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Article Reference Species identification of archaeological dung remains. A critical review of possible methods
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inbook Reference First discovery of Maastrichtian (Latest Cretaceous) terrestrial vertebrates in Rusca montana Basin (Romania)
First mentioned by F. Nopcsa, Hat¸eg Island was a paleogeographical concept sketched by this famous paleontologist in order to explain the presence of small-sized dinosaurs in uppermost Cretaceous localities from Transylvania (western Romania), and particularly from the Hateg Basin. However, this insularity is still debated, even after more than a century of research. In order to reconstruct the precise paleogeography of this area by Maastrichtian time, it is important to study all the coeval uppermost Cretaceous continental deposits from Transylvania. The westernmost region where these formations are exposed is the Rusca Montana˘ Basin (western Romanian Carpathians). The geological history of this sedimentary basin appears similar to that of the Hat¸eg Basin. We report the first Maastrichtian vertebrates from the Rusca Montana˘ Basin. These fossils include dinosaurs (ornithopod, sauropod, theropods), turtles (?Kallokibotion), indeterminate crocodiles, and multituberculate mammals (Kogaionidae). This fauna closely resembles that from the Hat¸eg Basin and is the first evidence of their presence to the west of Hateg.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference New Hypsodont Tillodont (Mammalia, Tillodontia) from the Early Eocene of India
A new tillodont, Anthraconyx hypsomylus, n. gen. n. sp., is described from the early Eocene Cambay Shale Formation at Vastan Lignite Mine, Gujarat, India. Anthraconyx hypsomylus is the smallest Eocene tillodont and is distinguished by having the most buccally hypsodont cheek teeth of any known esthonychine. The closest dental resemblances are to North American Esthonyx and Azygonyx and European Plesiesthonyx, providing further evidence of affinities between the Vastan local fauna and Euroamerican vertebrate faunas.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Dental and tarsal anatomy of 'Miacis' latouri and a phylogenetic analysis of the earliest carnivoraforms (Mammalia, Carnivoramorpha)
One of the earliest basal carnivoraforms, Miacis latouri, previously known by only two teeth from the earliest Eocene of Dormaal, Belgium, is here described based on about 280 new specimens from Dormaal, allowing illustration of almost the entire deciduous and permanent dentition and thus giving information on the dentition of an early basal carnivoraform species and its variability. Based on the dental features, we refer the species to a new genus, Dormaalocyon. We identify possible sexual dimorphism in D. latouri that is less pronounced than in Uintacyon rudis. We also describe for the first time the tarsal bones (calcaneum and astragalus) of D. latouri; these indicate arboreal capabilities for this species. In order to ascertain the position of Dormaalocyon among basal carnivoraforms, we performed a phylogenetic analysis of the carnivoramorphans. Among basal carnivoraforms, three groups are recovered: the Uintacyon group, Oodectes group, and the Vulpavus group. Dormalocyon is one of the most primitive carnivoraforms and is closely related to North American Vulpavus and Miacis species. We propose that the two latter genera are North American with an ancestry that involves the European Dormaalocyon; this implies a dispersal of carnivoraforms from Europe to North America near the Paleocene-Eocene boundary. Finally, the topology of the phylogenetic tree supports a Paleocene radiation of the carnivoraforms, which is presently unknown.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Dispersals of placental carnivorous mammals (Carnivoramorpha, Oxyaenodonta & Hyaenodontida) near the Paleocene-Eocene boundary: a climatic and almost worldwide story
During the Late Paleocene and around the Paleocene-Eocene boundary, there were important mammalian dispersals in Laurasia involving earliest modern mammals such as rodents, primates, perissodactyls, and artiodactyls. The placental carnivorous mammals (Viverravidae, “Miacidae”, Hyaenodontida, Oxyaenodonta) importantly took part in these dispersals. The present article shows that these latter mammals allow reconstructing faunal dispersal scenarios during the early Paleogene. Indeed, they evidenced several dispersal ways among Laurasia, but also with Africa and possibly India. The dispersal phases discussed in the present paper concern the Early Paleocene, Late Paleocene, latest Paleocene (Clarkforkian NALMA), and Paleocene-Eocene transition.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Tarsal diversity in the earliest Eocene mammal fauna of Dormaal, Belgium
