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Article Reference New insights on the Lower Ordovician linguliformean brachiopods of the Anglo-Brabant Massif and the Stavelot-Venn Inlier (Belgium)
The Lower Ordovician (Tremadocian) linguliformean brachiopods of the southeastern part of the Anglo-Brabant Massif are documented systematically for the first time. The material belongs to a single Belgian locality (La Roche-en-Brabant), situated in one of the few valleys that incise the Mesozoic-Cenozoic cover, and more precisely from the topmost part of the siliciclastic Mousty Formation (Tangissart Member). Here, minute, poorly diverse linguliformeans are associated with planktic graptolites (Rhabdinopora) and nileid trilobites (Platypeltoides). They consist of three species belonging to three genera (Obolidae and Elkaniidae), of which only Broeggeria is known with certainty, due to the poor preservation of the material. In the Belgian part of the Stavelot-Venn Inlier, the presence of linguliformean brachiopods within the Floian Les Plattes Member of the Ottré Formation, which were reported more than 150 years ago, remains unconfirmed. The genus Broeggeria, known from several Belgian Tremadocian localities, is a relic from the Cambrian brachiopod fauna. By the Tremadocian it is well established globally between the Low-Latitude and High-Latitude provinces. The Belgian assemblage has strong similarities with assemblages from Baltica reflecting the early Palaeozoic changing palaeogeography.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025
Article Reference Designation of a Brazilian topotypic neotype for Dardanus pectinatus (Ortmann, 1892) and establishment of D. ctenodon sp. nov. for the East Atlantic hermit crab previously misidentified with it (Crustacea, Decapoda, Anomura, Diogenidae)
The type locality of the hermit crab, Pagurus striatus var. pectinata Ortmann, 1892, as given in its original description, is Brazil. After its original brief taxonomic account, the species was first treated as amphi-Atlantic and later the name Dardanus pectinatus (Ortmann, 1892) was systematically applied to an African Atlantic species. No explicit reason has ever been given for this application. However, it transpires from the literature that carcinologists believed that the gastropod shell, Tonna galea (Linnaeus, 1758), occupied by the holotype of Pagurus striatus var. pectinata Ortmann, 1892 was endemic to the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic, and that the specimen had therefore been mislabelled. In fact, Tonna galea is amphi-Atlantic and the shell occupied by the hermit crab cannot be used to argue that it has been mislabelled. The holotype of Pagurus striatus var. pectinata Ortmann, 1892 is lost and its original description and illustration are insufficient to establish its true identity. Two steps are taken to stabilise the nomenclature in accepting the hypothesis by far most likely, i.e. that the holotype of Pagurus striatus var. pectinata did indeed come from Brazil. First action: a Brazilian neotype is designated for Pagurus striatus var. pectinata, with a specimen of a species compatible with its original description, namely Dardanus insignis (de Saussure, 1857). As a result of this action, Dardanus pectinatus (Ortmann, 1892) becomes a junior synonym of Dardanus insignis (de Saussure, 1857). Second action: the African Atlantic species is described as a new species, Dardanus ctenodon sp. nov., with a holotype from Senegal. The three similar Atlantic species Dardanus arrosor (Herbst, 1796), Dardanus ctenodon sp. nov. and Dardanus insignis (de Saussure, 1857) are the subject of an illustrated taxonomic account and an identification key is given for all the Atlantic species of Dardanus.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025
Article Reference A description of existing operational ocean forecasting services around the globe
