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Article Reference A Strigogyps-like bird from the Middle Paleocene of China with an unusual grasping foot
We describe a new avian species, Qianshanornis rapax, gen. et sp. nov., from the middle Paleocene Wanghudun Formation of the Qianshan Basin in Anhui Province, China. The holotype consists of an incomplete articulated foot and a few associated bones, mainly of the leg, wing, and pectoral girdle. Qianshanornis rapax is characterized by a derived foot morphology and may have had a hyperextendible second toe, which has so far only been reported for some Mesozoic taxa. The new species is markedly different from all other known Cenozoic birds and is here classified in the new taxonQianshanornithidae. The leg bones, especially the distal end of the tibiotarsus, most closely resemble those of Strigogyps (Ameghinornithidae) from the Eocene, and possibly Oligocene, of Europe, but unlike the latter, the much smaller Q. rapax appears to have had well-developed flight capabilities.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference A striking case of convergent evolution in two species of Cypricercinae (Crustacea, Ostracoda), with the description of a new genus and species from Brazil
Neostrandesia striata gen. n. sp. n. is here described and constitutes an interesting case of convergent evolution with Bradleytriebella lineata (Victor and Fernando, 1981). Both cypricercine species look superficially similar, with comparable valve and carapace shapes and especially ornamentation, as in both species the valves are densely set with longitudinal ridges. However, examination of the limb chaetotaxy shows important differences, especially in the chaetotaxy of the maxillula-palp which shows reduced numbers of claws and setae, and in the first thoracopod, in which seta ‘b’ has taken a giant aspect in the new taxon. These, and other, differences merit the allocation of these two species to different genera and even tribes within the subfamily Cypricercinae.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Article Reference A strikingly coloured new giant millipede from Vietnam has copycat in Borneo (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Harpagophoridae)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference A study of peritoneal cells from healthy and Schistosoma mansoni-infected mice with special reference to myofibroblasts arising in culture.
Adherent, trypsin-resistant, peritoneal cells from mice with chronic schistosomiasis mansoni, and from control mice, were cultivated in vitro up to 20 days. Fibroblasts regularly appeared, about 6 days after seeding, in cultures ofthe manyfold more numerous cells from infected mice, concomitantly with a dramatic increase, detected by autoradiography, in the percentage of DNA-replicating cells of the monocyte-macrophage lineage. Peritoneal cells from healthy and from infected mice were fractionated on discontinuous Percoll gradients. Eight cell subsets were harvested in both cases, quantitated, and studied by electron microscopy. Two fractions (2 and 3: 1.041 < densities < 1.060 g/ml) from infected mice were greatly enriched in monoblasts and promonocytes. The cells of the different subsets were seeded separately, trypsin-treated and cultivated in vitro. Cultures of cell fractions 2 and 3 from infected mice contained the majority of the DNA-synthesizing cells and gave regularly rise to fibroblasts. Cultures of the different fractions were used for sequential morphological observations (2-11 days) at the electron microscope level. Early cultures were also used for the ultrastructural detection of the Mac-1 (CD 18/CD11b) surface antigen by gold immunocytochemistry. A few fibroblasts were rarely observed in cultures of fractions 2 and 3 from control mice, while cells with ultrastructural features of myofibroblasts were regularly observed in cultures of the same fractions harvested from mice with chronic schistosomiasis. Fractions 2and 3 from infected mice contained a large number of Mac-1 positive monoblasts. The correlations between the presence of monoblasts, DNA replication in cells ofthe monocyte-macrophage lineage and the appearance of myofibroblasts in culturesof the same fractions derived from infected mice are discussed.
