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Article Reference Holarctic genetic structure and range dynamics in the woolly mammoth
Ancient DNA analyses have provided enhanced resolution of population histories in many Pleistocene taxa. However, most studies are spatially restricted, making inference of species-level biogeographic histories difficult. Here, we analyse mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation in the woolly mammoth from across its Holarctic range to reconstruct its history over the last 200 thousand years (kyr).We identify a previously undocumented major mtDNA lineage in Europe, which was replaced by another major mtDNA lineage 32–34 kyr before present (BP). Coalescent simulations provide support for demographic expansions at approximately 121 kyr BP, suggesting that the previous interglacial was an important driver for demography and intraspecific genetic divergence. Furthermore, our results suggest an expansion into Eurasia fromAmerica around 66 kyr BP, coinciding with the first exposure of the Bering Land Bridge during the Late Pleistocene. Bayesian inference indicates Late Pleistocene demographic stability until 20–15 kyr BP, when a severe population size decline occurred.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Complete Mitochondrial Genomes of Ancient Canids Suggest a European Origin of Domestic Dogs
The geographic and temporal origins of the domestic dog remain controversial, as genetic data suggest a domestication process in East Asia beginning 15,000 years ago, whereas the oldest doglike fossils are found in Europe and Siberia and date to >30,000 years ago. We analyzed the mitochondrial genomes of 18 prehistoric canids from Eurasia and the New World, along with a comprehensive panel of modern dogs and wolves. Themitochondrial genomes of all modern dogs are phylogeneticallymost closely related to either ancient or modern canids of Europe. Molecular dating suggests an onset of domestication there 18,800 to 32,100 years ago. These findings imply that domestic dogs are the culmination of a process that initiated with European hunter-gatherers and the canids with whom they interacted.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Mitochondrial DNA diversity and evolution of the Pleistocene cave bear complex
Cave bears are among the most well known extinct Pleistocene mammals. Their biogeography and taxonomy, along with the factors that led to their extinction, have been subject to long-standing controversy. Here, we reconstruct the phylogeography as well as the temporal and spatial population dynamics of cave bears across their range using mitochondrial DNA control region sequences from 77 published as well as 65 new cave bear samples, Our analyses reveal a dramatic loss of genetic diversity in cave bear populations after 30,000 years before present and provide evidence for a range decline from east to west towards the onset of the last glacial maximum. Our results also suggest that the three major haplogroups within cave bears, which may correspond to distinct species, were previously more widespread, with relict populations in remote and alpine areas still harbouring haplotypes that have disappeared from most of their previous range. Applying a phylogenetic dating approach, we estimated the age of the oldest of our samples, originating from the Yana River region in north-eastern Siberia, to be around 178,000 years, which confirms a previous estimate of a Middle Pleistocene age based on its stratigraphic position. Our results extend our knowledge about the evolutionary history of cave bears, but they also show that to unravel the complexities of cave bear evolution future ancient DNA studies on this Pleistocene species will need to go beyond short mitochondrial DNA fragments, including full mitochondrial genomes as well as nuclear DNA sequences.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Canids as persons: Early Neolithic dog and wolf burials, Cis-Baikal, Siberia
Interpretations of dog burials made by ancient foraging groups have tended to be based upon our own relationships with such animals and modern western cosmological and ontological concepts. Osteological studies of early dogs often focus only on issues of taxonomy, and as a result very little is known about these animals’ life histories. Eastern Siberia has produced many Holocene dog burials, but these are typically not well described and the explanatory frameworks provided for them are very underdeveloped. Here we examine in detail two Cis-Baikal canid burials, one of a wolf and the other a dog, both in large Middle Holocene hunter-gatherer cemeteries. We link the mortuary treatment of these animals to other cultural practices, particularly the treatment of the human dead, and broader patterns in Northern human-animal relationships. This interpretive model is combined with detailed osteobiographies for the canids and contextual information for these and other dogs and wolves from Middle Holocene Cis- Baikal. It is argued that canids here were understood and treated in a variety of ways. We suggest that some animals with unique histories were known as distinct persons with ‘souls’ and because of this at death required mortuary rites similar to those of their human counterparts.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Isotopic evidence for dietary ecology of cave lion (Panthera (leo) spelaea) in North-Western Europe: prey choice, competition and implications for extinction