Mammal teeth bring important information regarding phylogeny and diet. However, postcranial elements, although poorly studied for small Paleogene mammals, can provide other significant data. The purpose of this study is to associate tarsal bones with dental specimens for a systematic identification. We thus chose the Belgian locality of Dormaal (Tienen Formation, Belgium) that has yielded the earliest Eocene mammals of Europe. This particularly rich fauna, dated between 55.5 and 55.8 Ma, occurred during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, a key period in the mammal evolution. It is composed by archaic mammals (“condylarths”, arctocyonids, plesiadapiforms, “insectivorans”…) and also by earliest modern taxa (primates, rodents, carnivoraforms, artiodactyls …), representing about 14,000 dental specimens. 488 tarsal bones are studied according to three methods: morphology, relative abundance and relative size. 12 morphotypes of astragali and 18 of calcanei are discriminated and most of them are identified at the level of species (e.g. the marsupial Peratherium constans), genus or family (e.g. ischyromyid rodents). New perspectives in phylogeny and paleoecology are proposed for further studies implying tarsal bones.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference On the occurrence of the osteoglossid genus Scleropages (Teleostei, Osteoglossiformes) in the continental Paleocene of Hainin (Mons Basin, Belgium)
Some bony remains, otoliths and squamules belonging to the osteoglossid genus Scleropages are described from the continental Paleocene of Hainin (Mons Basin, Belgium). The hypotheses to explain the occurrence of such a freshwater fish in Europe at that time are discussed.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference New lissamphibians and squamates from the Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of the Haţeg Basin (Romania)
Numerous remains of amphibians and squamates were discovered in the continental sediments of theMaastrichtian Sânpetru Formation, south of Pui Village (Haţeg Basin, western Romania). The lissamphibians are represented by a salamander−like allocaudatan (Albanerpeton sp.) and at least two discoglossid frogs (cf. Eodiscoglossus sp. and cf. Paradiscoglossus sp.). The numerous lizards are represented by, e.g., the teiid Bicuspidon hatzegiensis sp. nov., and for the first time in a Late Cretaceous site, by two species of the paramacellodid Becklesius (Becklesius nopcsai sp. nov. and Becklesius cf. B. hoffstetteri). Snakes are also present in this site by an indeterminante madtsoiid, which represents the first occurrence of this family in eastern Europe. The presence of Albanerpeton in this site confirms that this genus appeared in Europe by at least the Late Cretaceous instead of Miocene as previously thought. The presence of both Albanerpeton and Bicuspidon in Haţeg Basin suggests a North American influence on eastern European amphibian and lacertilian faunas by Maastrichtian times.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Dinosaur egg nests, mammals and other vertebrates from a new Maastrichtian site of the Hateg Basin (Romania)
About ten dinosaur nests of large megaloolithid-type eggs have been discovered in the new Maastrichtian locality of Tote¸sti-baraj (Ha¸teg Basin, Romania). This is the largest dinosaur egg nest site discovered in Romania. Teeth and other micro-remains of vertebrates such as hadrosaurs, ankylosaurs, theropods, lizards and amphibians are associated with the eggs in the sediments, reflecting the great biodiversity of the Ha¸teg Basin during the Maastrichtian. But the most remarkable collected micro-remains are teeth of mammals representing at present the richest multituberculate collection from the Upper Cretaceous of Europe.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Through the correspondence: the little story of the “Spy bones”.
In the summer 1886, the Neandertal fossils of Spy were unearthed in the so-called Betche aux Rotches cave. Ever since, they have been through many events and have been the stake of discords, sometimes impassioned, between the various protagonists of their discovery and their conservation. The succession of these events will be redrawn here and the positions of each cleared up in the light of the rereading of two archives collections coming from the discoverers, namely the correspondence collection of Maximin Lohest, which is Mrs Dallemagne-Ophoven’s property, and the correspondence collection of Marcel De Puydt, handed over to the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), which we shall refer to as “the Vercheval collection”.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications