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Article Reference Assemblages of fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) along an elevational gradient in the rainforests of Papua New Guinea
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference Deciphering mollusc shell production: the roles of genetic mechanisms through to ecology, aquaculture and biomimetics
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference Facies analysis, stratigraphy and marine vertebrate assemblage of the lower Miocene Chilcatay Formation at Ullujaya (Pisco basin, Peru)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018
Article Reference Glaciomarine sequence stratigraphy in the Mississippian Río Blanco Basin, Argentina, southwestern Gondwana. Basin analysis and palaeoclimatic implications for the Late Paleozoic Ice Age during the Tournaisian
The Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA) has been well recorded in the uppermost Mississippian–Pennsylvanian of Gondwana. Nevertheless, little is known about the temporal and geographic dynamics, particularly during the early Mississippian. We report on exceptional Tournaisian glaciomarine stratigraphic sections from central Argentina (Río Blanco Basin). Encompassing c. 1400 m, these successions contain conspicuous glacigenic strata with age constraints provided by palaeontological data and U/Pb detrital zircon age spectra. A variety of marine, glaciomarine and fan-deltaic environments indicate relative sea-level variations mainly associated with tectonism and repetitive cycles of glacial activity. Provenance analysis indicates a source from the Sierras Pampeanas basement located to the east. Fifteen sequences were grouped into three depositional models: (1) Transgressive Systems Tracts (TST) to Highstand Systems Tracts (HST) sequences unaffected by glacial ice; (2) Lowstand Systems Tracts (LST) to TST and then to HST with glacial influence; and (3) non-glacial Falling-Stage Systems Tracts (FSST) to TST and HST. The glacial evidence indicates that the oldest Mississippian glacial stage of the LPIA in southwestern Gondwana is constrained to the middle Tournaisian. In contrast with previous descriptions of Gondwanan coeval glacial records, our sequence analysis confirms complex hierarchical climate variability, rather than a single episode of ice advance and retreat.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference A diverse bird assemblage from the Ypresian of Belgium furthers knowledge of Early Eocene avifaunas of the North Sea Basin
We describe an assemblage of 54 avian bones from early Eocene marine sediments of the Ampe quarry near Egem in Belgium. The fossils belong to at least 20 species in more than 11 higher-level taxa. Well-identifiable specimens are assigned to the Odontopterygiformes, Galliformes, Messelornithidae, Apodiformes, Halcyornithidae, Leptosomiformes (cf.Plesiocathartes), and Coraciiformes (cf. Septencoracias). Further specimens are tentatively referred to the phaethontiform Prophaethontidae and to the Accipitridae, Masillaraptoridae, and Alcediniformes. The threedimensionally preserved fossils from Egem provide new data on the osteology of taxa that are otherwise mainly known from compression fossils with crushed bones. The material also includes specimens that further knowledge of the composition of early Eocene avifaunas of the North Sea Basin. The comparatively well-represented small galliform species is clearly distinguished from the early Eocene Gallinuloididae and most closely resembles Argillipes aurorum, a largely ignored galliform species from the London Clay. The tentatively identified fossils of Accipitridae and Alcediniformes would represent the earliest fossil records of these clades. The bird assemblage from Egem includes relatively few seabirds (Odontopterygiformes, cf. Prophaethontidae) and is dominated by remains of terrestrial species (Galliformes, Messelornithidae). Arboreal birds (Halcyornithidae, Leptosomiformes, cf. Alcediniformes, Coraciiformes) are less abundant and aerial insectivores (Apodiformes) very scarce, which either indicates a taphonomic bias in the composition of the avifauna or particular paleoenvironmental characteristics of the nearshore habitats in that area of the southern North Sea Basin.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Article Reference Fishing at the Late Islamic settlement in Kharā’ib al-Dasht, Failaka Island, Kuwait
The Kharā’ib al-Dasht settlement, located on the north-eastern coast of the island of Failaka in Kuwait, has been excavated systematically since 2013 by the Kuwaiti-Polish Archaeological Mission. The investigated area yielded remains dated to the Late Islamic period, from the late seventeenth to the nineteenth century. In the northernmost part of the site, a fish processing area was uncovered, while the remains of residential structures (houses 1 and 2), as well as a mosque, were discovered in the eastern part of the site. Concentrations of fireplaces, hearths and ovens were discovered inside the houses and courtyards of what seems to be the centre of the settlement as well as from the periphery of the site. Fishing was evidenced not only by the presence of fish bones but also by recovered fishing technologies, including the remains of stone fish traps that were discovered in the coastal waters near to the site. The excavations yielded 12,182 bones of marine fishes. Twenty eight families are represented, including six families of cartilaginous fishes. Ariidae bones were most numerous followed by Haemulidae,Sciaenidae and Carcharhinidae. The analysis of the assemblage shows that fishing could have been of great importance to the inhabitants of the settlement. Moreover, we attest different patterns in the fish assemblages between the two different parts of the village. The fish processing area can be seen as a workplace, while the daily activity took place in the village. These differences can also be used to shed light on the fishing techniques these people used.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Article Reference Stratigraphical reinterpretation of Devonian strata underlying the Mons Basin based on cuttings from the Saint-Ghislain borehole, Hainaut, Belgium
It is revealed that the lowest 1010 m of the Saint-Ghislain borehole (-4393 to -5403 m), of which cuttings are available, constitutes a crucial source of information to investigate, amongst others, the deep geothermal potential within the Brabant Parautochthon, underlying the Mons Basin, Hainaut. The lithological succession of this interval was reconstructed based mainly on visual analysis and calcimetry of 852 cutting samples as well as four core samples. Additionally, palynological, magnetic susceptibility and X-ray diffraction analyses were conducted in order to complement the dataset. The lower section of the investigated borehole sequence mainly consists of grey calcareous shale while the middle section is dominated by blue-grey shaly limestone and the upper section is mainly composed of green shale. Palynomorphs found at -5261 m suggest an uppermost Givetian–Lower Frasnian age. A new lithostratigraphical interpretation of the deepest part of the Saint-Ghislain borehole is proposed. The lower calcareous shale from -5403 m to -5100 m is interpreted as the Bovesse Formation (Lower Frasnian) and at its base possibly uppermost Givetian. The overlying limestones from -5100 to -4790 m can be attributed to the Rhisnes Formation (Upper Frasnian), and the green shale between ca. -4393 and -4790 m, to the Bois de la Rocq Member (Famennian). These results open new insights regarding the geological interpretation of the basement underlying the Mons Basin. They also present a promising approach and example regarding interpretations based on cuttings. KEYWORDS: Brabant Parautochthon, Mons Basin, Frasnian, Famennian, geothermal energy, Saint-Ghislain borehole
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference Timing of intercontinental faunal migrations: Anguimorph lizards from the earliest Eocene (MP 7) of Dormaal, Belgium
Here we report on anguimorph lizards from the earliest Eocene (MP 7) of the Dormaal locality in Belgium, from the time of the warmest global climate of the past 66 million years. Several clades can be identified in this site: Glyptosauridae, Varanidae, and Palaeovaranidae. Our study focuses on glyptosaurid specimens previously reported from the site, some of which had been provisionally described as a new species,?Placosaurus ragei, and some assigned to an unnamed Placosauriops-like ‘melanosaurine’. Our study presents data on new material, including an almost complete glyptosaurine frontal that has enabled us to assign much of the previously described material to a single genus and species. The specimens that had been assigned to both ?P ragei and the ‘melanosaurine’ share apomorphies (flat osteoderms and chevron-shaped osteoderms) with Gaultia, a glyptosaurid previously known from the earliest Eocene of Wyoming, USA. The Dormaal material represents the first record of this genus outside North America. In fact, the only potential evidence of the occurrence of ‘Melanosaurinae’ in Dormaal might be a single isolated vertebra described here. Here we also describe previously unfigured material of Saniwa and palaeovaranids from Dormaal. The presence of previously reported helodermatids cannot be supported in this Belgian site.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024 OA
Article Reference A new physeteroid from the late Miocene of Peru expands the diversity of extinct dwarf and pygmy sperm whales (Cetacea: Odontoceti: Kogiidae)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference Whelks, rock-snails, and allied: a new phylogenetic framework for the family Muricidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023 OA