) and less healthy (right) thymus. Photo: Bernatz et al., Nature (2026), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10243-x

Contact:
Dr. Simon Bernatz
Physician and Research Associate
Clinic for Radiology and Nuclear Medicine
Universitätsmedizin Frankfurt
Tel. +49 (0)69 6301 – 85306
simon.bernatz@unimedizin-ffm.de
https://radiologie-uni-frankfurt.de/clinic/our_team/index_eng.html

Bluesky: @goetheuni.bsky.social
LinkedIn: @Goethe-Universität Frankfurt @Universitätsmedizin Frankfurt @Simon Bernatz

Founded in 1914, Universitätsmedizin Frankfurt is one of the leading academic medical institutions in Germany. It provides patients with the highest standard of medical care across 33 clinics and clinical institutes. Its close connection to research – Universitätsmedizin and the Faculty of Medicine operate more than 20 research institutes – ensures the rapid transfer of new findings into diagnostic and therapeutic practice. Around 1,300 inpatient and day-care beds are available. Numerous clinics and institutes are dedicated to specialized medical and scientific services. Each year, approximately 46,000 inpatients and more than 480,000 outpatients are treated.

Universitätsmedizin Frankfurt has particular interdisciplinary expertise in fields including neuroscience, oncology, and cardiovascular medicine. It also plays a key role in supra-regional medical care as a center for organ and bone marrow transplantation, dialysis, as well as cardiac and neurosurgery. The liver center is the only facility in the State of Hesse, Germany, performing liver transplants. Under the provisions of the Hessian Hospital Act, it holds a unique position in the Frankfurt-Offenbach region not only in cardiac surgery but also in oral and maxillofacial surgery, dermatology, and child and adolescent psychiatry. More than 8,500 staff members provide round-the-clock care for patients.

Goethe University Frankfurt is a cosmopolitan workshop of the future based in the heart of Europe. Founded in 1914 by Frankfurt citizens, it resumed this tradition as a foundation university in 2008: as an autonomous citizens' university embedded in urban society, both ensuring and offering a high degree of social participation in and support for metropolitan life. With more than 40,000 students, Goethe University Frankfurt is one of Germany's largest and most research-intensive universities and one of Frankfurt's largest employers.

As an internationally oriented comprehensive university, Goethe University Frankfurt's excellent research is clustered along six interdisciplinary, interdepartmental profile areas as well as the diversity of its faculties and subjects, spanning the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, life sciences and medicine. Together with TU Darmstadt and the University of Mainz, it makes up the Rhine-Main Universities (RMU) alliance, and is also a member of the "German U15", the association of the 15 most research-intensive German universities. Goethe University Frankfurt is the only university in the “Frankfurt Alliance" network, whose 15 other members consist of non-university research institutions in the Rhine-Main region. www.goethe-universitaet.de/en

Mar 19 2026

11:00

Findings support injury prevention and highlight the physical demands of the profession

Goethe University Study Reveals Injury Risks in Professional Dance

Professional dance is a high-performance discipline that carries significant risks of injury and physical wear. Researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt have now provided the first precise measurements of strain on the musculoskeletal system. The study involved 28 professional dancers wearing sensor-equipped suits during ballet training. The data revealed high levels of strain across all phases of training. The findings support the development of injury prevention measures and highlight the high physical demands of the profession.

FRANKFURT. Ballet is an art of illusion: dancers seem to float across the stage and, in their leaps, appear to defy gravity for a moment. The effort behind this lightness and grace usually remains invisible to audiences. “Professional dance is a high-performance sport," says Professor Eileen Wanke of the Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine at Goethe University Frankfurt. “It requires exceptional physical control and athleticism, developed through many years of intensive training."

Wanke brings personal experience to this research, having previously performed as a professional dancer. Today, she examines her former field from a medical perspective. The physical demands of training, rehearsals, and performances take a clear toll: around half of all dancers experience at least one occupational accident each year. Common injuries include strains and sprains affecting the legs, ankles, and feet, as well as lower back problems. Many continue working despite pain, driven by their commitment to the profession. By their late twenties, 25 percent have already developed osteoarthritis – a high number compared to well below 5 percent in the general population.

