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Age-at-death estimation of pathological individuals: A complementary approach using teeth cementum annulations
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Rediscovery of the forgotten de Ryckholt Collection (gastropods, bivalves, worms; Late Cretaceous, Belgium)
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A significant part of the collection of mid- and Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian, Campanian and Maastrichtian) gastropods, bivalves and worms described and/or illustrated by de Ryckholt in his seminal work Mélanges paléontologiques between 1854 and 1862, has recently been retraced in the historical collections at Liège University. Of the original collection, more than 206 specimens, including 196 nominal types (lectotypes and genotypes), all considered lost, are now available. The genotypes of the gastropod genera Tudicula de Ryckholt, 1862a and Prosopostoma de Ryckholt, 1862a are photographically illustrated for the first time. Prosopostoma bucculans, from the Cenomanian Bernissart Formation (formerly ‘Tourtia de Tournai’), is here chosen as the type species of the genus Prosopostoma, a possible stromboid. We also reassess the stratigraphic age of the type localities under the revised stratigraphic framework of Belgium and a detailed account on the research history of this material, in order to provide a thorough scientific background for future study of this formidable collection.
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New insights into Mediterranean Gallo-Roman farming: a closer look at archaeological wells in Southern France
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Archaeological wells have recently become a major source of palaeoenvironmental and palaeoeconomic information, thus, providing the background for past day-to-day material life. At the site of La Lesse–Espagnac (Hérault), combined evidence from archaeobotany, morphometry and palynology, from two wells, offers a coherent picture of the diversity of the local Gallo-Roman farming economy, whose development was fuelled by the proximity of a major urban centre (Colonia Urbs Julia Septimanorum Baeterra—present day Béziers). The ever present vine growing and wine making were complemented by other food crops such as fruit trees, vegetables, condiments and cereals. The dense network of farming establishments and the scale of their production could only aggravate the extent of anthropogenic impact on the local natural woodlands and would explain the very minor role of typical thermophilous trees in the pollen diagram. The overmultiplication of these farming establishments may explain why some of them apparently ran out of momentum and eventually failed.
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Large canids at the Gravettian Předmostí site, the Czech Republic: The mandible
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Efforts to identify Paleolithic dogs or incipient dogs have been based mainly on examination of complete or nearly complete crania. Complete skulls are, however, very rare in the archaeological record. Because canid mandible are far more frequently found in Pleistocene assemblages, the objective of this study is to investigate whether it is possible to differentiate these jaws by metric and osteomorphological methods in two morphotypes: Paleolithic dogs and Pleistocene wolves. This paper is mainly based on the very rich canid assemblage from the Gravettian Předmostí site in the Czech Republic, but also includes a few mandible from several other European Paleolithic sites. This study provides additional evidence of the existence at Předmostí of the two canid morphotypes. The metric data indicate that the mandible of the Paleolithic dogs are shorter than those from Pleistocene wolves in all tested measurements of length, and the carnassial crown length is shorter in Paleolithic dogs compared with the length of this tooth in Pleistocene wolves. Furthermore, in eight of nine indexes, the Paleolithic dogs differ significantly from the Pleistocene wolves. The mandible of Paleolithic dogs differ also in non-metric features from the Pleistocene wolves: they present a high frequency of crowded premolars and backwards-oriented apex of the coronoid. This paper furthermore confirms that Paleolithic dogs occur at two late Upper Paleolithic sites (Eliseevichi, Verholenskaya) where previous studies had indicated their presence. In addition, we document the presence of Paleolithic dogs at another Gravettian site, Kostenki-8.
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Biostratigraphic significance of brachiopods near the Devonian–Carboniferous boundary
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The biostratigraphic significance of selected uppermost Famennian (Upper Devonian) and lower Tournaisian (Mississippian) brachiopod genera, belonging to the orders Rhynchonellida (e.g. Araratella), Spiriferida (e.g. Sphenospira, Prospira), Spiriferinida (Syringothyris) and Productida (except Chonetidina), is discussed. Owing to the difficulties of identifying productidine and strophalosiidine genera, in contrast to rhynchonellides and spiriferides, the biostratigraphic potential of the former has generally been overlooked. Brachiopods flourished in neritic environments that were unfavourable for conodonts and ammonoids. In the absence of the latter traditional marker fossils, they are potentially important for locating the Devonian–Carboniferous boundary in shallow water depositional settings in conjunction with rugose corals and foraminifers. On a worldwide scale, further work is required to reach a better assessment of the aftermath of the Hangenberg biological Crisis on brachiopods, notably in revising the faunas from the classical areas of the Famennian and Tournaisian stages in Western Europe.
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Groundwater biodiversity in Europe.
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Redescription of Spelaeocamptus spelaeus '(Chappuis, 1925), a subterranean copepod endemic to the Apusini Mountains in Romania (Copepoda Harpacticoida).
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Biodiversity of Belgian groundwaters and characterization of their stygobiotic fauna from a historical and ecological perspective
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Diversity and environmental control of benthic harpacticoids of an offshore post-dredging pit in coastal waters of Puck Bay, Baltic Sea
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Placer extraction in Puck Bay, a shallow (3 m depth) area of the Baltic Sea, resulted in the formation of post-dredging pits. Such dredging activities led to a considerable local disturbance of the soft-bottom communities. Topography and sedimentary characteristics of the disturbed area have been radically changed. It is therefore a matter of concern as to whether these alterations to the environment resulted in any serious permanent changes to the biological communities in the affected areas. Benthic copepod assemblages were examined 10 years after termination of placer digging in one of the post-dredging pits and compared with the fauna in a natural depression (Kuźnicka Hollow) and on the shallow sandy bottom surrounding the pits. Samples were collected on four occasions in 2001–2003. This study has generated ecological information on the status of harpacticoid species inhabiting the dredged and undredged areas in the vicinity. Analyses of data showed that the sampling stations differed significantly, during all the sampling events, in harpacticoid abundance, taxonomic composition and Shannon–Wiener diversity index. The natural depression and the shallow sandy bottom of Puck Bay were found to support specific harpacticoid assemblages. Interstitial and sand-burrowing species (e.g. Paraleptastacus spinicauda) dominate the shallow sandy bottom, and the Kuźnicka Hollow is inhabited mainly by epibenthic and silt-burrowing species (e.g. Halectinosoma curticorne, Tachidius discipes, Microarthridion littorale). The post-dredging pit assemblage showed the presence of epibenthic species, e.g. Tachidius discipes, Dactylopusia euryhalina, and Stenhelia palustris, passively transported into the pit by wave action and currents, possibly with algal mats and/or plant remains. The taxonomic composition and occurrence of harpacticoid species in the post-dredging area is therefore random and accidental.
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Biodiversity of Belgian groundwater fauna in relation to environmental conditions
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1. The Pleistocene glaciations during the Quaternary appear to have resulted in an impoverished groundwater fauna in northern Europe. Re-colonisation may have occurred either through long-distance dispersal from unglaciated southern areas or from local refugia. 2. The Belgian groundwater fauna was sampled at multiple sites, and its habitats characterised, to assess whether the composition of present-day stygobiotic assemblages can be attributed to either of these mechanisms. 3. A total of 202 sampling sites were selected in four hydrogeographic units of the Meuse River catchment. Sites were equally divided among the saturated and unsaturated zones of fractured aquifers (karst) and within the hyporheic and phreatic zones of porous aquifers. Seventeen environmental parameters were determined in parallel. 4. More than 140 species were recorded, including representatives of the Amphipoda, Cladocera, Copepoda, Hydrachnidia, Isopoda, Oligochaeta, Ostracoda, Mollusca, Syncarida and Nematoda. Thirty stygobiont specieswere identified, of which10 species were new to the Belgian fauna, raising the total number of stygobiotic species in Belgium to 41. 5. The frequency of occurrences of stygobiotic species was always low, with 37% of the sampled sites lacking stygobionts. A few species were exclusive to one hydrological zone, although no statistically significant differences were detected in species richness at any of the four hierarchial levels considered (Meuse catchment = region, hydrogeographic units, aquifer type and hydrological zone). 6. Overall, results suggest that the stygobiotic fauna of Belgium is species-poor and mostly comprises widely distributed species with broad ecological tolerances. This supports the view that eurytopic species re-colonised the area by long-distance dispersal from refugia in southern Europe. The virtual absence of endemic species further suggests that the scenario of an ancient fauna that survived in local refugia is of minor importance.
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