Predicting the ocean state in support of human activities, environmental monitoring, and policymaking across different regions worldwide is fundamental. To properly address physical, dynamical, ice, and biogeochemical processes, numerical strategies must be employed. The authors provide an outlook on the status of operational ocean forecasting systems in eight key regions including the global ocean: the West Pacific and Marginal Seas of South and East Asia, the Indian Seas, the African Seas, the Mediterranean and Black Sea, the North East Atlantic, South and Central America, North America (including the Canadian coastal region, the United States, and Mexico), and the Arctic. The authors initiate their discussion by addressing the specific regional challenges that must be addressed and proceed to discuss the numerical strategy and the available operational systems, ranging from regional to coastal scales. This compendium serves as a foundational reference for understanding the global offering, demonstrating how the diverse physical environment – ranging from waves to ice – and the biogeochemical features besides ocean dynamics can be systematically addressed through regular, coordinated prediction efforts.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025
Article Reference A description of ocean forecasting applications around the globe
Operational oceanography can be considered the backbone of the blue economy: it offers solutions that can support multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals by promoting the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, livelihoods and job creation. Given this strategic challenge, the community worldwide has started to develop science-based and user-oriented downstream services and applications that use ocean products as provided by forecasting systems as main input. This paper provides examples of stakeholder support tools offered by such applications and includes sea state awareness, oil spill forecasting, port services, and fishing and aquaculture. Also emphasized is the important role of ocean literacy and citizen science to increase awareness of and education about these critical topics. Snapshots of various applications in key world ocean regions, within the framework of the OceanPrediction Decade Collaborative Centre (DCC), are illustrated, with emphasis given on their level of maturity. Fully operational examples can be used as inspiration for export to other areas.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2025
Article Reference Taxonomic Revision of the Genus Trictenotoma Gray, 1832 (Coleoptera: Trictenotomidae). Part 3 – Species from the Philippine Archipelago, with Description of a New Species
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Article Reference Food nutrient availability affects epibiont prevalence and richness in natural Daphnia populations
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference Revision of the longirostrine crocodylian Thoracosaurus isorhynchus from the Maastrichtian–Danian of northwestern Europe
A highly debated topic in eusuchian systematics has been the placement of “thoracosaurs,” an assemblage of Cretaceous–Paleogene longirostrine crocodylians from Europe and North America. The position of “thoracosaurs” varies from one study to the next, from being the sister taxon of the extant Gavialis to being excluded from the crown group Crocodylia entirely. Despite these issues, “thoracosaurs” have been understudied, with many taxa suffering from incomplete or outdated descriptions and dubious taxonomic assignment. Here, we provide a comprehensive study of Thoracosaurus isorhynchus from Maastrichtian–Danian deposits of northwestern Europe. We present and describe new material from the type locality of T. isorhynchus. In addition, we redescribe and figure the lectotype and paralectotypes of the species, as well as the material from the Maastrichtian type area, the Netherlands. Moreover, comparison of T. isorhynchus with the type material of Thoracosaurus “scanicus” of the Danian of southern Sweden indicates that the latter might be a junior synonym of T. isorhynchus, suggesting the survival of this species across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary. An array of phylogenetic analyses points to a close relationship between T. isorhynchus and the Cenomanian Portugalosuchus azenhae. This implies an early emergence of “thoracosaurs” and causes extensive ghost lineages within Gavialoidea, highlighting the stratigraphic inconsistency of this group and a need for a thorough revision of other “thoracosaurs.”
