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Article Reference Belgium is the best place to define the Devonian-Carboniferous Boundary
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Article Reference Assessing the diversity of insect damage traces in the fossil flora of Gelinden (Limburg, Belgium)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Article Reference A tribute to Philippe Gerrienne: a mentor, a colleague, a friend.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Article Reference Paleobotany in Liège, lets dig into the past…
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Article Reference Pinaceae diversity from the Lower Cretaceous of Belgium.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Article Reference Assessing the diversity of insect damage traces in the fossil flora of Gelinden (Limburg, Belgium).
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Article Reference Is Antarctica an evolutionary incubator? Phylogenetic comparative study of the amphipod family Iphimediidae on the Antarctic shelf
Around 40 million years ago, Antarctica’s geographic isolation led to a dramatic cooling of its marine shelf, causing many lineages to go extinct while others adapted and diversified. Among the successful ones is the amphipod family Iphimediidae. Here, we apply advanced phylogenetic comparative methods to explore the evolutionary processes underlying their exceptional diversity. To this end, we combined three datasets: (1) a novel molecular phylogeny, (2) 3D shape data from micro-CT-based geometric morphometrics, and (3) stable isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N) as proxies for trophic ecology. We tested for evolutionary correlations between mouthpart shape and isotope values, and investigated changes in diversification rates in relation to morphological evolution. Late bursts of lineage diversification (ca. 7–3 Mya), along with late partitioning of mouthpart shape diversity, may reflect the invasion of novel ecological niches. Plio-Pleistocene glacial cycles may also have acted as a diversity pump promoting this late diversification.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025
Article Reference Exploring species diversity within the amphipod family Iphimediidae using DNA-based delimitation, traditional and 3D-Geometric Morphometrics
As an isolated ocean at the end of the thermal continuum, the Southern Ocean hosts a highly endemic cold-adapted marine fauna. However, this unique biota is now challenged by climate-related changes, as some parts of Antarctica are the fastest warming areas on Earth. In order to monitor and mitigate climate-induced changes, a baseline knowledge of species biodiversity and distributions is mandatory. However, this knowledge is currently insufficient for most Southern Ocean taxa, as the actual number of species is still likely to be greatly underestimated. For instance, most of the geographically widespread to circum-Antarctic amphipod species that have been subjected to molecular scrutiny were revealed to be complexes of similar species with a more restricted distribution range. In this study, we reconstructed a novel molecular phylogeny of Antarctic Iphimediidae and used a range of DNA-based species delimitation methods (bPTP, GMYC, ABGD) to explore species diversity. Furthermore, traditional and 3D-geometric morphometric methods were applied on micro-CT scans to characterize patterns of morphological variation within and among clades and DNA-based putative species. For two of the species complexes, namely Gnathiphimedia sexdentata and Echiniphimedia hodgsoni, the shapes of selected anatomical traits of potential taxonomic value at the species level were quantified: (i) a spine-like tooth, (ii) the head, (iii) the coxa 4 and (iv) the first article of Antenna I peduncle. Our results revealed that ten nominal iphimediid species are complexes of multiple species, most of which can be distinguished by small but consistent morphological differences. Ten of these new species were formally described: Stegopanoploea brevidentata sp. nov., Maxilliphimedia acutilobata sp. nov., Maxilliphimedia oliveri sp. nov., Echiniphimedia spinosior sp. nov., Echiniphimedia maxima sp. nov., Iphimediella longidentata sp. nov., Iphimediella brachyodonta sp. nov., Iphimediella longilobata sp. nov., Labriphimedia adeliae sp. nov., and Labriphimedia anneninae sp. nov. Altogether, molecular and morphometric methods were combined to revise species diversity within the iconic Antarctic Iphimediidae, increasing the number of species from 39 to 49, with 14 additional putative species requiring further study for formal description.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025
Article Reference Antarctica as an evolutionary incubator? Phylogenetic comparative study of the amphipod family Iphimediidae on the Antarctic shelf
From about 40 Mya, while Antarctica geographically isolated from the rest of the world, the marine shelf fauna faced a dramatic decrease in water temperatures. Many lineages went extinct, while others adapted and flourished. The Antarctic clade of the amphipod family Iphimediidae was among the successful ones. Here, a range of cutting-edge phylogenetic comparative and morphometric methods are used to investigate the evolutionary processes which generated the exceptional diversity of this clade. To this purpose, three types of data were collected: (1) a novel phylogeny of the family was first reconstructed using a multigene molecular dataset, (2) 3D shape data were obtained by applying 3D-geometric morphometric methods on micro-CT scans of the specimens and (3) stable isotope d13C and d15N were measured and used as variables describing the trophic ecology of the species. First, possible evolutionary correlations between 3D-morphometric dataset of mouthparts (mandible, maxilliped) and stable isotope ratios were assessed. Significant correlations suggest an adaptation of the mandible shape to the food source. Secondly, as a prerequisite to the study of species diversification, species boundaries were investigated using a combination of DNA-based delimitation methods and detailed morphological/morphometric analyses. The latter showed that species diversity in Antarctic iphimediids is greatly underestimated, as most of the described species appear to be complexes of multiple morphologically similar species. Finally, potential changes in the rate of lineage diversification were explored in parallel to the evolution of morphological traits (mouthparts 3D shape data) along the phylogeny. On one hand, we found no evidence of an early burst of lineage diversification. On the other hand, late bursts (appr. 7-3 Mya) were detected in two subclades. Such late radiations could result from the invasion of novel ecological niches, as a late partitioning of mouthparts’ shape diversity along the phylogeny is also observed. Plio-Pleistocene glacial cycles, which have been hypothesized to act as a diversity pump, might also have promoted late diversification events in Antarctic iphimediids. By applying such an integrative approach for the first time on Antarctic invertebrates, this study improves our general understanding of the evolutionary dynamics shaping the standing Antarctic shelf biodiversity.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025
Article Reference Horizontal transfer of Vingi non-LTR retrotransposons in Darwinula stevensoni
Ostracods are microscopic, bi-valved crustaceans with the best fossil record of living arthropods. The non-marine ostracod Darwinula stevensoni is furthermore one of the last remaining examples of an ancient asexual, and likely abandoned sexual reproduction >20 million years ago. Despite the limited genetic diversity of D. stevensoni, its cosmopolitan distribution in different aquatic habitats indicates this species can survive asexually in the long-term. To unravel the novel adaptations that made this possible, the UNTANGLE project is deeply investigating the D. stevensoni genome. Now, four families of the Vingi non-LTR retrotransposons within the D. stevensoni genome were found to be highly identical to those from other species. This suggests Vingi was horizontally transferred between these species, which include turtles, lamprey, and deep-sea tube worms. Vingi consensus sequences were generated for D. stevensoni using Oxford Nanopore and Illumina assemblies, and mapped to >10,000 Metazoan genomes. High-quality mappings will be used to generate species-specific consensus sequences, upon which phylogenetic trees can be based and compared to those of other transposons, as well as with the host phylogenies. HTT will be visible as discorrespondence across phylogenetic trees. In a deeper exploration, the divergence between Vingi copies from each host and their consensus will also be used for the relative aging of their HTT events.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025