DNA collections are a valuable type of Natural Science collection, enabling the validation of past research, serving as a source for new genomic studies and supporting ex situ conservation. The DiSSCo Flanders DNA collection working group, aiming to advance and "unlock" their DNA collections, identified the need for: 1) actively sharing best practices regarding the management of DNA collections; and 2) providing guidance on how to bring theory into practice. By combining best practice examples from within the working group with available literature and brainstorming ideas, the working group co-created two outputs, referred to as: the "Challenges" and the "Key". The Challenges are a list of obstacles to DNA collection management, which shape the structure of the linked Key and can also be used to spark discussion amongst stakeholders. The Key is a tool that guides users through the maturation process of their DNA collection in a standardised way. It stimulates holistic growth, breaks down the needed work into manageable steps and helps to decide priorities during the process. Furthermore, the Key facilitates communication with both internal stakeholders and external DNA collection managers. The Key distinguishes itself from other self-assessment tools in several ways: it includes (re)investigation of the collection’s purpose and context; it is specialised for DNA collections; it delivers concrete goals linked to relevant information and shared experience; and it is inclusive, targeting all Natural Science DNA collections, regardless of their context or size.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Crocodyloid remains from the late Paleocene of Mont de Berru (France) hosted in the collections of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris, France) and in the Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique (Brussels, Belgium) are described for the first time. This material, although fragmentary, can be clearly referred on a morphological basis to Asiatosuchus depressifrons (Blainville, 1855), a species previously reported from several Eocene Belgian localities thanks to abundant material including a nearly complete skeleton. The Paleocene material shares with A. depressifrons the number of alveoli involved in the dentary symphysis, the exclusion of the splenials from the symphysis, and the presence of a distinct depression on the jugal. The fossil remains from Berru represent the oldest European crocodyloid. Along with the alligatoroid Diplocynodon remensis Martin, Smith, de Lapparent de Broin, Escuillié and Delfino, 2014, previously reported from the same locality, the crocodyloid A. depressifrons indicates that these genera reached Europe before the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. Although more complete remains from outside Europe are needed to refine phylogenetic hypotheses, according to the currently established fossil record the forerunners of diplocynodontids likely dispersed from North America, whereas those related to Asiatosuchus likely dispersed from Asia.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2017
