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First crocodyliform fossils from the Eocene of Indonesia
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The Paleogene crocodyliform record is rich in taxonomic diversity, preserving crown and stemeusuchians alongside late-surviving neosuchians and notosuchians. This richness is mainly known from the extratropical latitudes of the New World and Eurasia, contrasting a poorly sampled tropical record. Within the tropics, the Paleogene of low-latitude southeast Asia is comparatively undersampled, with the Eocene Krabi Formation of Thailand representing the southernmost fauna. This crocodyliform fauna is composed of orientalosuchins and gavialoids, consistent with more northern records from southern Asia. Here we describe the first crocodyliform fossils from the Eocene of Indonesia, collected from the middle-late Eocene Talawi Member of the Sawahlunto Formation, west Sumatra. The Talawi Member represents a coastal swamp environment, preserving invertebrates, fish, and turtles along with rare frog, snake, and mammal fossils. Recovered crocodyliform fossils are often isolated and disarticulated, consisting of cranial remains including a partial braincase and jaw fragments, as well as relatively abundant teeth and osteoderms, vertebrae, and at least two autopodial elements. Procoelous vertebrae indicate eusuchian affinities. Osteoderms are diverse, with keeled and keelless squared and subrectangular forms. High and low-crowned fluted tooth morphotypes compare favorably to coeval gavialoids and orientalosuchins. A ziphodont form is present, potentially a planocraniid or sebecosuchian. External morphology of the braincase, such as narrow basioccipital tubera, a basioccipital plate bearing a crest, and a large basisphenoid exposure suggest a non-gavialoid identity. This is supported by preliminary observations of highresolution microCT scans, which imply a lateral carotid foramen ventral to the metotic foramen and laterally aligned medial and lateral eustachian foramina. The Sawahlunto fauna extends the southernmost geographical range of the Eocene southeast Asian crocodyliform fauna and represents the first multitaxon crocodyliform fauna from equatorial Asia. The ziphodont teeth either represent the last-occurring Asian planocraniids in a tropical refugium, or an incursion of Gondwanan sebecosuchians from India into the Asian tropics.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025 OA
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Recent data on the enigmatic family Raoellidae: how aquatic…how cetacean?
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At the beginning of the 21st century, the discovery of an involucrum on the auditory bulla of Indohyus, a small raoellid artiodactyl from the Indian subcontinent, triggered the phylogenetic gathering of Raoellidae with the Cetacea clade, making them pivotal in addressing questions surrounding the land-to-water transition in Artiodactyla. Micro CT scan investigations and newly collected material from the Kalakot area (Jammu and Kashmir, India), recently greatly increased our knowledge of the cranial and dental features of this group. Here we present new data on cranial morphology of Raoellidae deriving from micro CT scan investigations of Indohyus indirae and Khirtharia inflata. This new body of data comprises investigations of the endocast of the braincase, the complete middle ear including the ossicles and auditory bulla, the petrosal bone, and the cast of the bony labyrinth. It also includes the reconstruction of the complete anterior dentition. This study gives us a comprehensive picture of the features of the Raoellidae head and improves our understanding of their semiaquatic habits. This increased knowledge of raoellids further extends the list of features they share with the first archeocetes, calling into question the definition of the clade Cetacea.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025 OA
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Revision of the longirostrine crocodilian Thoracosaurus isorhynchus from the Maastrichtian–Danian of northwestern Europe
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“Thoracosaurs” are a group of longirostrine eusuchians known from Upper Cretaceous–lower Paleogene coastal deposits of Europe and North America. Their phylogenetic position is highly debated and varies from one study to the next, ranging from inclusion within Gavialoidea—implying ghost lineages of up to 100 million years—to exclusion from Crocodylia altogether. Despite these issues, many “thoracosaur” taxa have been understudied, suffering from incomplete or outdated descriptions and questionable taxonomic assignment. We present a comprehensive revision of Thoracosaurus isorhynchus, the most common European “thoracosaur.” Here, we redescribe the lectotype and paralectotypes of the species from the Maastrichtian of Mont-Aimé, France, and a skull from the Maastricht type area, The Netherlands. We also add new, previously undescribed cranial and extensive postcranial material from Mont-Aimé. Moreover, comparison with the type material of Thoracosaurus “scanicus” of the Danian of southern Sweden indicates that the latter is a junior synonym of T. isorhynchus, confirming the persistence of this species across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary. An array of phylogenetic analyses points to a close relationship between T. isorhynchus and the Cenomanian Portugalosuchus azenhae. This implicates an early emergence of “thoracosaurs” within Gavialoidea, highlighting the stratigraphic inconsistency of this group and a need for up to date descriptions of species belonging to this group.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025 OA
