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Article Reference New deep-sea Atlantic and Antarctic species of Abyssorchomene De Broyer, 1984 (Amphipoda, Lysianassoidea, Uristidae) with a redescription of A. abyssorum (Stebbing, 1888)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022
Inproceedings Reference New diverse Early Eocene snake assemblage from Tadkeschwar Lignite Mine, Western India
A diverse snake fauna has been described from the early Eocene Cambay Formation of the Vastan lignite mine, Gujarat, western India, among which early colubroid caenophidians were the most remarkable. Here we describe a new snake assemblage from the approximately contemporary nearby Tadkeshwar mine situated about 10 km southwest of Vastan. As at Vastan, the material from Tadkeshwar is represented only by vertebrae. There are several species in common with Vastan, such as the small madtsoiid gen. et sp. indet. that possesses a haemal keel, the co-occurring palaeophiids Palaeophis sp. and Pterosphenus sp., the same indeterminate boid, and Thaumastophis missiaeni (Caenophidia incertae sedis). However, the most abundant snakes in Tadkeshwar are the madtsoiids. Among them is a new giant madtsoiid that exhibits morphology broadly similar to Gigantophis and Madtsoia. However, it differs in having dorso-ventrally compressed vertebrae with oval cotyles and condyles and a strong notch on the posterior part of the neural arch. The major axis of the prezygapophysis is transverse in dorsal aspect and the parapophysis is very developed and extends beyond the lateral extremity of the prezygapophysis. The haemal keel is absent. While the composition of the Tadkeshwar fauna, like that from Vastan, is reminiscent of the early Eocene of Europe, the large madtsoiid suggests a Gondwanan paleogeographic origin. Indeed, such large madtsoiids are known only from the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene of South America, Africa and the Indian subcontinent, and the late Paleogene and Neogene of Australia. More importantly, the snake assemblage from Tadkeshwar indicates that Laurasian taxa of European affinities were still mixed with relict taxa from Gondwana during the early Eocene before or near the India-Asia collision. Grant Information National Geographic Society, Leakey Foundation, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Belgian Science Policy Office
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inproceedings Reference New earliest Eocene mammal fauna from Clairoix, France: first definitive Dormaal (reference level MP7) equivalent outside of Belgium
The rich earliest Eocene mammal assemblage of Dormaal in northeast Belgium has yielded most of the earliest modern mammals of Europe and is the the reference-level for MP7 in the Mammalian Biochronological Scale of the European Paleogene. Despite the fact that several other localities in Europe, such as Silveirinha in Portugal, Le Quesnoy, Pourcy, Sotteville-sur-Mer, Rians, Palette, and Fordones in France, and the Suffolk Pebble Beds in England, contain faunas that have been correlated to Dormaal, none of them preserve the same fauna as Dormaal with the exception of Erquelinnes in southwest Belgium. Here we describe the new vertebrate site of Clairoix, located only 13 km from Le Quesnoy in the Paris Basin, France, but 225 km southwest of Dormaal. About 150 kilograms of sandy matrix has produced a collection of about 400 vertebrate specimens including 118 isolated mammal teeth. The fauna is composed of the following typical MP7 species: the herpetotheriid marsupial Peratherium constans, the amphilemurid erinaceomorph Macrocranion vandebroeki, the hyaenodonts Arfia gingerichi and Prototomus minimus, the carnivoraforms Dormaalocyon latouri and Gracilocyon solei, and the omomyid primate Teilhardina belgica. Besides these index taxa, the arctocyonid Landenodon woutersi, the louisinid “condylarths” Paschatherium dolloi and Paschatherium yvetteae, a perissodactyl, and several rodents also are present at Clairoix. As in Dormaal, the relative abundance analysis of the species from Clairoix indicates that P. dolloi and P. yvetteae are the most abundant species, followed by M. vandebroeki and T. belgica, respectively. In term of number of specimens, Paschatherium represents more than 50% of the fauna, which corresponds to the acme of Paschatherium defined across the Paleocene–Eocene boundary in continental Europe. The composition and relative abundance of the mammal fauna of Clairoix are very similar to those of Dormaal and Erquelinnes and suggest a similar or very close age. The results of this work also suggest that the mammal assemblage of these three localities does not only correspond to a different paleoenvironment than that of other MP7 correlated faunas but also to an older age closer to the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. Fish, frog, lizard, crocodilomorph, and snake remains were also collected and support a fluvial paleoenvironment at Clairoix. Grant Information This research was supported by the BRGM ‘Régolithe’ Scientific Program and the Belgian Science Policy Office (project BR/121/A3/PalEurAfrica).
