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A diverse bird assemblage from the Ypresian of Belgium furthers knowledge of Early Eocene avifaunas of the North Sea Basin
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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.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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A diverse snake fauna from the early Eocene of Vastan Lignite Mine, Gujarat, India
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RBINS Staff Publications
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A DNA-based approach to validate the identification of exotic mosquito species in Belgium
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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A double-sided ivory comb with two animal pursuit scenes from a 6th century CE burial at Deiningen, Germany
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In the Roman world, as in many other cultures, ivory was perceived as raw material suitable for the carving of prestigious personal items. The types of Roman and Late Antique carved ivory objects that survived as well as their quantity and stylistic range is probably a result of their preservation contexts as well as their appreciation and sometimes ongoing use in later epochs. Regarding ivory combs decorated with bas-relief carvings, only nine specimens are ascribed to the Mediterranean and NW-Europe during Late Antiquity, all exclusively present biblical iconography. Information about their origin, object history and age is usually very limited. The first evidence that hunting scenes were still part of the ivory carving tradition in Late Antiquity is provided by a comb discovered in a mid-6th-century male inhumation burial at Deiningen, Nördlinger Ries. In addition to stylistic and technological comparison, SEM-imaging, ZooMS, ancient DNA (aDNA) sequencing and 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios were applied to identify the species and possible origin. While size and structure point toward Loxodonta africana as a likely source, poor preservation of the material hindered more refined results by ZooMS or aDNA analyses and consequently a precise triangulation of the source area in combination with the strontium isotope ratios. Besides being a singular piece of craftsmanship, the ivory comb fits into an assumed network of production and distribution that spanned from Northern Africa to the Frankish realm north of the Alps.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2026
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A dynamic 2DH flocculation model for coastal domains
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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A euenantiornithine bird from the Late Cretaceous Hateg Basin of Romania
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RBINS Staff Publications
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A European monsoon-like climate in a warmhouse world
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The middle Eocene warmhouse period (45 million years ago) featured atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations equivalent to those projected under high future emission scenarios. Seasonal- to weather timescale climate reconstructions from this period can provide critical insight into the impact of Anthropogenic warming on intra-annual variability in temperature and precipitation. Here, we combine daily-scale reconstructions of the evolution of temperature and the water cycle in western Europe based on stable oxygen and clumped isotope analyses on the fastest-growing gastropod known in the fossil record: Campanile giganteum. Our dataset shows that the middle Eocene of western Europe featured monsoon-like conditions, with seawater temperatures of ˊ24 °C during mild and wet winters, 30 °C during hot and dry spring and autumn seasons, and ˊ28 °C during warm and comparatively wet summers. Coupled climate model simulations using the Community Earth System Model indicate these seasonal variations in temperature and precipitation were driven by shifting atmospheric and oceanic circulation regimes over Western Europe, with winds from different directions bringing distinct waters to the region and minimal wind during spring reducing cooling through diminished latent heat flux. Our results highlight that Europe may experience wetter summers with more frequent extreme rainfall events under future high emissions scenarios.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025 OA
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A first glimpse into the biogeographic affinities of the shallow benthic communities from the sub-Antarctic Crozet archipelago
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Sub-Antarctic islands are expected to show a high degree of endemicity due to their remoteness. However, biogeographic affinities in the sub-Antarctic remain poorly understood, especially in the marine realm. Sub-Antarctic islands being at the crossroads between Antarctic and cold temperate regions, biodiversity characterization and biogeographic analyses are a priority for monitoring and rapidly assessing variations associated with environmental changes. One underexplored sub-Antarctic area is Crozet, a protected archipelago located halfway between Antarctica and South Africa. In this study, we investigated the shallow-water Crozet macrofaunal diversity, distribution patterns and biogeographic affinities based on the examination of fieldwork specimens via a thorough morphological identification and a genetic characterisation. The resulting dataset provides an important baseline for further studies and conservation strategies, compiling the first genetic and taxonomic database for the Crozet archipelago. In total, 100 morphotypes were found, belonging to nine different phyla, among whicharthropods(32), molluscs (18)and echinoderms (17) were the richest. Forty-seven morphotypes were identified to the species level, among which 20 were reported in Crozet for the first time. This confirms that Crozet is a poorly known region, even compared to other sub-Antarctic areas. A large proportion of species (62%) had circum Southern Ocean or circum sub Antarctic distributions. These species were mostly shared with Kerguelen (72%), the Magellan Province (64%), and Prince Edward Islands (64%), confirming the patterns found in macroalgae and specific macrofaunal groups. However, this large-distribution statement needs to be counterbalanced by the detection (genetic data) of more restricted distributions than expected in four study cases (the tanaid Apseudes spectabilis, the nudibranch Doris kerguelenensis, the polychaete Neanthes kerguelensis and the chiton Hemiarthrum setulosum). Considering that most morphotypes had no genetic data available from other regions, the proportion of morphotypes with restricted distribution is likely to increase alongside future investigations. In addition, we also found a few cases of unrecognized diversity that might lead to the descriptions of new species, some likely to be endemic to Crozet (e.g., within the polychaete genus Harmothoe and the bryozoan genus Antarctothoa). Altogether, this stresses the need to maintain conservation efforts in Crozet and pursue integrative investigations in order to highlight and protect its unusual diversity
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
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A first, local DNA barcode reference database of the forensically important flies (Diptera) of the island of La Reunion
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RBINS Staff Publications 2017
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A forest fire and soil erosion event during the Late Devonian mass extinction
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RBINS Staff Publications
