Skip to content. | Skip to navigation

Personal tools

You are here: Home
2181 items matching your search terms.
Filter the results.
Item type



































New items since



Sort by relevance · date (newest first) · alphabetically
Inproceedings Reference Petrogenesis and isotopic investigation of Pillow Lavas from the Troodos ophiolite, Cyprus: Cu and Zn isotopes
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Article Reference Petrographic and geochemical characterization of a chondrule-like object preserved in an Antarctic micrometeorite
We report the discovery of a pristine chondrule-like object in a scoriaceous meteorite recovered from the Sør Rondane Mountains, East Antarctica. A preliminary study using a JEOL JSM-IT 300 scanning electron microscope, coupled to an energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS), at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel indicates that i) the chondrulelike object has a minimum diameter size of ~187 µm, which is broadly analoguous to chondrules found in CM, CO, H and EH chondrites [1]; ii) the chondrule-like object displays a radial pyroxene texture and is readily delineated from the surrounding micrometeorite ground mass. This is emphasized by the presence of microscopic olivine and magnetite crystals at the outer edge of the chondrule-like object. This suggests that it served as a nucleation point for crystallization of secondary mineral phases during atmospheric deceleration and heating. Hence, this object likely represents an original feature of the micrometeoroid; iii) the mineralogical content of the chondrule-like object is mainly composed of low-Ca pyroxene with interstitial glass, some smaller nodules of FeNi metal and a local cluster of chromite grains. The surrounding micrometeorite material displays a micro-porphyritic olivine texture which contains a single nodule of Fe sulfide, vesicles, and a number of relict mineral grains that survived atmospheric entry. The latter are predominantly composed of forsterite-rich olivine, although several relict grains of low-Ca pyroxene (i.e., enstatite-rich end-members) are observed as well. The objective of this study is twofold: i) analyze the major element and triple-oxygen isotope composition of the chondrule-like object, and the relict mineral phases to specify the nature of the precursor material, and ii) discuss the overall rarity of chondrules in micrometeorites.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018
Proceedings Reference Petrography and geochemistry of Cu-Zn VMS deposits of the Troodos ophiolite, Cyprus
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018
Article Reference Phenotypical and genetic characters of the giant Antarctic Eusirus of the perdentatus complex, with the presentation of a new species
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Proceedings Reference Phosphate and associated strategic elements: a European perspective
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference Phylogenetic analyses of endemic ostracods from ancient lakes – examples from Lake Tanganyika and Lake Baikal
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Phylogenetic and genomic studies of ancient asexual darwinulid ostracods.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Inproceedings Reference Phylogenetic investigation of the Baikalodrilus species flock (Clitellata, Naididae) endemic to Lake Baikal, Siberia
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Inproceedings Reference Phylogenetic position of Olbitherium (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) based on new material from the early Eocene Wutu Formation
The genus Olbitherium was originally described in 2004 from the early Eocene of the Wutu Formation in China as a ‘perissodactyl-like’ archaic ungulate. Described material of Olbitherium consists of partial dentaries with lower cheek teeth, isolated upper molars, and an isolated upper premolar. Subsequent collaborative fieldwork by Belgian and Chinese researchers discovered new material including a partial skull, the anterior portion of the dentary, and associated postcrania. In their general form, the skull and postcrania are similar to those of early perissodactyls. The new material provides a more complete picture of the upper dentition, and the anterior dentary demonstrates the presence of three lower incisors and a large canine, both ancestral features for perissodactyls. A phylogenetic analysis was conducted to test the affinities of Olbitherium, using a matrix of 321 characters and 72 taxa of placental mammals emphasizing perissodactyls and other ungulates. The results produced four shortest trees of 1981 steps. In all four trees, Olbitherium is the sister-taxon to all perissodactyls except Ghazijhippus. In contrast, when scoring was restricted to the originally described material, the results produced 16 shortest trees of 1970 steps, and Olbitherium nests well within Perissodactyla as sister-taxon to a clade including Lambdotherium and the brontotheriids Eotitanops and Palaeosyops. The new material not only supports the identification of Olbitherium as a perissodactyl, but it also suggests that it is significant for understanding the ancestral perissodactyl morphotype. Funding Sources U.S. National Science Foundation (DEB1456826), Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (2009DFA32210), and Belgian Science Policy Office (BL/36/C54).
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Unpublished Reference Phylogenetics and Integrative Taxonomy of African Water Snakes (Squamata: Colubridae: Grayia)
Grayia is a genus of relatively large (1.5 – 2.5 m) aquatic Afrotropical snakes that is currently comprised of four species. Recent molecular phylogenies recovered Grayia in its own distinct subfamily (Grayiinae), which was strongly supported as the sister group to Colubrinae. Because tropical African snakes are generally understudied, the relationships within Grayia are poorly known. Due to morphological conservatism, identification is often difficult and previous studies involving Grayia included misidentified specimens in other genera. The goal of this study is to build a phylogenetic tree that can be used to understand the relationships and taxonomy of Grayia via an integrative taxonomic approach that combines molecular and morphological data. One nuclear (BDNF) and four mitochondrial genes (COI, cyt b, 16S and ND4) were used to construct a phylogenetic tree with Maximum likelihood methods; outgroups included the genera Calamaria, Sibynophis and Masticophis. Preliminary trees suggest G. ornata and G. smithii are sister taxa, whereas G. caesar (originally described as the sole member of the genus Xenurophis) is sister to G. tholloni. At least two divergent lineages of G. ornata suggest cryptic species are likely present in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Republic of Congo.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021