Sensor-equipped suits

Objective measurements of the physical demands of professional dance have so far been scarce. The new study addresses this gap and was conducted in collaboration with the German Dance Film Institute Bremen and the accident insurance institutions of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, and Lower Saxony. For data collection, Wanke and her team – together with Austrian physicist and biomechanist Dr. Christian Maurer-Grubinger – used an innovative method: 16 female and 12 male dancers from Oldenburg State Theater and Theater Kiel wore sensor-equipped suits during training. These recorded acceleration and body positioning for the head, torso, arms, wrists, legs, and feet at a rate of 240 measurements per second. The data were transmitted wirelessly to a computer for analysis.

“We used a system widely applied in occupational medicine to assess physical strain," Wanke explains. “Typically, trained observers evaluate characteristic movements in specific professions, for example through video analysis. In our approach, data are instead captured by a program developed specifically for this project." Each movement or posture is assigned a score: the greater the strain on joints, muscles, ligaments, and tendons, the higher the “Rapid Entire Body Assessment" – or REBA – score.

Risk of injury during training

“Our participants spent more than 60 percent of their training time in a moderate-risk, and a further 30 percent in a high-risk range," Wanke says. Even during training, the level of risk is therefore considerable – although training is intended not only to maintain technique but also to prevent injuries. Female dancers spent more time in higher-risk ranges than their male counterparts and were thus exposed, on average, to greater ergonomic stress. This may partly be explained by differences in body structure, meaning that certain movements or postures place greater strain on them.

Classical dance training has changed little over the past 300 years. It follows a three-phase structure: Phase 1 consists of exercises at the barre, while Phases 2 and 3 take place in open space – beginning with slow movement sequences, followed by pirouettes, and culminating in large jumps. As the training progresses, the exercises become increasingly dynamic, placing greater demands on the cardiovascular system as well as on concentration, coordination, and physical control. “Studies show that concentration tends to decline in Phase 3, leading to more frequent errors and inaccuracies," explains Wanke.

Optimization opportunities

Overall, the data suggest that particularly demanding dynamic exercises should be scheduled earlier in training sessions, as is common in other sports. Training could also be adapted in a more gender-specific way to reflect differing physical demands. Organizational changes at performance venues may further help reduce the risk of injury and wear-related conditions. During jumps, bones, muscles, and joints are subjected to high forces – especially upon landing. Specialized dance floors can significantly reduce this strain. While many institutions have such flooring in training spaces, rehearsal and performance stages often still lack it.

Existing flooring may be further optimized. However, which structural measures are most effective in reducing forces in dance has not yet been systematically studied. “This would be an important focus for future research," Wanke concludes.

Publication: Verena Fehringer, Christian Maurer-Grubinger, Fabian Holzgreve, Daniela Ohlendorf, Eileen M. Wanke: Ergonomic Risk Assessment of Professional Dance Using Motion Capture with Ergonomic Evaluation by the Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA). Sensors (2026) https://doi.org/10.3390/s26010070

Photo-download:
https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/184114534

Caption: The dancers' special suits transmit the movements of various body parts to a computer, where the stresses are analyzed. Photo: Eileen Wanke, Goethe University Frankfurt

The German Dance Film Institute Bremen has produced two films about the project:
Short version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31u-bdz1yR0 (in German)
Long version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu2gcviNzcs (in German)

Further Information
Professor Dr. Dr. Eileen Wanke
Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine
Goethe University Frankfurt
Wanke@med.uni-frankfurt.de

Bluesky: @goetheuni.bsky.social
LinkedIn: @Goethe-Universität Frankfurt @Eileen Wanke @Unfallkasse NRW @Unfallkasse Freie Hansestadt Bremen

Mar 16 2026

13:16

International research team analyzes prehistoric teeth of European straight-tusked elephants

Hunted by Neanderthals: Giant Elephants traveled hundreds of Kilometers across Ice-Age Europe

Fossil teeth can preserve remarkable information because tooth enamel grows slowly and records environmental data layer by layer. An international research team with the participation of scientists from the Rhine-Main Universities Alliance has now reconstructed the life histories of four European straight-tusked elephants (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) by analyzing their teeth. These elephants – significantly larger than modern species – were the largest land mammals of prehistoric Europe and lived during the last interglacial period around 125,000 years ago. A 2023 study had shown that they were prey for Neanderthal hunters.

FRANKFURT/MAINZ/LEIDEN/MODENA. Neumark-Nord in northeastern Germany was a lake landscape in the last interglacial period. It is rich in archeological finds discovered during lignite mining. The area in Saxony-Anhalt is one of the most important European paleontological sites for the European straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus. Fossil remains of more than 70 elephants have been found there – animals that were once hunted in this region by Neanderthals. Because of this unusually large number of finds, the site provides a unique insight into the relationship between these massive animals and the humans of the Pleistocene.

