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Pterosaur melanosomes support signalling functions for early feathers
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
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Radial porosity profiles: a new bone histological method for comparative developmental analysis of diametric limb bone growth
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
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Endocranial morphology of Liaoceratops yanzigouensis (Dinosauria: Ceratopsia) from Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota of Liaoning in China
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
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Is vertebral shape variability in caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) constrained by forces experienced during burrowing?
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Caecilians are predominantly burrowing, elongate, limbless amphibians that have been relatively poorly studied. Although it has been suggested that the sturdy and compact skulls of caecilians are an adaptation to their head-first burrowing habits, no clear relationship between skull shape and burrowing performance appears to exist. However, the external forces encountered during burrowing are transmitted by the skull to the vertebral column, and, as such, may impact vertebral shape. Additionally, the muscles that generate the burrowing forces attach onto the vertebral column and consequently may impact vertebral shape that way as well. Here, we explored the relationships between vertebral shape and maximal in vivo push forces in 13 species of caecilian amphibians. Our results show that the shape of the two most anterior vertebrae, as well as the shape of the vertebrae at 90% of the total body length, is not correlated with peak push forces. Conversely, the shape of the third vertebrae, and the vertebrae at 20% and 60% of the total body length, does show a relationship to push forces measured in vivo. Whether these relationships are indirect (external forces constraining shape variation) or direct (muscle forces constraining shape variation) remains unclear and will require quantitative studies of the axial musculature. Importantly, our data suggest that mid-body vertebrae may potentially be used as proxies to infer burrowing capacity in fossil representatives.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
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Generalized osteosclerotic condition in the skeleton of Nanophoca vitulinoides, a dwarf seal from the Miocene of Belgium
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RBINS Staff Publications 2018
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The common morphospecies Cypridopsis vidua (O.F. MÜLLER, 1776) (Crustacea, Ostracoda) is not an obligate parthenogen
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The common non-marine ostracod Cypridopsis vidua (O.F. Müller, 1776) is used as a proxy in various biological disciplines, such as (palaeo-)ecology, evolutionary biology, ecotoxicology and parasitology. This morphospecies was considered to be an obligate parthenogen. We report on the discovery of the first population of C. vidua with males from Woods Hole (MA, USA) and determine that it is a population with mixed reproduction. We describe the morphology of the males and of the sexual and asexual females. We illustrate a copula of a male and a sexual female as well insemination in a sexual female, showing that males are functional. Therefore, Cypridopsis vidua is a morphospecies with mixed reproduction, not a full apomictic parthenogen. We use, for the first time, polychromatic polarization microscope technology to illustrate soft parts of ostracods. In addition, we compare the sexual species C. bisexualis, C. okeechobei, C. howei and C. schwartzi and conclude that these species, especially the latter three, are morphologically very close to C. vidua.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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Evolution: Fossil ears and underwater sonar
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RBINS Staff Publications 2016
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The role of long-term human impact on avulsion and fan development
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This study aims to understand (mainly qualitatively) the long-term role of human impact on avulsion processes and the development of fluvial (mega-) fans in semi-arid environments. In this paper we refer to human impact as the direct influences of actions on the river's hydraulics (i.e. flow regulation, flow diversion and channel engineering). In five case-studies drawn from the Khuzestan plains in southwest Iran we have analysed the setup and triggering conditions of specific avulsions that occurred in the past (timescale of millennia) and identified the role of human interference in their causation. Our analysis is based on the integration of historical, archaeological, geomorphological and geological data. Through this study we demonstrate that avulsions in the Khuzestan plains are the result of long-term and complex interplay between multiple human-induced and natural causes. In similar ways human-induced actions may play important roles during different phases of avulsion development. The ‘success‘ of an avulsion in the post-triggering phase may be defined by human-induced setup causes as well as morphodynamic processes. We suggest that present-day flood events may be partly inherited from long-term human alterations of the natural processes. These finding could have implications for any fluvial system (e.g. distributive fluvial systems, deltas) where avulsion plays a major role in their development and research tends to emphasize on natural mechanisms.
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Data assimilation with the ensemble Kalman filter in a numerical model of the North Sea
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Coastal management and maritime safety strongly rely on accurate representations of the sea state. Both dynamical models and observations provide abundant pieces of information. However, none of them provides the complete picture. The assimilation of observations into models is one way to improve our knowledge of the ocean state. Its application in coastal models remains challenging because of the wide range of temporal and spatial variabilities of the processes involved. This study investigates the assimilation of temperature profiles with the ensemble Kalman filter in 3-D North Sea simulations. The model error is represented by the standard deviation of an ensemble of model states. Parameters’ values for the ensemble generation are first computed from the misfit between the data and the model results without assimilation. Then, two square root algorithms are applied to assimilate the data. The impact of data assimilation on the simulated temperature is assessed. Results show that the ensemble Kalman filter is adequate for improving temperature forecasts in coastal areas, under adequate model error specification.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2016
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The Hautes Fagnes meteorite find: A new LL5 (S1) chondrite from Belgium
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Abstract Around 1965 a meteorite was found in the Hautes Fagnes region in eastern Belgium. It was made available for scientific investigation in 2007. The meteorite specimen has a mass of 185 g and a density of 3.56 g/cm(3). It is light grey with darker angular fragments, and a thin fusion crust. It contains specks of metal of submillimetre size that show little weathering. Submillimetre sized chondrules with blurred outlines make up ca. 40 % of the specimen, and consist mainly of olivine and orthopyroxene. Troilite, kamacite and taenite were found in the chondrules and in the matrix. Native copper was identified at the contact of troilite and iron-nickel grains. Minor minerals in the matrix include albitic plagioclase, clinopyroxene, chromite, and chlorapatite. The average molar fayalite content of olivine was estimated at 29.37 %, and the ferrosilite content of orthopyroxene was estimated at 23.75 %. Bulk chemical analysis with ICP-OES was carried out (I) after fusion with LiBO2 and (2) after microwave digestion in strong acids. The meteorite is distinctly magnetic, with a mass specific magnetic susceptibility logX of 3.83: This meteorite can be classified as a LL ordinary chondrite of petrologic type 5, and of shock classification stage S1 (unshocked).
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RBINS Staff Publications
