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Article Reference New species and records of deep water muricids (Gastropoda: Muricidae) from Papua New Guinea
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Article Reference New species in the Old World: Europe as a frontier in biodiversity exploration, a test bed for 21st century taxonomy.
The number of described species on the planet is about 1.9 million, with ca. 17,000 new species described annually, mostly from the tropics. However, taxonomy is usually described as a science in crisis, lacking manpower and funding, a politically acknowledged problem known as the Taxonomic Impediment. Using data from the Fauna Europaea database and the Zoological Record, we show that contrary to general belief, developed and heavily-studied parts of the world are important reservoirs of unknown species. In Europe, new species of multicellular terrestrial and freshwater animals are being discovered and named at an unprecedented rate: since the 1950s, more than 770 new species are on average described each year from Europe, which add to the 125,000 terrestrial and freshwater multicellular species already known in this region. There is no sign of having reached a plateau that would allow for the assessment of the magnitude of European biodiversity. More remarkably, over 60\% of these new species are described by non-professional taxonomists. Amateurs are recognized as an essential part of the workforce in ecology and astronomy, but the magnitude of non-professional taxonomist contributions to alpha-taxonomy has not been fully realized until now. Our results stress the importance of developing a system that better supports and guides this formidable workforce, as we seek to overcome the Taxonomic Impediment and speed up the process of describing the planetary biodiversity before it is too late.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference New species of fast-running flies (Diptera: Empidoidea, Hybotidae, Tachydromiinae) from mangrove in Singapore.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference New species of Muricidae (Gastropoda) and additional or noteworthy records from the western Pacific.
Fourteen species of Muricidae referable to the (sub)genera Promurex Ponder & Vokes, 1988, Pygmaepterys Vokes, 1978, Murexsul Iredale, 1915, Pazinotus Vokes, 1970, Prototyphis Ponder, 1972, Ponderia Houart, 1986, Gemixystus Iredale, 1929, Leptotrophon Houart, 1995 and Scabrotrophon McLean, 1996 are reported from New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands and Taiwan, to depths down to 1750 m. Five new species are described: Favartia (Pygmaepterys) lifouensis n. sp. from New Caledonia with range extension to the Solomon Islands, Pazinotus chionodes n. sp. and Gemixystus calcareus n. sp. from New Caledonia, Leptotrophon wareni n. sp. from the Solomon Islands and Favartia (Pygmaepterys) circinata n. sp. from Taiwan.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference New species of Muricidae Rafinesque, 1815 (Mollusca: Gastropoda) from the Western Indian Ocean
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference New species of Platypalpus (Diptera: Hybotidae) from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference New species of Thinophilus Wahlberg (Diptera: Dolichopodidae) from mangroves in southern China (Shenzhen)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inproceedings Reference New specimens and CT data of the longirostrine crocodylian Thoracosaurus isorhynchus from the Maastrichtian of Mont-Aimé (Paris Basin, France)
Thoracosaurs are a polyphyletic group of Cretaceous–Paleogene longisrostrine crocodylians from Europe and North America. Traditionally perceived as gavialoids, phylogenetically closer to Gavialinae than to Tomistominae, they play a key role in the gharial problem: their old age and seemingly close relationship to Gavialinae is inconsistent with molecular clock estimates indicating a far younger origin of Gavialoidea. Moreover, the phylogenetic position of thoracosaurs is debated, as recent studies suggested thoracosaurs are non-crocodylian eusuchians instead. Here we describe thoracosaur material from Mont-Aimé, France, rediscovered in the collections of the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle de Lille. The Mont-Aimé is famous for its richness in fossil vertebrates, among which the longirostrine species Thoracosaurus isorhynchus (formerly T. macrorhynchus). Confusion about the age of the vertebrate layers has recently been solved, indicating that they are Maastrichtian in age instead of Danian. The new material most likely belongs to T. isorhynchus based on a flexure in the ectopterygoid–pterygoid suture, a distinctive character found in adults of this taxon. Our study reveals new characters not visible on previously known material. An example is the short posterior non-dentigerous process of the maxilla, a character shared with early Paleogene longirostrines and tomistomines but not with gavialines. Furthermore, microCT data of the skull reveal for the first time endocranial characters of this taxon, such as the presence of an internal recess in the parietal. Together with redescribed T. isorhynchus material from the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, this leads to an updated phylogenetic position of this taxon.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference New specimens of the mesonychid Dissacus praenuntius from the early Eocene of Wyoming and evaluation of body size through the PETM in North America
The Mesonychia is a group of archaic carnivorous mammals of uncertain phylogenetic affinities with a Holarctic distribution during the Paleogene. Intensive fossil collecting efforts in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, have resulted in recovery of the largest sample and most complete specimens yet known of the mesonychid Dissacus praenuntius from the second biozone of the Wasatchian North American Land Mammal Age (Wa-0). The Wa-0 biozone corresponds to the body of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a brief but intense global warming event that occurred ~56 myr ago that significantly impacted terrestrial mammal faunas, including dwarfing in many mammal lineages. To evaluate the potential response of this lineage to climate change, we compared the PETM sample of D. praenuntius with those recovered from just before the PETM in the last biozone of the Clarkforkian North American Land Mammal Age (Cf-3) and just after the PETM in the Wa-1 biozone. While the sample size is still too small to say with certainty, tooth size (as a proxy for body weight) of D. praenuntius appears to be smaller during the late PETM than during either the pre-PETM Cf-3, or post-PETM Wa-1 biozones, suggesting the possibility of a muted dwarfing response to the PETM. However, the pattern observed for D. praenuntius differs from that of many other PETM mammals, as the shift to smaller body size is less pronounced and may have only occurred in late Wa-0.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Article Reference New Tachydromiinae (Diptera: Empidoidea, Hybotidae) from different types of forests near Yangambi.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications