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Article Reference Have birds ever mattered? An evaluation of the contribution of avian species to the archaeozoological record of Belgium (Iron Age to recent times)
This preliminary study aims to document general trends in the representation of bird remains in anthropogenic contexts from Belgian archaeological sites. A large dataset is analysed, consisting of 186 faunal assemblages from 79 different sites. The contexts included vary in terms of their taphonomic nature (refuse layers, latrines, pits, etc.) and date, ranging from the Iron Age to the modern period. The characteristics of the study area and the dataset as a whole are described, with a focus on identification rates, past and present avian taxonomic diversity, and relative abundance of bird remains compared with domestic mammal remains. The impact of recovery methods (sieving or hand collecting) on these various aspects is also evaluated. A taxonomic analysis describes the diversity and abundance of the different groups of species that are encountered and shows which habitats were preferentially exploited for the hunting of wild birds. The study shows that there is significant taxonomic diversity across the dataset. However, this diversity is not necessarily present in each separate archaeological context, as the number of remains identified by taxon is generally low. Some species or groups of species are ubiquitous and dominant, in particular domestic fowl. Although this analysis is broad and exploratory, it is believed that it will serve as a sound methodological basis for future, more detailed studies focusing on the role that birds played in past human societies during specific chronological periods.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference The anatomy and phylogenetic affinities of Cynthiacetus peruvianus, a large Dorudon-like basilosaurid (Cetacea, Mammalia) from the late Eocene of Peru
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference Morphological and molecular characterization of Lepidonema magnum Morffe & García, 2010 (Nematoda: Oxyuridomorpha: Hystrignathidae) from Passalus interstitialis Eschscholtz, 1829 (Coleoptera: Passalidae) from Cuba and new locality records for the species
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Article Reference TYPE-MAASTRICHTIAN GASTROPOD FAUNAS SHOW RAPID ECOSYSTEM RECOVERY FOLLOWING THE CRETACEOUS–PALAEOGENE BOUNDARY CATASTROPHE
The study of the global mass extinction event at the Cretaceous–Palaeogene (K/Pg) boundary can aid in understanding patterns of selective extinction, and survival and dynamics of ecosystem recovery. Outcrops in the Maastrichtian type area (south-east Netherlands, north-east Belgium) comprise a stratigraphically expanded K/Pg boundary succession that offers a unique opportunity to study marine ecosystem recovery within the first few thousand years following the mass extinction event. A quantitative analysis was performed on systematically sampled macrofossils of the topmost Maastrichtian and lowermost Danian strata at the former Ankerpoort-Curfs quarry (Geulhem), which represent ‘snapshots’ of the latest Cretaceous and earliest Palaeogene marine ecosystems, respectively. Molluscs in particular are diverse and abundant in the studied succession. Regional ecosystem changes across the K/Pg boundary are relatively minor, showing a decline in suspension feeders, accompanied by an ecological shift to endobenthic molluscs. The earliest Paleocene gastropod assemblage retains many ‘Maastrichtian’ features and documents a fauna that temporarily survived into the Danian. The shallow, oligotrophic carbonate platform in this area was inhabited by taxa that were adapted to low nutrient levels and resistant to starvation. As a result, the local taxa were less affected by the short-lived detrimental conditions related to K/Pg boundary perturbations, such as darkness, cooling, starvation and ocean acidification. This resulted in relatively high survival rates, which enabled rapid recolonization and recovery of marine faunas in the Maastrichtian type area
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Article Reference C source code Organic matter processing in a [simulated] offshore wind farm ecosystem in current and future climate and aquaculture scenarios
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023 OA
Article Reference Pleuropholis germinalis n. sp. a new Pleuropholidae (Neopterygii, Teleostei) from the Early Cretaceous of Bernissart, Belgium
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022
Article Reference The Impact of the Honeybee Apis mellifera on the Organization of Pollination Networks Is Positively Related with Its Interactive Role throughout Its Geographic Range
Abstract: Studies at local spatial scales have shown that the generalist honeybee Apis mellifera L. can strongly affect the structural organization and properties of pollination networks. However, there is still little knowledge on how the connectivity of the honeybee within networks (i.e., interactive role) could affect pollination networks at a global scale. To fill this gap, we evaluated how the interactive role of A. mellifera could affect niche overlap, specialization, and robustness of pollination networks. We used 109 weighted pollination networks spread across about 94 degrees of latitude and 227 degrees of longitude. We developed a new standardized framework based on species removal to assess the impact of the honeybee on plant-pollinator networks. We found that when the honeybee was removed from the networks, plant species had less niche overlap (i.e., shared fewer interactions via their pollinators) and the networks became more specialized and more robust to species extinctions. Our findings indicate that A. mellifera’s effects on pollination networks vary geographically and could influence several ecological and evolutionary factors acting at local scales, including pollination services. We hope this contribution will stimulate new macroecological studies involving abundant and generalist species and their functional roles within ecological communities.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022
Article Reference ATLANTIC ANTS: a data set of ants in Atlantic Forests of South America
Abstract Ants, an ecologically successful and numerically dominant group of animals, play key ecological roles as soil engineers, predators, nutrient recyclers, and regulators of plant growth and reproduction in most terrestrial ecosystems. Further, ants are widely used as bioindicators of the ecological impact of land use. We gathered information of ant species in the Atlantic Forest of South America. The ATLANTIC ANTS data set, which is part of the ATLANTIC SERIES data papers, is a compilation of ant records from collections (18,713 records), unpublished data (29,651 records), and published sources (106,910 records; 1,059 references), including papers, theses, dissertations, and book chapters published from 1886 to 2020. In total, the data set contains 153,818 ant records from 7,636 study locations in the Atlantic Forest, representing 10 subfamilies, 99 genera, 1,114 ant species identified with updated taxonomic certainty, and 2,235 morphospecies codes. Our data set reflects the heterogeneity in ant records, which include ants sampled at the beginning of the taxonomic history of myrmecology (the 19th and 20th centuries) and more recent ant surveys designed to address specific questions in ecology and biology. The data set can be used by researchers to develop strategies to deal with different macroecological and region-wide questions, focusing on assemblages, species occurrences, and distribution patterns. Furthermore, the data can be used to assess the consequences of changes in land use in the Atlantic Forest on different ecological processes. No copyright restrictions apply to the use of this data set, but we request that authors cite this data paper when using these data in publications or teaching events.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022
Article Reference Koristocetus pescei gen. et sp. nov., a diminutive sperm whale (Cetacea: Odontoceti: Kogiidae) from the late Miocene of Peru
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
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