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Article Reference Along the Mekong: a new leaf-toed gecko (Gekkonidae: Dixonius sambhupura) from northeastern Cambodia
We describe Dixonius sambhupura sp. nov. from the western bank and Koh Klap (island) of the lower Mekong River in Kratie Province, northeastern Cambodia. The new species differs from all currently recognized Dixonius by the following combination of morphological characters and pattern: maximal known snout-vent length of 49.0 mm, 14 or 16 longitudinal rows of dorsal tubercles; 34 to 37 paravertebral tubercles; 24 to 27 longitudinal rows of ventral scales across the abdomen; six precloacal pores in males, no pores in females; no marked canthal stripe; strongly barred lips; and a spotted to blotched dorsal pattern in adult males and females. We provide a cranial osteological description and a phylogenetic analysis of the new species. The discovery of this new species endemic to Cambodia brings the number of recognized Dixonius species to 20.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2026
Article Reference Ammonite extinction and nautilid survival at the end of the Cretaceous
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Ammonites from the Dababiya Quarry Corehole: Taxonomic notes and age assessment
We describe a small collection of ammonites from the Dababiya Quarry corehole. It is almost entirely composed of heteromorph ammonites, in particular of scaphitids and baculitids. The presence of Indoscaphites pavana (Forbes 1848),which is for the first time reported from Egypt, points to a late to possibly latest Maastrichtian age for the interval DBD 80.36–DBD 99.11 of the Dababiya Quarry core. This is corroborated by preliminary data on planktonic foraminifera.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inbook Reference Ammonites from the Dababiya Quarry Corehole: Taxonomic notes and age assessment.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Amphibians and squamate reptiles from the late Pleistocene of the “Caverne Marie-Jeanne” (Hastière-Lavaux, Namur, Belgium): Systematics, paleobiogeography, and paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental reconstructions
Archeological sites usually provide important information about the past distribution ofsmall vertebrate fauna, and by extension about past terrestrial environments and climatein which human activities took place. In this context, Belgium has an interesting location innorthwestern Europe between the fully studied zooarcheological records of Germany andEngland. We present here the revision of the late Pleistocene (Marine Isotope Stages 3 and 2)collection of the “Caverne Marie-Jeanne” (Hastière-Lavaux, Namur), studied by Jean-ClaudeRage in the 1970s and the revision of the whole “indeterminate” small vertebrate materialsfrom the “Caverne Marie-Jeanne” stored in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences(RBINS) Quaternary collections in search of more herpetofaunal remains. It is now by farthe largest late Pleistocene collection at RBINS with more than 20,500 recognized bonesof amphibians and reptiles and covering the last 60,000 years. The faunal list comprisestwo urodeles (Lissotriton gr. L. vulgaris and Salamandra salamandra), four anurans (Bufo gr.B. bufo-spinosus, Epidalea calamita, Rana temporaria and Rana cf. R. arvalis), three lizards(Lacerta cf. L. agilis, Zootoca vivipara and Anguis gr. A. fragilis), and three snakes (Natrix gr.N. natrix, Coronella austriaca, and Vipera berus). This study represents the first fossil record in Belgium for L. gr. L. vulgaris, R. arvalis, Z. vivipara, N. gr. N. natrix and C. austriaca. As awhole, this assemblage suggests a patchy humid landscape under colder and dryer climaticconditions in comparison with present ones. This study also underlines the necessity of aprimary separation in larger taxonomical categories by the specialist itself.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Inproceedings Reference Amphibians and Squamates from the Late Pleistocene of Caverne Marie-Jeanne (Belgium)