The prey choice of extinct cave lions Panthera spelaea was determined using bone collagen isotopic signatures in the Belgian Ardennes and the Swabian Jura between 40,000 and 25,000 years ago as well as in the Late-glacial of the northwestern Alp foreland and of the Paris Basin. More than 370 specimens of large carnivorous and herbivorous mammals from 25 sites coeval with cave lion were analyzed. The isotopic results point to an individualistic prey choice for cave lions, with some individuals more oriented on reindeer and others on young cave bears. The isotopic signatures and therefore dietary choice of cave lions did not overlap with those of cave hyenas, indicating competitive exclusion between the large predators. The most recent western European cave lions seem to have been consuming mainly reindeer until the local extirpation of this prey species, which coincides chronologically with their own extinction. This restricted prey choice may be involved in the extinction of this large predator in Western Europe.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference A vision and strategy for the virtual physiological human in 2012 and beyond
European funding under Framework 7 (FP7) for the virtual physiological human (VPH) project has been in place now for 5 years. The VPH Network of Excellence (NoE) has been set up to help develop common standards, open source software, freely accessible data and model repositories, and various training and dissemination activities for the project. It is also working to coordinate the many clinically targeted projects that have been funded under the FP7 calls. An initial vision for the VPH was defined by the FP6 STEP project in 2006. In 2010, we wrote an assessment of the accomplishments of the first two years of the VPH in which we considered the biomedical science, healthcare and information and communications technology challenges facing the project (Hunter et al. 2010 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 368, 2595–2614 (doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0048)). We proposed that a not-for-profit professional umbrella organization, the VPH Institute, should be established as a means of sustaining the VPH vision beyond the time-frame of the NoE. Here, we update and extend this assessment and in particular address the following issues raised in response to Hunter et al.: (i) a vision for the VPH updated in the light of progress made so far, (ii) biomedical science and healthcare challenges that the VPH initiative can address while also providing innovation opportunities for the European industry, and (iii) external changes needed in regulatory policy and business models to realize the full potential that the VPH has to offer to industry, clinics and society generally.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference A GIS-based methodology for creating 3D geological models in sedimentary environment: application to the subcrop of Brussels
In order to meet the requirements established by the European Directive (2006/118/EC) on the groundwater protection, the Geological Survey of Belgium (GSB) has started a new Geographic Information System (GIS) project called Hydrobrux. The aim is to create a thorough three-dimensional geological model of the subcrop of Brussels. The latter will be used to produce a hydrogeological model of the Brussels Formation aquifer composed of sands and covering 126 km2 in the eastern part of the Brussels-Capital Region and subsequent deeper aquifers (Palaeocene and Upper Cretaceous). The GIS 3D model is built by superposition of interpolated surfaces, which represent the top surface of each modelled geological layers. Eleven top surfaces are generated independently and are based on the interpolation of 5169 points. This high density of information is provided by 2426 boreholes, water wells, outcrops, cone penetration tests (CPT) and other sources of stratigraphic data that were collected and structured in a relational database under Microsoft Access. The data were exported to ArcGIS for the geostatistics (2D mapping) and validation parts and subsequently to ArcScene for the construction and the visualisation of the 3D model.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inproceedings Reference New primate postcrania from the Eraly Eocene of Vastan Mine, Gujarat, India