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Article Reference New Early and Middle Eocene calcareous nannoplankton events and correlations in middle to high latitudes of the northern hemisphere.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inproceedings Reference New Early Eocene mammal assemblage from Tadkeshwar Lignite Mine, Western India
The Ypresian Cambay Formation at Vastan and Mangrol mines in Gujarat, western India, has yielded a rich vertebrate fauna with a large proportion of small to middle-sized mammal taxa of European affinities. Here we report a new, approximately contemporary mammal assemblage from the nearby mine of Tadkeshwar. Two fossil layers have been discovered. The older one is a grey clayey sand situated a few meters above the lower major lignite seam and represents a fluvial deposit. The younger layer is a lenticular dark clayey silt, lignitic and rich in organic remains situated just below the upper major lignite seam. This younger layer is sedimentologically similar to the famous fossiliferous lenses known from Vastan. These two fossil layers have yielded a mammal fauna similar to that of Vastan with the co-occurrence of the perissodactyl-like cambaytheriid Cambaytherium thewissi, the adapoid primates Marcgodinotius indicus and Asiadapis cambayensis, and the hyaenodontid Indohyaenodon raoi. The presence of these species in both mines and at different levels suggests that the deposits between the two major lignite seams represent a single mammal age. Apart from the aforementioned classic species there are at least two new species. A new smaller but abundant cambaytheriid is represented by upper and lower jaws, many isolated teeth and postcranial bones. A new esthonychid tillodont is described based on a dentary with m3, an isolated m2, two upper molars and two lower incisors. This new fauna from Tadkeshwar also contains the first large early Eocene vertebrates from India including an unidentified perissodactyl-like ungulate, a mesosuchian dyrosaurid-like crocodiliform and a giant madtsoiid snake. This latter group is particularly diversified in Tadkeshwar. Among the Tadkeshwar vertebrates, several taxa are of Gondwanan affinities attesting that the early Eocene was a crucial period in India during which Laurasian taxa of European affinities coexisted with relict taxa from Gondwana before the India-Asia collision. Grant Information Fieldwork and research supported by National Geographic Society, Leakey Foundation, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Belgian Science Policy Office.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference New equations for the size reconstruction of sturgeon from isolated cranial and pectoral girdle bones
Measurements on cranial and pectoral girdle bones of 56 museum specimens of modern sturgeon (Acipenser sturio and A. oxyrinchus) were used for the establishment of regression equations allowing back-calculation of size from isolated sturgeon remains. Different curve fittings (power, linear, logarithmic and exponential fit) were modeled to retain the most accurate regression. These were then applied to archaeological sturgeon remains (A. sturio/A. oxyrinchus) from Vlaardingen, a Dutch late Neolithic settlement. The back-calculated lengths ob- tained on the archaeological remains all stayed within the known size ranges of the two species and allowed making inferences on the possible place of capture of the fish. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key words: Acipenser oxyrinchus; Acipenser sturio; archaeozoology; body length estimations; osteometry; Sturgeon
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference New euprimate postcrania from the early Eocene of Gujarat, India, and the strepsirrhineehaplorhine divergence
The oldest primates of modern aspect (euprimates) appear abruptly on the Holarctic continents during a brief episode of global warming known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, at the beginning of the Eocene (~56 Ma). When they first appear in the fossil record, they are already divided into two distinct clades, Adapoidea (basal members of Strepsirrhini, which includes extant lemurs, lorises, and bushbabies) and Omomyidae (basal Haplorhini, which comprises living tarsiers, monkeys, and apes). Both groups have recently been discovered in the early Eocene Cambay Shale Formation of Vastan lignite mine, Gujarat, India, where they are known mainly from teeth and jaws. The Vastan fossils are dated at ~54.5 Myr based on associated dinoflagellates and isotope stratigraphy. Here, we describe new, exquisitely preserved limb bones of these Indian primates that reveal more primitive postcranial characteristics than have been previously documented for either clade, and differences between them are so minor that in many cases we cannot be certain to which group they belong. Nevertheless, the small distinctions observed in some elements foreshadow postcranial traits that distinguish the groups by the middle Eocene, suggesting that the Vastan primatesdthough slightly younger than the oldest known euprimatesdmay represent the most primitive known remnants of the divergence between the two great primate clades.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Article Reference New evidence from a Roman context in Belgium for fish sauce locally produced in northern Gaul
Fish remains from a mid-2nd century AD context at Tienen (Belgium) are believed to represent the remains of a fish sauce produced in northern Gaul. The observed species spectrum, the reconstructed sizes of the fish, and modern data on the abundance, geographical distribution and size of fish in the surf zone of the Belgian coast and in the estuary of the Scheldt basin, together indicate that the species present in the sauce were captured in the upper reaches of an estuary. Using similar reference data it was also possible to establish that the fish were caught during spring or early summer. After a discussion of the possible fish catching methods used in estuaries during Roman times, the assemblage from Tienen is compared to other Roman finds of locally produced fish sauce that have been reported thus far from sites in Great Britain and Belgium.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference New evidence of the emergence of the East Asian monsoon in the early Palaeogene
Previous palaeoenvironmental reconstructions have implied that East Asia was dominated by a zonal climate pattern during the Eocene, with an almost latitudinal arid/semiarid band at ~ 30° N. However, this long-standing model has recently been challenged by growing body of multidisciplinary evidence. Some studies indicated that central China was characterized by climatic fluctuations between humid and drier conditions during the Early Eocene, akin to the present East Asian monsoon (EAM) regime. Using palynological assemblages in the Tantou Basin, central China, we quantitatively reconstructed climate changes from the Late Palaeocene to Early Eocene to better understand climate change in central China. Palynological assemblages revealed that the coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest in this area received no less than 800 mm of annual precipitation and experienced a climate change from warm and wet to relatively cool and dry. According to palaeoclimate curves, a sudden climate change occurred in the Early Eocene, with the mean annual temperature and precipitation decreasing by 5.1 °C and 214.8 mm, respectively, and the climate became very similar to the present climate, which is controlled by the monsoon. Therefore, this significant climate change during the Early Eocene may signal the emergence of the EAM in East Asia.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022 OA
Article Reference New fossils from Tadkeshwar Mine (Gujarat, India) increase primate diversity from the early Eocene Cambay Shale
Several new fossil specimens from the Cambay Shale Formation at Tadkeshwar Lignite Mine in Gujarat document the presence of two previously unknown early Eocene primate species from India. A new species of Asiadapis is named based on a jaw fragment preserving premolars similar in morphology to those of A. cambayensis but substantially larger. Also described is an exceptionally preserved edentulous dentary (designated cf. Asiadapis, unnamed sp. nov.) that is slightly larger and much more robust than previously known Cambay Shale primates. Its anatomy most closely resembles that of Eocene adapoids, and the dental formula is the same as in A. cambayensis. A femur and calcaneus are tentatively allocated to the same taxon. Although the dentition is unknown, exquisite preservation of the dentary of cf. Asiadapis sp. nov. enables an assessment of masticatory musculature, function, and gape adaptations, as well as comparison with an equally well-preserved dentary of the asiadapid Marcgodinotius indicus, also from Tadkeshwar. The new M. indicus specimen shows significant gape adaptations but was probably capable of only weak bite force, whereas cf. Asiadapis sp. nov. probably used relatively smaller gapes but could generate relatively greater bite forces.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018