Archaeological sites usually provide important information about the past distribution of the small vertebrate fauna, and by extension about past terrestrial environments and climate in which human activities took place. In this context, Belgium has an interesting location in North-western Europe between the well-studied zooarchaeological record of Germany and England. The Late Pleistocene (Marine Isotope Stages 3 and 2) locality of Caverne Marie-Jeanne (southeast of Belgium, Ardennes region) yielded a large collection of disarticulated bone fragments and numerous plant, mollusk, and archaeological remains. They have been collected during the first field campaign in 1943 and stored in the Quaternary collections of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. A recent revision of the rich micromammal fauna (31 taxa of insectivores, bats, and rodents among 9897 identified specimens, corresponding to a minimum of 4980 individuals) revealed the presence of the steppe lemming and the European pine vole. We present here the revision of the herpetofauna based on the 1970 Jean-Claude Rage’s study and the revision of the “indeterminate” small vertebrate specimens. It is now by far the largest Late Pleistocene collection of the Belgian institute with more than 20,500 recognized bones of amphibians and reptiles and covering the last 60,000 years. The herpetofaunal list now comprises two urodeles (Lissotriton gr. L. vulgaris and Salamandra salamandra), four anurans (Bufo gr. B. bufo-spinosus, Epidalea calamita, Rana temporaria and Rana cf. R. arvalis), three lizards (Lacerta cf. L. agilis, Zootoca vivipara and Anguis gr. A. fragilis) and three snakes (Natrix gr. N. natrix-astreptophora, Coronella austriaca and Vipera berus). This study highlights the first fossil record in Belgium for L. gr. L. vulgaris, R. arvalis, Z. vivipara, N. gr. N. natrix-astretophora and C. austriaca. This assemblage suggests a patchy humid landscape under colder and dryer climatic conditions in comparison with present ones. The study also underlines the importance to carefully reexamine old collections. Grant Information: Grant 2017-SGR-859 (Gov. of Catalonia, AGAUR), CGL2016-80000-P (Spanish Min. of Econ. & Comp.), RYC-2016-19386 (Ramón y Cajal), Synthesys BE-TAF-4385, -5469, -5468, -5708.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Article Reference Amplified seasonality in western Europe in a warmer world
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Article Reference Amplified warming and marine heatwaves in the North Sea under a warming climate and their impacts
The northeast Atlantic and adjacent regions, such as the North Sea, are among the fastest-warming areas in the world. However, the role of climate change and internal variability in marine heatwaves (MHWs) in this region remains poorly understood. This study aims to quantify the relevant changes in sea surface temperature (SST) and MHWs in the North Sea, as well as to identify the leading patterns of interannual MHW variability over more than 4 decades (1982–2024). Our results indicated a new regime shift in the annual mean SST in the North Sea since 2013. Therefore, we examined the relationships between MHW trends and long-term sea surface warming trends to quantify the role of climate change in the intensification of MHWs. We found that the increase in MHWs is related to the significant decadal change in SST over the North Sea and we have revealed that large-scale climate modes, such as the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and the East Atlantic Pattern, play a crucial role in this decadal change in SST. In particular, the SST trend has doubled in the post-2013 period (0.8 °C per decade), compared with the pre-2013 period (0.4 °C per decade), leading to longer and more frequent MHWs. The SST, MHW frequency, and MHW days increased significantly by 0.38 °C per decade, 1.04 events per decade, and 17.27 d per decade, respectively, over the entire study period. After removing the long-term sea surface warming trend before MHW detection, all MHW features exhibited insignificant trends, indicating that the long-term SST trend is the primary driver of the observed long-term MHW trend in the North Sea region, thereby confirming the crucial role of mean SST changes in MHWs in this region. Furthermore, we found that 80 % of the observed trend in MHW frequency is attributed to long-term warming, while the rest is attributed to internal variability. The SST record in May 2024, manifest by the longest (27 d) and most intense (2.2 °C) MHW event, is attributed to an anomalous anticyclonic atmospheric circulation over the Baltic Sea and southern Norway, which enhanced solar radiation over the North Sea. Finally, we also investigated how the chlorophyll a concentration responded to the MHW, revealing a decrease in the deep and cold-water regions of the northern North Sea and an increase in the shallow and warm-water areas of the southern North Sea.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025
Article Reference Amurosaurus riabinini, a Late Cretaceous lambeosaurine dinosaur from Far Eastern Russia
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference An ailuravine rodent from the lower Eocene Cambay Formation at Vastan, western India, and its palaeobiogeographic implications
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications