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Inproceedings Reference Identification of Belgian mosquito species (Diptera: Culicidae) by DNA barcoding
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Identification of disease vectors from foreign deployment sites of the Belgian armed forces using DNA-based technologies
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Article Reference Identification of forensically important Sarcophaga species (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) using the mitochondrial COI gene
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Identification of the African–European Erymnochelys group (Pleurodira, Podocnemididae) in the Belgian fossil record: first finding of Eocenochelus eremberti outside its type locality
An almost complete plastron, as well as several peripherals and a costal plate of a turtle from the middle Eocene of Saint-Gilles, is presented here. Although this turtle specimen was donated to the Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique (Brussels, Belgium) more than a century ago, it remained undescribed. Its study allows us to recognize the second pleurodiran in the Belgian fossil record, where, until now, the Eocene Neochelys was the only one known. The Belgian material of Neochelys is known in lower Eocene (early Ypresian) levels, but the new pleurodiran specimen comes from the middle Eocene (early Lutetian). It is the first partial articulate shell of a pleurodiran turtle recognized in Belgium, and the only member of this clade recognized in this country at specific level. The new specimen is a representative of the so-called Erymnochelys group, this lineage being known in Africa from the Upper Cretaceous to the present but in Europe only during the Eocene. It represents the first specimen of Eocenochelus eremberti identified outside its type locality, the French region of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Yvelines, Île-de-France), where only one specimen was found. The plastron of the Belgian individual corresponds to the most complete for this species. Its analysis allows us not only to broaden the range of paleobiogeographical distribution of Eocenochelus eremberti but also to improve the knowledge about the anatomy and variability of this taxon.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference Identification of the bacterial symbiont Entotheonella sp. in the mesohyl of the marine sponge Discodermia sp
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Identifying insects with incomplete DNA barcode libraries, African fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) as a test case.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Iguanian lizards (Acrodonta and Pleurodonta) from the earliest Eocene (MP7) of Dormaal, Belgium: The first stages of these iconic reptiles in Europe
We here report on iguanians (both new and the previous record) from the earliest Eocene (MP 7) of the Dormaal locality in Belgium, from the time of the warmest global climates of the past 66 million years. Today iguanians are distributed mainly in the New World (Pleurodonta) and Old World (Acrodonta), having complicated biogeographic histories. Both lineages co-existed in Dormaal 56 Ma. Iguanians here document the presence of thermophilic faunas during greenhouse conditions in the northern mid-latitudes (above 50° north, the latitude of southern England). The complete maxilla of the agamid Tinosaurus europeocaenus is described and figured for the first time, being distinctive and furnishing a number of diagnostic characters. The dentary coronoid process of this species is also observed for the first time. Our morphological analysis supports the previous observation that Tinosaurus is similar to Leiolepis, but also differs from it by several distinguishing features. Some jaw character states present in T. europeocaenus are shared with the Indian T. indicus, Chinese T. doumuensis, and American Tinosaurus sp., but several differences among them are observed. Besides the wellknown Geiseltaliellus, we here erect and describe a new pleurodontan taxon. The new taxon is represented by a maxilla with a unique and peculiar tooth crown morphology: the central cusp is bifurcated, markedly split into two distinct and wellseparated “prongs.” This morphology likely indicates a high specialization on feeding sources. This might cause a higher extinction risk relative to generalists, because terrestrial ecosystems in Europe changed substantially during the Paleogene.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Images are not and should not ever be type specimens: a rebuttal to Garraffoni & Freitas
Note. This original form of this rebuttal was submitted to Science on 3 March 2017 (limited to 300 words as per Science editorial policy) but rejected on 13 March 2017. Herein, we elaborate on our original Science submission in order to more fully address the issue without the length limitations. This rebuttal is followed by the list of the signatories who supported our original submission
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference Impact of chemical fertilizers on diversity and abundance of soil-litter arthropod communities in coffee and banana plantations in southern Rwanda
Few studies explored effects of chemical fertilizers on diversity and abundance of soillitter arthropods in the tropics. To fill this gap, a study focussed on the abundance of soil-litter arthropods and selected soil physicochemical properties in coffee plantations treated with chemical fertilizers and in plantations of coffee and banana treated with organic fertilizers and organic mulches in southern Rwanda. Each land use was replicated three times. Soil-litter arthropods were collected using pitfall traps and hand collection. They were identified to the family level using dichotomous keys. Soil have been collected using auger and taken to the laboratory for the analysis of soil pH, soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, phosphorus, and cation exchange capacity. Findings indicated a total of 12,945 individuals distributed into 3 classes, 16 orders, 50 families and 92 morphospecies, with higher abundance and diversity in coffee plantations treated with organic fertilizers and organic mulches. Collected soil-litter arthropods were mainly classified in the class Insecta, dominated in numbers by ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), while Coleoptera and Hemiptera had more families. However, soil under coffee plantations treated with organic fertilizers and organic mulches was acidic compared with the soil under coffee plantations treated with inorganic fertilizers and banana plantations treated with organic fertilizers and organic mulches. The relationships between soil-litter arthropods and soil physicochemical properties suggest that soillitter arthropods respond to the land use independently from soil physicochemical properties. We recommend further studies in coffee and other crop plantations in other regions of Rwanda to verify the findings of this study.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Impacts of Climate Change on the Global Invasion Potential of the African Clawed Frog Xenopus laevis
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016