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Article Reference Endocranial anatomy and phylogenetic position of the crocodylian Eosuchus lerichei from the late Paleocene of northwestern Europe and potential adaptations for transoceanic dispersal in gavialoids
Eosuchus lerichei is a gavialoid crocodylian from late Paleocene marine deposits of northwestern Europe, known from a skull and lower jaws, as well as postcrania. Its sister taxon relationship with the approximately contemporaneous species Eosuchus minor from the east coast of the USA has been explained through transoceanic dispersal, indicating a capability for salt excretion that is absent in extant gavialoids. However, there is currently no anatomical evidence to support marine adaptation in extinct gavialoids. Furthermore, the placement of Eosuchus within Gavialoidea is labile, with some analyses supporting affinities with the Late Cretaceous to early Paleogene “thoracosaurs.” Here we present novel data on the internal and external anatomy of the skull of E. lerichei that enables a revised diagnosis, with 6 autapormorphies identified for the genus and 10 features that enable differentiation of the species from Eosuchus minor. Our phylogenetic analyses recover Eosuchus as an early diverging gavialid gavialoid that is not part of the “thoracosaur” group. In addition to thickened semi-circular canal walls of the endosseous labyrinth and paratympanic sinus reduction, we identify potential osteological correlates for salt glands in the internal surface of the prefrontal and lacrimal bones of E. lerichei. These salt glands potentially provide anatomical evidence for the capability of transoceanic dispersal within Eosuchus, and we also identify them in the Late Cretaceous “thoracosaur” Portugalosuchus. Given that the earliest diverging and stratigraphically oldest gavialoids either have evidence for a nasal salt gland and/or have been recovered from marine deposits, this suggests the capacity for salt excretion might be ancestral for Gavialoidea. Mapping osteological and geological evidence for marine adaptation onto a phylogeny indicates that there was probably more than one independent loss/reduction in the capacity for salt excretion in gavialoids.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024 OA
Article Reference The cranium and dentition of Khirtharia (Artiodactyla, Raoellidae): new data on a stem taxon to Cetacea
Raoellid mammals are small artiodactyls from the Eocene of Asia, hypothesized to be closely related to stem Cetacea. Knowledge of the cranial and dental morphology of Raoellidae comes mostly from one species, Indohyus indirae. Here we describe new material of another raoellid genus, Khirtharia, based on material retrieved from the Kalakot area, Jammu and Kashmir. This new material, comprising an almost complete, lightly deformed cranium and a partial snout with associated partial mandible, greatly adds to our knowledge of raoellid morphology. It highlights the similarity of cranial characters with Indohyus, such as a long snout with raptorial incisors, a thick and narrow supraorbital region, a strong postorbital constriction, a triangular shaped braincase, and a thickened medial wall to the auditory bulla (involucrum). The new specimen is similar to Indohyus cranially but differs dentally in being more bunodont. The presence of these traits in two different raoellid genera suggests they may be present more broadly across Raoellidae. These characters are also observed in early cetaceans, highlighting the need to investigate their phylogenetic impact. Some cranial features support aquatic habits of members of this family.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024 OA
Article Reference The bats of the Congo and of Rwanda and Burundi Revisited (Mammalia: Chiroptera)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference The complete phylogeny of extant pangolins: scaling up the molecular tracing of the most trafficked mammals on earth
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference Genetic turnovers and northern survival during the last glacial maximum in European brown bears
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018
Article Reference Consequences of past climate change and recent human persecution on mitogenomic diversity in the arctic fox
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Article Reference Ancient DNA suggests modern wolves trace their origin to a Late Pleistocene expansion from Beringia
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Article Reference Penaeus aztecus Ives, 1891 (Crustacea, Decapoda), in the Scheldt estuary (Belgium): Isolated record or forerunner of a penaeid invasion?
A single specimen of the penaeid prawn Penaeus aztecus (Ives, 1891) was recorded in 2018 in the brackish zone of the Scheldt estuary near Antwerp (Belgium). The presence of this species, native to the West Atlantic, might result either from ships' ballast water coming from transatlantic boat shipping, from illegal import or from a considerable expansion leap northwards from the Mediterranean Sea, where this species has recently established and now has rapidly expanding invasive populations.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference Integrative taxonomy of giant crested Eusirus in the Southern Ocean, including the description of a new species (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Eusiridae)
Among Antarctic amphipods of the genus Eusirus, a highly distinctive clade of giant species is characterized by a dorsal, blade-shaped tooth on pereionites 5–7 and pleonites 1–3. This lineage, herein named ‘crested Eusirus’, includes two potential species complexes, the Eusirus perdentatus and Eusirus giganteus complexes, in addition to the more distinctive Eusirus propeperdentatus. Molecular phylogenies and statistical parsimony networks (COI, CytB and ITS2)of crested Eusirus are herein reconstructed. This study aims to formally revise species diversity within crested Eusirus by applying several species delimitation methods (Bayesian implementation of the Poisson tree processes model, general mixed Yule coalescent, multi-rate Poisson tree processes and automatic barcode gap discovery) on the resulting phylogenies. In addition, results from the DNA-based methods are benchmarked against a detailed morphological analysis of all available specimens of the E. perdentatus complex. Our results indicate that species diversity of crested Eusirus is underestimated. Overall, DNA-based methods suggest that the E. perdentatus complex is composed of three putative species and that the E. giganteus complex includes four or five putative species. The morphological analysis of available specimens from the E. perdentatus complex corroborates molecular results by identifying two differentiable species, the genuine E. perdentatus and a new species, herein described as Eusirus pontomedon sp. nov. ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: alpha taxonomy – cryptic species – genetics – molecular systematics – phylogenetic systematics.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference Miocene stratigraphy and vertebrate paleontology along the western side of Cerros Cadena de los Zanjones (East Pisco Basin, Peru)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025