Located in Library / No RBINS Staff publications
Article Reference A subfossil spirostreptid millipede from SW Libya (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Spirostreptidae)
Two fragments of millipedes, referred to the genus Archispirostreptus, are reported from an archaeological site in the Tadrart Acacus region of southwestern Libya. Radiocarbon dating of the specimens shows that one of them dates to between ca. 9100 and 8800 years ago, and the other one between 6400 and 6300 years ago (calibrated dates). The site lies far from known present-day occurrences of spirostreptid millipedes, and the Libyan subfossils probably, like other isolated occurrences of Archispirostreptus species in the Sahara and the Middle East, represent geographical relicts of a former, continuous distribution. The millipedes were probably able to survive at the Libyan site during the early and middle Holocene periods thanks to the more humid conditions, and may descend from animals that initially colonised the area during the even more humid, and longer, last interglacial period.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference A subjective checklist of the Recent, free-living, non-marine Ostracoda (Crustacea)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference A subjective global checklist (submitted)of the Recent non-marine Ostracoda (Crustacea).
We present an updated, subjective list of the extant, non-marine ostracod genera and species of the world, with their distributions in the major zoogeographical regions, as well as a list of the genera in their present hierarchical taxonomic positions. The list includes all taxa described and taxonomic alterations made up to 1 July 2018. Taxonomic changes include 17 new combinations, 5 new names, 1 emended specific name and 11 new synonymies (1 tribe, 4 genera, 6 species). Taking into account the recognized synonymies, there are presently 2330 subjective species of non-marine ostracods in 270 genera. The most diverse family in non-marine habitats is the Cyprididae, comprising 43.2% of all species, followed by the Candonidae (29.0%), Entocytheridae (9.1%) and the Limnocytheridae (7.0%). An additional 13 families comprise the remaining 11.8% of described species. The Palaearctic zoogeographical region has the greatest number of described species (799), followed by the Afrotropical region with 453 species and the Nearctic region with 439 species. The Australasian and Neotropical regions each have 328 and 333 recorded species, respectively, while the Oriental region has 271. The vast majority of non-marine ostracods (89.8%) are endemic to one zoogeographical region, while only six species are found in six or more regions. We also present an additional list with ‘uncertain species’, which have neither been redescribed nor re-assessed since 1912, and which are excluded from the main list; a list of taxonomic changes presented in the present paper; a table with the number of species and % per family; and a table with numbers of new species described in the 20-year period between 1998 and 2017 per zoogeographical region. Two figures visualize the total number of species and endemic species per zoogeographical region, and the numbers of new species descriptions per decade for all families and the three largest families since 1770, respectively.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Article Reference A survey of transposon landscapes in the putative ancient asexual ostracod Darwinula stevensoni
How asexual reproduction shapes transposable element (TE) content and diversity in eukaryotic genomes remains debated. We performed an initial survey of TE load and diversity in the putative ancient asexual ostracod Darwinula stevensoni. We examined long contiguous stretches of DNA in clones from a genomic fosmid library, totaling about 2.5 Mb, and supplemented these data with results on TE abundance and diversity from an Illumina draft genome. In contrast to other TE studies in putatively ancient asexuals, which revealed relatively low TE content, we found that at least 19% of the fosmid dataset and 26% of the genome assembly corresponded to known transposons. We observed a high diversity of transposon families, including LINE, gypsy, PLE, mariner/Tc, hAT, CMC, Sola2, Ginger, Merlin, Harbinger, MITEs and helitrons, with the prevalence of DNA transposons. The predominantly low levels of sequence diversity indicate that many TEs are or have recently been active. In the fosmid data, no correlation was found between telomeric repeats and non-LTR retrotransposons, which are present near telomeres in other taxa. Most TEs in the fosmid data were located outside of introns and almost none were found in exons. We also report an N-terminal Myb/SANT-like DNA-binding domain in site-specific R4/Dong non-LTR retrotransposons. Although initial results on transposable loads need to be verified with high quality draft genomes, this study provides important first insights into TE dynamics in putative ancient asexual ostracods.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Article Reference A suspected scavenging event by red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) on a live, stranded harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Article Reference A SWIR based algorithm to retrieve total suspended matter in extremely turbid waters
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications