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Article Reference Ostracod and rock facies across the Emsian/Eifelian boundary at Couvin (Dinant Synclinorium, Belgium)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference Osteology and relationships of Luxembourgichthys (« Pholidophorus ») friedeni gen. nov. (Teleostei, “Pholidophoriformes”) from the Lower Jurassic of Belgium and the Great Duchy of Luxemburg.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference An enigmatic new ungulate-like mammal from the early Eocene of India
We report a new genus and species of herbivorous mammal, Pahelia mysteriosa, from the early Eocene Cambay Shale Formation, Tadkeshwar Lignite Mine, Gujarat, India. The new taxon, approximately the size of a small phenacodontid (e.g. Ectocion parvus), is represented by three mandibular fragments, the most complete of which documents nearly the entire symphysis and mandibular body plus P3–M3. Pahelia has incipiently selenolophodont molars with strong exodaenodonty, absent paraconids, weak but distinct entolophids, and prominent ectostylids. Molar size increases distally, but M3 does not develop a prominent third lobe. Premolars are simple, with prominent protoconids and short talonids but little development of other trigonid cusps. The mandibular symphysis is strongly fused, and there is an enlarged alveolus for an anterior tooth. The combination of features present in the new taxon does not closely match that of any known mammal, but there are some similarities to a diversity of ungulates from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. Preserved morphology is insufficient to assess the affinities of the new taxon with confidence, but a link to Quettacyonidae, also endemic to the Indian subcontinent, is morphologically and biogeographically plausible. If this scenario is correct, it suggests that P. mysteriosa could be a part of the endemic mammalian fauna of India prior to its initial faunal contact with Asia.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018
Article Reference A well-preserved pelvis from the Maastrichtian of Romania suggests that the enigmatic Gargantuavis is neither an ornithurine bird nor an insular endemic
We describe a well-preserved pelvis from the Maastrichtian S^anpetru Formation of the Hat¸ eg Basin in Romania. The fossil closely resembles the pelvis of Gargantuavis philoinos from the Ibero-Armorican Peninsula, but differs in a smaller size and a few morphological features. It constitutes the first record of Gargantuavis outside the Ibero-Armorican Island and is more complete than any of the previously known Gargantuavis pelves. The new fossil allows the recognition of characteristics previously unknown for Gargantuavis. These include the presence of large supratrochanteric processes, the absence of a widened midsection of the synsacrum (which indicates the absence of a glycogen body), and the absence of fusion between the pelvic bones at the level of the acetabulum. The latter two features suggest that Gargantuavis is not closely related to the Ornithurae and the taxon may even fall outside the Ornithothoraces, the clade including Enantiornithes and Ornithuromorpha. Recognition of Gargantuavis in the fauna of the Hat¸ eg Island is of particular significance, because various theropods have been described from the Upper Cretaceous of Romania. The Romanian pelvis is of similar size to Elopteryx nopcsai, which was described as avian and is based on hindlimb elements, and it also shows some similarities to the pelvis of the unusual theropod Balaur bondoc. The new fossil furthermore disproves the hypothesis that the flight capabilities of Gargantuavis were lost in an insular environment of the Ibero-Armorican Island, and raises the possibility that Gargantuavis, Elopteryx, and Balaur belong to a distinctive theropod clade of the Late Cretaceous European archipelago.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018
Article Reference A classic Late Frasnian chondrychtyan assemblage from southern Belgium
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference Off-shore enhanced oil recovery in the North Sea: The impact of price uncertainty on the investment decisions
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference Révision lithostratigraphique et biostratigraphique de l’Oligocène d’Aquitaine occidentale (France)
La stratigraphie de l’Oligocène d’Aquitaine occidentale est revue en synthétisant les données bibliographiques et en réexaminant 93 sondages, dont 60 sont datés à l’aide de foraminifères ou nannofossiles calcaires. La révision de ces sondages a permis de reconstituer l’évolution sédimentaire de l’Aquitaine occidentale en relation avec les évènements tectoniques correspondants. Les petits foraminifères benthiques ont permis d’estimer les variations de la tranche d’eau dans les coupes, qui s’étendent du domaine épibathyal jusqu’au domaine saumâtre. Environ 60 % des foraminifères présents au Priabonien disparaissent au cours de cet étage et à la limite Éocène/Oligocène. L’apparition et la disparition des espèces est progressive dans l’Oligocène, ce qui permet d’en utiliser certaines comme marqueurs pour la stratigraphie du Bassin d’Aquitaine. Les foraminifères du Bassin d’Aquitaine montrent de nombreuses affinités avec ceux de la Paratéthys centrale, indiquant que ces deux régions étaient interconnectées à cette époque par le détroit de Gibraltar et la zone bétique. Sept formations sont retenues dans l’Oligocène marin du Bassin de l’Adour, dont une nouvellement introduite (Formation de Capcosle d’âge Rupélien-Aquitanien) et