Prof. Dr. Suresh Prins Benjamin

Profile

Academic positionFull Professor
Research fieldsAnimal Systematics and Morphology,Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems, Organismic Interactions
KeywordsBiogeography, Evolution, Taxonomy, Cladistics, Thomisidae
Honours and awards

2022: Georg Forster Research Award

2020: Presidents Awards for Scientific Publications

2018: NRC merit award for scientific publication

2017: NRC merit award for scientific publication

2016: NRC merit award for scientific publication

2015: NRC merit award for scientific publication

2015: Presidents Awards for Scientific Publications

2014: NRC merit award for scientific publication

2010: NRC merit award for scientific publication

Current contact address

CountrySri Lanka
CityKandy
InstitutionNational Institute of Fundamental Studies
InstituteEvolution, Ecology and Biodiversity

Host during sponsorship

Dr. Bernhard A. HuberMuseum Koenig Bonn, Leibniz-Institut zur Analyse des Biodiversitätswandels (LIB), Bonn
Dr. Bernhard A. HuberSektion niedere Arthropoden, Leibniz-Institut zur Analyse des Biodiversitätswandels (LIB), Bonn
Dr. Dirk AhrensAbteilung Arthropoda, Leibniz-Institut zur Analyse des Biodiversitätswandels (LIB), Bonn
Start of initial sponsorship01/03/2012

Program(s)

2011Humboldt Research Fellowship Programme for Experienced Researchers
2022Georg Forster Research Award Programme

Nominator's project description

Professor Benjamin is a well-known biologist and an international authority in the study of Oriental crab and jumping spiders, of which he has discovered 122 new species to date. His naming of three new species of spiders after Enid Blyton characters has been featured in the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). He also has made significant contributions to the public popularization of science in Sri Lanka. Suresh has dedicated his life to conserving spiders and other invertebrates of Sri Lanka, a biodiversity hotspot. In Germany, he continues his research on the higher-level systematics of crab spiders.

Publications (partial selection)

2014Prof. Dr. Suresh Prins Benjamin: Model mimics: antlike jumping spiders of the genus Myrmarachne from Sri Lanka. In: Journal of Natural History, 2014, 2609-2666
2014Prof. Dr. Suresh Prins Benjamin: On the African crab spider genus Geraesta Simon, 1889, with the description of G. ansieae sp. n.. In: African Invertebrates, 2014, 309-318
2014B. A. Huber, L. S. Carvalho, S. P. Benjamin: On the New World spiders previously assigned to Leptopholcus: molecular and morphological analyses and descriptions of four new species (Araneae, Pholcidae). In: Invertebrate Systematics, 2014, 432-450
2013Suresh Prins Benjamin: On the crab spider genus Angaeus Thorell, 1881 and its junior synonym Paraborboropactus Tang and Li, 2009 (Araneae: Thomisidae). In: Zootaxa, 2013, 71-80
2013M. A. Townley, D. Harms, S. P. Benjamin: Phylogenetic affinities of Phobetinus to other pirate spider genera (Araneae: Mimetidae) as indicated by spinning field morphology. In: Arthropod Structure & Development, 2013, 407-423
2013Y. Marusik, M. Omelko, S. P. Benjamin: The first description of adult female of Borboropactus asper (O. P.-Cambridge, 1884) from Sri Lanka (Araneae: Thomisidae). In: Zootaxa, 2013, 197-200