Bioerosional marks are frequently recognized as indicators of the dynamic interactions between the organisms and their surrounding environments. In the fossil record, these structures are frequently manifest in the skeletal remains of vertebrates, being commonly associated to predation activity, scavenging, or post-mortem degradation processes. In the case of the turtles, their shells offer a distinctive substrate, exposed for the development of bioerosional processes throughout the organism life, unlike other vertebrate osseous structures. These bioerosions can indicate the type of habitat in which the turtles live, their behavioral patterns, and even their state of health. Sea turtles, as other marine vertebrates, have been extensively studied in the realms of the biology, evolution, and conservation. However, relatively scarce information is available regarding the pathologies and infectious diseases affecting their shells, especially when extinct taxa are analyzed. The aim of this study is to analyze the diverse types of bioerosional marks on the shells of two sea turtle individuals, attributable to taxa, from the Lutetian (middle Eocene) of Belgium. One of them corresponds to the shell of the holotype of Eochelone brabantica (IRSNB R 0001). Its carapace exhibits multiple erosive anomalies on several costal plates. The second specimen is a carapace of Puppigerus camperi (IRSNB R 0004). It displays different typologies of shell deviations, also of erosive character. The analyses of these specimens have been performed through both the detailed macroscopic examination and the study of the cross-sectional images provided by CT scanning in the case of Eochelone brabantica, and a 3D model obtained through a surface scanner for Puppigerus camperi. As a result, insights into the shell modifications of these two turtle individuals induced by various external agents have been provided, enhancing our understanding of the physical stressors affecting these organisms in ancient marine environments and the organisms responsible for these changes.
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications 2025
In: Van Lancker, V. and T. Garlan (Eds.), MARID 2013. Fourth International Conference on Marine and River Dune Dynamics, Bruges, Belgium, 15-17 April 2013, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and SHOM. VLIZ Special Publication 65 – Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), Oostende, Belgium, 277-284.
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications
With ever-increasing pressure globally on freshwater resources and, in particular, on wetlands, there is an urgent need to monitor the status of these ecosystems. In this context, waterbirds often serve as flagship and indicator species for the wetland ecosystems which support them. The South Africa Biodiversity Data Pipeline for Wetlands and Waterbirds (the BIRDIE project, https://birdie.sanbi.org.za/), emerges from a collaboration between government, academia, and conservation NGOs, with the overarching objective of serving as a link between South African nation-wide waterbird data collection programmes and conservation managers, researchers and other stakeholders. A key objective of the project is to support South Africa’s reporting and implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements such as the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (RAMSAR), the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds Agreement (AEWA), and the Convention on Biological Diversity, in particular, contributing to Red-Listing assessments of waterbird species. <br /><br /> The project uses data from the Coordinated Waterbird Counts (CWAC) and the Southern African Bird Atlas Project (ABAP) to understand the distribution and population dynamics of waterbird species. These citizen-science data are processed with rigorous statistical analysis to gain insights about these processes that raw data might not reveal. CWAC collects abundance data for waterbird species at 688 wetland sites. Since 1992, counts have been done twice a year, in summer and winter, providing good long term records. This information is made available as reports and an interactive map component. This map viewer is also showing the ABAP occupancy models on 144 waterbird species for 16,220 geographical ‘pentads’. Since 2007, more than 17 million records have been collected for ABAP with about 2 million more being added each year. The project also aims to support site management and decision making and, in the future, we hope to see the BIRDIE project expand to other regions and integrate with other biodiversity portals to promote a better understanding of the interactions between different taxonomic groups associated with wetlands.
Located in
Library
/
RBINS Staff Publications 2024