An international research team from Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States has now examined the teeth of four of these elephants in greater detail. Using an innovative approach that combines the analysis of isotopes (Carbon, Oxygen, and Strontium) and proteins (palaeoproteomics), the researchers reconstructed migration behavior, diet, and even the sex of several individuals. Strontium isotope analyses along the direction of growth of the molars showed that the elephants had spent several years in different regions of Europe. The data were collected in Frankfurt by Elena Armaroli and Federico Lugli under the supervision of Prof. Wolfgang Müller, one of the directors of the Frankfurt Isotope and Element Research Center (FIERCE) at Goethe University. The Carbon and Oxygen isotope analyses were conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz.

Elena Armaroli, now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE) in Italy and the study's first author, explains: “Thanks to isotope analyses, we can trace the movements of elephants almost as if we had a travel diary that has been preserved in their teeth for more than one hundred thousand years."

“Some of the elephants we studied were animals that did not stay in just one area," says Federico Lugli, associate professor at UNIMORE and, like Armaroli, a corresponding author of the study. “Their teeth show that they traveled very long distances – up to 300 kilometers – before reaching what is now Neumark-Nord. This allows us to reconstruct their home ranges and understand how these animals used the landscape.

The research team also identified the sex of the four elephants: three males and – most likely – one female. Two of the males show isotope signatures that differ significantly from those expected for local bed rocks in the area of Neumark-Nord. This suggests that the males, much like modern elephants, ranged over larger territories than the females.

Elena Armaroli concludes: “The concentration of remains and the isotope profile of the animals suggest that Neanderthals did not kill the elephants merely when a favorable opportunity arose. Everything points to organized hunting in which even such enormous prey animals could be deliberately targeted. For this, Neanderthals must have known the landscape well, cooperated, and planned."

“This study also marks an important methodological advance," emphasizes Federico Lugli. “For the first time, paleoproteomics has been applied to European straight-tusked elephants, allowing us to determine the sex of individual animals from proteins preserved in tooth enamel."

The study is the latest in a series of ongoing scientific analyses of material from the former Neumark-Nord lignite mine. The research projects are conducted by a joint team from MONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution in Neuwied – a department of Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie (LEIZA) –, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), and Leiden University. They have been made possible through the continuous support of the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt.

The aim of these research projects is to better determine the different dimensions of the Neanderthals' ecological footprint. The results show that Neanderthals were active gatherers and hunters operating within a rich lakeshore ecosystem. The site provides evidence that people systematically butchered animal carcasses at different locations and extracted fat from large mammals on a large scale. They also consumed plant foods such as hazelnuts and acorns. Neanderthals appear to have repeatedly used the resources of this ecosystem and may even have modified the landscape through the use of fire. They were likely organized in larger social groups than previously assumed.

“What we see at Neumark-Nord is not a picture of mere survival, but of a population that understood its environment and interacted with it actively and in complex ways over a period of at least 2,500 years," says study author Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser, professor of prehistoric and protohistoric archeology at JGU and head of institute at MONREPOS.

“At least some of male elephants uncovered at Neumark spent some of their adolescence and young adulthood away from the Neumark lake land. If Neumark was a point of attraction for elephants from different regions aggregating here or the Neumark area was the homeland of an elephant population, with individuals leaving the area for a certain time span, we can't extract from isotopes alone", says co-author Professor Thomas Tütken from the Applied and Analytical Paleontology Group at JGU. “To understand the population dynamics of the Neumark elephants and with that Neanderthal hunting at Neumark, we have started a genetic study of the Neumark elephants", adds Lutz Kindler, member of the Neumark-Nord team and researcher at MONREPOS and JGU.

