The so-called "Hațeg Island" (Transylvania, Romania) is well known for its rich and peculiar Late Cretaceous vertebrate assemblages, including dwarf dinosaurs, first reported at the end of the 19th century. Besides dinosaurs, other important members of the "Hațeg Island" terrestrial ecosystems were the multituberculate mammals. Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) multituberculates are extremely rare in Europe, being known exclusively from the "Hațeg Island". Two genera are reported from this area: Kogaionon, with the single species K. ungureanui, and Barbatodon, with two species: B. transylvanicus and B. oardaensis. Both genera belong to the European endemic family Kogaionidae. We report herein new remains of B. transylvanicus from the Maastrichtian locality of Pui (Hunedoara District) in the Hațeg Basin, including the most complete dentaries found to date with complete cheek teeth rows. Intraspecific variability of this species in dentary shape, tooth morphology, and size difference is highlighted.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2016
The number of described species on the planet is about 1.9 million, with ca. 17,000 new species described annually, mostly from the tropics. However, taxonomy is usually described as a science in crisis, lacking manpower and funding, a politically acknowledged problem known as the Taxonomic Impediment. Using data from the Fauna Europaea database and the Zoological Record, we show that contrary to general belief, developed and heavily-studied parts of the world are important reservoirs of unknown species. In Europe, new species of multicellular terrestrial and freshwater animals are being discovered and named at an unprecedented rate: since the 1950s, more than 770 new species are on average described each year from Europe, which add to the 125,000 terrestrial and freshwater multicellular species already known in this region. There is no sign of having reached a plateau that would allow for the assessment of the magnitude of European biodiversity. More remarkably, over 60\% of these new species are described by non-professional taxonomists. Amateurs are recognized as an essential part of the workforce in ecology and astronomy, but the magnitude of non-professional taxonomist contributions to alpha-taxonomy has not been fully realized until now. Our results stress the importance of developing a system that better supports and guides this formidable workforce, as we seek to overcome the Taxonomic Impediment and speed up the process of describing the planetary biodiversity before it is too late.
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Fourteen species of Muricidae referable to the (sub)genera Promurex Ponder & Vokes, 1988, Pygmaepterys Vokes, 1978, Murexsul Iredale, 1915, Pazinotus Vokes, 1970, Prototyphis Ponder, 1972, Ponderia Houart, 1986, Gemixystus Iredale, 1929, Leptotrophon Houart, 1995 and Scabrotrophon McLean, 1996 are reported from New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands and Taiwan, to depths down to 1750 m. Five new species are described: Favartia (Pygmaepterys) lifouensis n. sp. from New Caledonia with range extension to the Solomon Islands, Pazinotus chionodes n. sp. and Gemixystus calcareus n. sp. from New Caledonia, Leptotrophon wareni n. sp. from the Solomon Islands and Favartia (Pygmaepterys) circinata n. sp. from Taiwan.
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