deux redéfinies (Formation de Biarritz d’âge Rupélien inférieur et Formation d’Escornebéou d’âge Chattien supérieur) ; trois sont distinguées dans le domaine continental (les Formations de Jurançon et de Campagne puis celle de l’Agenais). L’Oligocène de la plate-forme nord-aquitaine comprend deux formations marines (la Formation de Bel-Air et la Formation du Calcaire à Astéries avec le Membre à Crassostrea longirostris à la base) et trois formations continentales (du bas vers le haut : les Formations du Fronsadais, de Castillon et de l’Agenais). Trois grandes aires sédimentaires se différencient au cours de l’Oligocène dans la région aquitaine. La première, entre Labenne et Arcachon, se caractérise par les dépôts à dominance argileuse, bathyaux, épais (jusqu’à 1700 m). La deuxième aire forme un arc de cercle autour de la première et représente la plate-forme avec des sédiments plus variés : calcaires bioclastiques, argiles et sables coquilliers de 400-500 m d’épaisseur. La troisième comprend les sédiments continentaux à l’est et au sud du bassin. Les événements tectoniques pyrénéens influencent la sédimentation, comme le montrent, en premier lieu, la transgression du Rupélien moyen, qui est plus importante au nord qu’au sud, tandis que le phénomène inverse s’observe au Rupélien supérieur, et, deuxièmement, les transgressions du Chattien inférieur et supérieur, qui sont conditionnées par la subsidence locale et la réactivation d’anciennes structures.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference The composite Kortrijk section (W Belgium): a key reference for mid-Ypresian (Early Eocene) stratigraphy in the southern North Sea Basin
The upper part of the Kortrijk Clay Formation (the Roubaix Clay and Aalbeke Clay Members of mid-Ypresian age) has been exposed in road and canal cuttings and clay quarries in the Kortrijk area (western Belgium), and penetrated by several cored boreholes. It is overlain disconformably by the Mont-Panisel Sand Member of the Hyon Sand Formation (upper middle Ypresian). The Roubaix Clay Member contains diverse and well-preserved calcareous nannofossils, dinoflagellate cysts, foraminifera, ostracods and other calcitic microfossils, and less well-preserved mollusc assemblages, while the Aalbeke Clay Member is secondarily decalcified. The calcareous nannofossil subdivision of upper NP11 and lower NP12 has been recognised in the Kortrijk area, and calibrated with the NW European mid-Ypresian dinoflagellate cyst, ostracod and planktonic foraminiferal zones and datums (e.g. Subbotina influx). Several medium-scale depositional sequences, with an estimated duration of 400 kyr or less, have been recorded. Their respective boundaries coincide with the resistivity maxima identified on the majority of the wireline log profiles of the Belgian Ypresian. Integrated biostratigraphic, magnetostratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic analysis enables correlation with other areas in Belgium, with the London Clay Formation of southern England, and with the standard chronostratigraphic scale. A marine erosion surface has been identified at the base of Unit 20 in the Kortrijk area (mid-Ypresian, early Biochron NP12, middle C24n.1n, ~ 52.8 Ma), corresponding to the first occurrence of estuarine channel-fill units in southern England. This indicates a brief but profound sea-level fall, either eustatically or tectonically controlled. The composite Kortrijk section is proposed as a reference section for the middle Ypresian in the southern North Sea Basin, and for similar settings in mid- to high-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere (e.g. Kazakhstan and Crimea).
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference Ypresian (early Eocene) stratigraphy of the Suvlu-Kaya reference section in the Bakhchisaray area (Crimea)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference Earliest Mysticete from the Late Eocene of Peru Sheds New Light on the Origin of Baleen Whales
Although combined molecular and morphological analyses point to a late middle Eocene (38–39 million years ago) origin for the clade Neoceti (Odontoceti, echolocating toothed whales plus Mysticeti, baleen whales, and relatives), the oldest knownmysticete fossil dates from the latest Eocene (about 34 million years ago) of Antarctica [1, 2]. Considering that the latter is not the most stemward mysticete in recent phylogenies and that Oligocene toothed mysticetes display a broad morphological disparity most likely corresponding to contrasted ecological niches, the origin of mysticetes from a basilosaurid ancestor and its drivers are currently poorly understood [1, 3–8]. Based on an articulated cetacean skeleton from the early late Eocene(Priabonian, around 36.4million years ago) of the Pisco Basin, Peru, we describe a new archaic tooth-bearing mysticete, Mystacodon selenensis gen. et sp. nov. Being the geologically oldest neocete (crown group cetacean) and the earliest mysticete to branch off described so far, the new taxon is interpreted as morphologically intermediate between basilosaurids and later toothed mysticetes, providing thus crucial information about the anatomy of the skull, forelimb, and innominate at these critical initial stages of mysticete evolution. Major changes in the morphology of the oral apparatus (including tooth wear) and flipper compared to basilosaurids suggest that suction and possibly benthic feeding represented key, early ecological traits accompanying the emergence of modern filter-feeding baleen whales’ ancestors.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017