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Article Reference A mammal survey of the Serra Jeci Mountain Range, Mozambique, with a review of records from northern Mozambique’s inselbergs
The mountains of northern Mozambique have remained poorly studied biologically until recent years with surveys covering a variety of taxonomic groups highlighting their biological and conservation value. Even so, the medium and large mammal fauna remains poorly known and to date no systematic mammal surveys have been published from any of Mozambique’s mountains. We present results of a medium and large mammal survey of Serra Jeci’s Mt Chitagal, Mt Sanga and the Njesi Plateau in Niassa, northern Mozambique; the first mammal diversity data collected from these isolated mountains. We recorded 27 mammal species, of which six represent range expansions; Sykes’s monkey (Cercophitecus mitis), Mozambique dwarf galago (Paragalago granti), Smith’s red rock hare (Pronolagus rupestris), lesser cane rat (Thryonomys gregorianus), rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) and African buffalo (Syncerus caffer). We also reviewed and collated records of medium and large mammals from previously published fieldwork on northern Mozambique’s mountains, amounting to a total of 34 large mammal species from seven montane areas, highlighting the lack of mammalian knowledge in Mozambique’s Afromontane habitats.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Article Reference Species niches, not traits, determine abundance and occupancy patterns: A multi‐site synthesis
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Article Reference Precision mapping of snail habitat provides a powerful indicator of human schistosomiasis transmission
Recently, the World Health Organization recognized that efforts to interrupt schistosomiasis transmission through mass drug administration have been ineffective in some regions; one of their new recommended strategies for global schistosomiasis control emphasizes targeting the freshwater snails that transmit schistosome parasites. We sought to identify robust indicators that would enable precision targeting of these snails. At the site of the world’s largest recorded schistosomiasis epidemic—the Lower Senegal River Basin in Senegal—intensive sampling revealed positive relationships between intermediate host snails (abundance, density, and prevalence) and human urogenital schistosomiasis reinfection (prevalence and intensity in schoolchildren after drug administration). However, we also found that snail distributions were so patchy in space and time that obtaining useful data required effort that exceeds what is feasible in standard monitoring and control campaigns. Instead, we identified several environmental proxies that were more effective than snail variables for predicting human infection: the area covered by suitable snail habitat (i.e., floating, nonemergent vegetation), the percent cover by suitable snail habitat, and size of the water contact area. Unlike snail surveys, which require hundreds of person-hours per site to conduct, habitat coverage and site area can be quickly estimated with drone or satellite imagery. This, in turn, makes possible large-scale, high-resolution estimation of human urogenital schistosomiasis risk to support targeting of both mass drug administration and snail control efforts.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Article Reference Karl Edward Havens (1957–2019)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Article Reference A juvenile skull from the early Palaeocene of China extends the appearance of crocodyloids in Asia back by 15–20 million years
The earliest Crocodylia from Asia have been represented so far only by alligatoroids and planocraniids. Although definitive crocodyloids are not known until the late Eocene, it has been hypothesized that Asiatosuchus-like basal crocodyloids originated in Asia before the late Palaeocene. In this paper, we describe a new fossil crocodyloid from the lower Palaeocene of Qianshan Basin, Anhui Province, China. The skull and lower jaw fragment exhibit several characteristics typical of juvenile crocodylians. They also display a combination of features not seen in any other taxon, warranting the erection of a new species and genus, Qianshanosuchus youngi gen. & sp. nov. Its affinities are tested in phylogenetic analyses based on two recent character matrices of Eusuchia. To assess the effect of juvenile characteristics on the outcome of the phylogenetic analyses, juvenile specimens of extant crocodylian taxa are analysed in the same way, showing that the effect of their ontogenetic stage on their placement in the tree is minimal. Our analyses point to a basal crocodyloid position for Q. youngi. With these findings, the presence of Crocodyloidea in Asia is extended to the early Palaeocene, 15–20 Myr earlier than formerly thought. Furthermore, our results corroborate previous hypotheses of a Palaeocene dispersal route of Asiatosuchus-like crocodyloids from Asia into Europe.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022 OA
Article Reference Revival and Revision of the genus Paroplites with description of two new species (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Prioninae)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference Titanodula gen. nov., a new genus of giant Oriental praying mantises (Mantodea: Mantidae: Hierodulinae)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference Hierodula confusa sp. nov., a new species of Hierodula Burmeister, 1838 (Mantodea: Mantidae: Hierodulinae: Hierodulini)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference How different are the Kebara 2 ribs to modern humans?
This study analyses rib geometric parameters of individual ribs of 14 modern human subjects (7 males and 7 females) in comparison to the reconstructed ribs of the Kebara 2 skeleton which was taken from the reconstruction of a Neandertal thorax by Sawyer & Maley (2005). Three-dimensional (3D) models were segmented from CT scans and each rib vertex cloud was placed into a local coordinate system defined from the rib principal axes. Rib clouds were then analysed using best fitting ellipses of the external contours of the cross-section areas. The centroid of each ellipse was then used to measure the centroidal pathway between each slice (rib midline). Curvature of the ribs was measured from the mid-line of the ribs as the sum of angles between successive centroids in adjacent cross sections. Distinct common patterns were noted in all rib geometric parameters for modern humans. The Kebara 2 reconstructed ribs also followed the same patterns. This study demonstrated that there are differences between the sexes in rib geometrical parameters, with females showing smaller rib width, chord length and arc length, but greater curvature (rib torsion, rib axial curvature, rib anterior-posterior bending) than males. The Kebara 2 reconstructed ribs were within the modern human range for the majority of geometrical parameters.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Inbook Reference Irrigation and social organisation: A longue durée perspective from the Jordan Valley
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018