Participating Institutions:
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy
Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany
California Institute of Technology, Davis, USA
Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany
MONREPOS Archaeological Research Center and Museum for Human Behavioral Evolution, Leibniz Zentrum für Archäologie (LEIZA), Neuwied, Germany
Leiden University, The Netherlands
University of California, Davis, USA
Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
Columbia University, New York, USA

Publication: Elena Armaroli, Federico Lugli, Théo Tacail, Lutz Kindler, Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser, Fulco Scherjon, Wil Roebroeks, Glendon Parker, Hubert Vonhof, Anna Cipriani, Thomas Tütken, Wolfgang Müller: Life histories of straight-tusked elephants from the Last Interglacial Neanderthal site of Neumark-Nord (~125 ka). Science Advances (2026)https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adz0114

Picture download: https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/183947150

Caption: 125,000 years ago, straight-tusked elephants (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) populated the prehistoric Europe. Image: Hodari Nundu, CC-BY-4.0

Contact:
Professor Federico Lugli
Laboratorio di Geochimica
Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
federico.lugli@unimore.it
https://www.geochem.unimore.it/chi-siamo/

Dr. Elena Armaroli
Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Geologiche
Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
Tel. +39 3312563925
elena.armaroli@unimore.it

Professor Wolfgang Müller
Institute of Geosciences /
Frankfurt Isotope and Element Research Center (FIERCE)
Goethe University Frankfurt
Tel. +49 (0)69 798 40291
w.muller@em.uni-frankfurt.de
https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/49540288/Homepage-Mueller

Dr. Lutz Kindler
LEIZA - Leibniz Zentrum für Archäologie, Neuwied
MONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution
lutz.kindler@leiza.de
https://monrepos.leiza.de/

Bluesky: @goetheuni.bsky.social @leizarchaeology.bsky.social @unimainz.bsky.social @unileiden.bsky.social @landesmuseumhalle.bsky.social @mpic.de
LinkedIn: @Goethe-Universität Frankfurt @Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz @Universiteit Leiden @Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia @Max-Planck-Institut für Chemie

Mar 16 2026

12:16

The renowned philosopher and sociologist developed the central part of his intellectual life and work in Frankfurt

Goethe University Mourns the Loss of Philosopher Jürgen Habermas

Philosopher Jürgen Habermas passed away this weekend at his home in Starnberg. Goethe University mourns the loss of its emeritus professor, who was a member of the university from 1964 to 1971 as Professor of Philosophy and Sociology, succeeding Max Horkheimer. Following his time as Director of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of the Scientific-Technological World, he returned to Goethe University in 1983 and remained Professor of Philosophy until his retirement in 1994.

FRANKFURT. With Jürgen Habermas, Goethe University loses one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and the most prominent representative of the second generation of the Frankfurt School. Habermas significantly developed Critical Theory, building on the work of Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer. At the same time, he was the most influential public intellectual in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany, whose voice continued to shape debates after German reunification in 1990 and far beyond Germany's borders.

“Habermas' contributions to a philosophical theory of communicative reason, to the foundations of rational freedom and social justice, to the normativity and institutionalization of law, and to the role of religion in secular and pluralistic societies have inspired worldwide reception and vibrant debates that continue at Goethe University Frankfurt to this day," said University President Prof. Enrico Schleiff, honoring the late scholar. “His groundbreaking work, as well as his personal presence at the university and his close intellectual relationships with many members of our academic community, extend far beyond the lifetime of this extraordinary scholar and exceptional teacher. They will continue to shape research and teaching at Goethe University Frankfurt for years to come, including within the framework of the Rhine-Main Universities alliance."

Habermas had already donated part of his literary estate to Goethe University Frankfurt in 2011, followed by another portion in 2025. As a result, research on his work is now primarily anchored in Frankfurt – the place that formed the central focus of his intellectual development and career. The Frankfurt School, Critical Theory, and the work of Jürgen Habermas remain central to the identity of Goethe University, which seeks – across a wide range of disciplines – to address fundamental questions facing contemporary society.

Image for download: https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/184056055

Caption: Jürgen Habermas delivering a lecture at Goethe University Frankfurt during an event marking his 90th birthday in 2019. (Photo: Uwe Dettmar/Goethe University Frankfurt)

Editor: Volker Schmidt, Head of the PR & Communications Office, Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 1, 60323 Frankfurt, Tel: + 49 (0)69 798-13035, E-Mail: v.schmidt@em.uni-frankfurt.de

Press releases

Goethe University PR & Communication Department

Evolution in Fast-Forward: How Thale Cress Adapts – or Goes Extinct

The underestimated thymus: New studies reveal its relevance for healthy aging

Goethe University Study Reveals Injury Risks in Professional Dance

Hunted by Neanderthals: Giant Elephants traveled hundreds of Kilometers across Ice-Age Europe

Goethe University Mourns the Loss of Philosopher Jürgen Habermas