The Cambay Formation at Vastan Mine in Gujarat yields the oldest fossil primates known from India. New age estimates suggest that the fossils date from approximately 54.5 Ma (early Ypresian), about 2 million years older than initially thought and comparable in age to early Wasatchian Wa-4 faunas from North America. The Vastan primate fauna comprises predominantly the asiadapine adapoids Marcgodinotius and Asiadapis. Two species of omomyid primates, Vastanomys gracilis and V. major, are much rarer, each known from a single dental specimen. In addition to primate dental remains, Vastan Mine has produced the best preserved early Eocene primate postcranial elements known from anywhere in the world. Here we present new limb bones, including humeri, ulnae, femora, tibiae, and a talus, from three of the recognized primate species. They include the first omomyid postcrania from India: two femora, a talus, and a potential proximal tibia. We also report additional asiadapine postcrania: a pristine femur of Marcgodinotius and the first complete tibia of Asiadapis. Five new humeri (two complete) consist of one asiadapine and four that lack specializations of either group, making allocation difficult. Two ulnae are attributed to indeterminate euprimates due to lack of adequate comparative material. The elements attributed to Vastanomys are more primitive than any other known omomyid postcrania and are only subtly different from those of asiadapines, in contrast to the more distinct postcranial bones of their middle and late Eocene relatives. The femora attributed to Vastanomys exhibit features suggestive of leaping behavior (cylindrical femoral heads, lateral condyle higher than medial, proximal position of the third trochanter), as in other omomyids. However, while the talus of Vastanomys resembles those of omomyids more than those of other primates, features such as the relatively short, medially angled neck, and oval rather than spherical head suggest that Vastanomys was not as specialized for leaping as younger omomyids. Although asiadapines have been described as close to notharctids in morphology, the relatively wider distal femur and symmetrical condyles of Marcgodinotius resemble adapids more than notharctids and may also reflect less leaping. The revised age of the fossils, together with the similarity in morphology of omomyid and asiadapine postcrania, suggests that the postcrania, like the teeth of the most primitive members of each family, are converging toward a common morphology as we approach the base of the Eocene.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Redescription of Cichlidogyrus tiberianus Paperna, 1960 and C. dossoui Douëllou, 1993 (Monogenea: Ancyrocephalidae), with special reference to the male copulatory organ
The flatworms of the genus Cichlidogyrus Paperna, 1960 (Monogenea: Ancyrocephalidae) are gill parasites of freshwater fish, affecting predominantly the family Cichlidae. Cichlidogyrus tiberianus Paperna, 1960 and Cichlidogyrus dossoui Doue¨llou, 1993 are among the most widely distributed species of the genus, occurring in several African river basins and infecting many different host species, including the economically important Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus) and redbreast tilapia Coptodon rendalli (Boulenger). Despite their wide distribution, C. tiberianus and C. dossoui have so far been studied only by light microscopy. In this paper they are redescribed on the basis of scanning electron microscopy of newly-collected material. The new material was obtained from redbreast tilapia caught in the Luapula River (D. R. Congo). The haptoral sclerites and genitalia are redescribed and illustrated in detail. Special attention is given to the complex morphology of the male copulatory organ.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference Benthic and fish aggregation inside an offshore wind farm: Which effects on the trophic web functioning?
As part of the energy transition, the French government is planning the construction of three offshore wind farms in Normandy (Bay of Seine and eastern part of the English Channel, north-western France) in the next years. These offshore wind farms will be integrated into an ecosystem already facing multiple anthropogenic disturbances such as maritime transport, fisheries, oyster and mussel farming, and sediment dredging. Currently no integrated, ecosystem-based study on the effects of the construction and exploitation of offshore wind farms exists, where biological approaches generally focused on the conservation of some valuable species or groups of species. Complementary trophic web modelling tools were applied to the Bay of Seine ecosystem (to the 50 km2 area covered by the wind farm) to analyse the potential impacts of benthos and fish aggregation caused by the introduction of additional hard substrates from the piles and the turbine scour protections. An Ecopath ecosystem model composed of 37 compartments, from phytoplankton to seabirds, was built to describe the situation “before” the construction of the wind farm. Then, an Ecosim projection over 30 years was performed after increasing the biomass of targeted benthic and fish compartments. Ecological Network Analysis (ENA) indices were calculated for the two periods, “before” and “after”, to compare network functioning and the overall structural properties of the food web. Our main results showed (1) that the total ecosystem activity, the overall system omnivory (proportion of generalist feeders), and the recycling increased after the construction of the wind farm; (2) that higher trophic levels such as piscivorous fish species, marine mammals, and seabirds responded positively to the aggregation of biomass on piles and turbine scour protections; and (3) a change in keystone groups after the construction towards more structuring and dominant compartments. Nonetheless, these changes could be considered as limited impacts of the wind farm installation on this coastal trophic web structure and functioning.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017