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2026
Article Reference Carboniferous fossils enlighten the systematics and evolution of Hemiptera
Fossils are witnesses to the evolutionary processes undergone by living lineages. The earliest occurrence of clades provides rich insights into the timing of diversification of lineages and better delimits the groups that compose them. Hemiptera are a remarkable order within the insects due to their high morphological and ecological diversity. However, our understanding of the early evolution of this group remains hampered by the lack of early hemipteran occurrences. In this study we investigate the earliest Carboniferous occurrences of Hemiptera, taking advantage of the redescription of known specimens, and describe three new key hemipteran fossils. We provide thorough taxonomic assessments to describe the earliest occurrences of the Auchenorrhyncha and Sternorrhyncha lineages that constitute major branches in the Hemiptera tree of life. These new occurrences sharpen the delimitations within the classification of Hemiptera and enable better understanding of forewing venation evolution within this hyper-diverse insect order. The following new taxa are described: Protoprosbolomorpha infraorder nov. for Protoprosbole straeleni Laurentiaux, Carbonaturidae fam. nov., Carbonatura oudardi gen. et sp. nov. and Carbopsyllidium minutum gen. et sp. nov.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2026
Article Reference Gekko (Gekko) , a new dark-colored tokay gecko from the Thai-Malay border (Squamata, Gekkonidae)
We describe Gekko dam sp. nov. based on type specimens from a limestone hill in Palian District, Trang Province, southern peninsular Thailand. The new species is also found in Satun Province, southern peninsular Thailand, and in Perlis State, northwestern Peninsular Malaysia. A member of the subgenus Gekko, it differs from all currently recognized Gekko species by the following combination of morphological characters and pattern: maximal known snout-vent length of 149.1 mm, lack of contact between nostrils and rostral, 21–24 interorbital scales between supraciliaries, 72–83 scale rows around midbody, 12–14 dorsal tubercle rows at midbody, 26–28 ventral scale rows at midbody, 22 precloacal pores in males, two postcloacal tubercles on each side of the base of the tail, 14–17 subdigital lamellae on 1st toe and 19–21 on 4th toe, a Y-shaped mark on head, white spots on head, dark grey to black dorsal background with four regular bands of contrasting white spots on dorsum between limb insertions, throat and venter white with orange patches, and a copper iris.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2026
Article Reference Quality-control tests for OC4, OC5 and NIR-red satellite chlorophyll-a algorithms applied to coastal waters
Reliable satellite estimates of chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl-a) are needed in coastal waters for applications such as eutrophication monitoring. However, because of the optical complexity of coastal waters, retrieving accurate Chl-a is still challenging. Many algorithms exist and give quite different performance for different optical conditions but there is no clear definition of the limits of applicability of each algorithm and no clear basis for deciding which algorithm to apply to any given image pixel (reflectance spectrum). Poor quality satellite Chl-a data can easily reach end-users. To remedy this and provide a clear decision on when a specific Chl-a algorithm can be used, we propose simple quality control tests, based on MERIS water leaving reflectance (ρw) bands, to determine on a pixel-by-pixel basis if any of three popular and complementary algorithms can be used. The algorithms being tested are: 1. the OC4 blue-green band ratio algorithm which was designed for open ocean waters; 2. the OC5 algorithm which is based on look-up tables and corrects OC4 overestimation in moderately turbid waters and 3. a near infrared-red (NIR-red) band ratio algorithm designed for eutrophic waters. Using a dataset of 348 in situ Chl-a / MERIS matchups, the conditions for reliable performance of each of the selected algorithms are determined. The approach proposed here looks for the best compromise between the minimization of the relative difference between In situ measurements and satellite estimations and the number of pixels processed. Conditions for a reliable application of OC4 and OC5 depend on ρw412/ρw443 and ρw560, used as proxies of coloured dissolved organic matter and suspended particulate matter (SPM), as compared to ρw560/ρw490, used as a proxy for Chl-a. Conditions for reliable application of the NIR-red band ratio algorithm depend on Chl-a and SPM. These conditions are translated into pixel-based quality control (QC) tests with appropriately chosen thresholds. Results show that by removing data which do not pass QC, the performance of the three selected algorithms is significantly improved. After combining these algorithms, 70\% of the dataset could be processed with a median absolute percent difference of 30.5\%. The QC tests and algorithm merging methodology were then tested on four MERIS images of European waters. The OC5 algorithm was found to be suitable for most pixels, except in very turbid and eutrophic waters along the coasts where the NIR-red band ratio algorithm helps to fill the gap. Finally, a test was performed on an OLCI-S3A image. Although some validations of water reflectance are still needed for the OLCI sensors, results show similar behavior to the MERIS applications which suggests that when applied to OLCI data the present methodology will help to accurately estimate Chl-a in coastal waters for the next decade.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022