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Historical clay exploitation from palaeo-channel deposits of the Lateglacial Bergstraßenneckar in the Upper Rhine Graben, southern Germany
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Luminescence dating of offshore and onshore tsunami deposits from the Shetland Islands (UK)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Multi-methodological age dating of clay exploitation in the Lateglacial channel of the Bergstraßenneckar between Viernheim and Mannheim (southwest Germany)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Sedimentological study of the infilling of the sedimentary depression at Rakhat al Madrh (Oman): a peripheral oasis site
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Coastal lake sediments as archives of extreme overwash events–A 1500-years multi-proxy record from the Shetland Islands, UK
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Palaeostorm records along the coast of Mecklenburg to inform state coastal protection – A pilot study
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Interdisciplinary Pathways for Sustainable Management of Geological Resources: A Case Study in Flanders
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The subsurface is often overlooked in the field sustainable natural resources management, even though it provides us with supporting, provisioning, regulating and cultural geosystem services. Additionally, the subsurface can contribute to the transition towards a more sustainable society by, for examples, storing energy and extracting geothermal energy. Currently exploitation of the subsurface occurs on a first-come-first-served basis, which might lead to inefficiencies and inequities. The need for sustainable development policies becomes progressively more essential, as subsurface exploitation is expected to increase. Six challenges are defined for sustainable use of geological resources: value pluralism, overexploitation, geological interferences, inequalities, multi-actor economies and uncertainties. To formulate scientifically sound advice for policymakers, it follows that expertise to tackle these challenges comes together. Addressing the diverse knowledge requirements to solve complex problems evidently necessitates interdisciplinary collaboration. This collaboration has its own opportunities, including enhanced creativity and the ability to address complex issues. However, challenges frequently arise. For instance, difficulties emerge in finding consensus due to a wide array of viewpoints, accepted assumptions which are not shared in other disciplines, and a need to learn about each other’s fields. Such issues can cause friction when working on problems collectively. This paper proposes a novel framework for effective interdisciplinary collaboration, based on ongoing research within the DIAMONDS project. We present interdisciplinary methods and approaches for sustainable development of the subsurface. We aspire to grapple with challenges related to geological resource use by building an interdisciplinary team, developing an integrative framework and studying a stakeholder-validated case. The identified challenges form a guideline to establish which expertise is necessary to study sustainable subsurface management. Once adequate expertise is found, the integrative framework, as detailed below, supports the team in integrating their knowledge and research outcomes. Firstly, we highlight the need for repeated interaction. This requires sustained consortium meetings, which address previously outlined interdisciplinary challenges. Additionally, we aim to increase the validity of our research by performing a stakeholder mapping and engaging key stakeholders to ensure adequate representation. Secondly, our management practices aim to support collaboration, both within the project (e.g. consortium, researcher and one-on-one meetings) and with external stakeholders. Interactions with stakeholders are tailored to their expertise, ranging from interviews with a technical focus to workshops discussing equitable ownership of segments of the subsurface. Finally, all insights are synthesized and serve as input to flexible methodologies which allow integration across disciplines. For example, causal loop diagrams show causal connections, possibly crossing disciplines, when describing the subsurface system. This framework on interdisciplinary collaboration is applied to a stakeholder-validated case study. It examines two potentially interacting shallow subsurface activities: aquifer thermal energy storage and groundwater extraction. This paper describes our interdisciplinary approach and the methods we applied to the case.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
