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Contribution to the knowledge of some Lanternflies of the Philippines (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Fulgoridae)
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Copépodes Harpacticoida asociados con crustaceos decapodos
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Cost Evaluation of 3D Digitisation Techniques
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In the framework of the Belgian BELSPO AGORA 3D and DIGIT03 programs, we have evaluated 3D digitising technologies with regards to the quality of the acquisition, the capacities and limitations of each technique and also the direct cost of the different 3D digitisation processes. It is on this latest topic that the paper is focused. In order to evaluate the cost of 3D digitisation, we considered the time for the digitisation, cost of the equipment and cost of the staff. Our preliminary results show that the real cost by specimen depends on the amount of specimens to digitise. Techniques that appear to be low-cost can be the most expensive in the framework of massive digitization programs, whilst more expensive equipment can be more efficient in the long term. Therefore low-cost equipment is mainly recommended for occasional digitisation or small series of digitisations.
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Courtship display in Trithemis arteriosa (Anisoptera, Libellulidae)
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Cranial morphology of Khirtharia inflata (Raoellidae, Artiodactyla)
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Raoellidae are extinct small-sized semiaquatic artiodactyls that are the closest relatives to crown clade Cetacea. They display morphological features showing the transition between terrestrial and aquatic lifestyles and therefore bring crucial information to understand the earliest steps of cetacean evolution. Raoellid cranial morphology, including the ear region and endocranial morphology, has been documented using cranial remains referred to Indohyus indirae from the Kalakot area, Jammu and Kashmir in India. The study of these specimens highlighted that several cetacean features are already present in raoellids. The previously available Indohyus material was very deformed, preventing access to quantitative data and leading to potential misinterpretations. We describe new undeformed cranial material from the Kalakot area, documenting another raoellid species, Khirtharia inflata. The new observations allow us to complete our knowledge of raoellid cranial morphology, including the original shape of the cranium and brain endocast and to confirm the specificities of raoellid morphology within Artiodactyla. We further provide the first quantitative data for the different brain components and show that Raoellidae had low encephalization and neocorticalization values, much lower than cetaceans and close to early diverging, primitive, dichobunoid artiodactyls. Reconstruction of the blood sinuses above the cerebellum supports the previous “intraosseous” hypothesis about the initial steps of the development of the caudal venous rete mirabile in cetaceans. The presence of several cetacean cranial features in Raoellidae, such as the peculiar shape of the frontal, the strong postorbital constriction, the periotic involucrum, or the elongation of the olfactory bulbs, questions the definition of the Cetacea clade.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023 OA
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Craniodental and postcranial morphology of Indohyaenodon raoi from the Early Eocene of India, and its implications for ecology, phylogeny, and biogeography of hyaenodontid mammals
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New remains of the early Eocene hyaenodontid Indohyaenodon raoi are described from the Vastan Lignite Mine in Gujarat, western India, including the first known rostrum, upper dentition, and postcrania, substantially expanding our knowledge of the species and providing insights into its functional morphology and relationships. Craniodental morphology suggests that I. raoi had a broad diet, including non-vertebrate material as well as flesh of a diversity of prey species. Postcranial morphology is broadly similar to that of other early hyaenodontids and suggests a scansorial locomotor repertoire. Dental morphology indicates that I. raoi is closely related to other South Asian hyaenodontids, with shared features including strong cingula, narrow premolars, and a reduced P4 protocone. We present the most comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of Hyaenodontidae to date, which corroborates this relationship but finds South Asian hyaenodontids to be the stem of a group that includes most African hyaenodontids. This and other higher-level relationships within Hyaenodontidae are, however, weakly supported, and substantially different alternative hypotheses of relationships are not significantly less parsimonious, reflecting strong character conflict. Factors contributing to this conflict include the isolation of hyaenodontid faunas on different continents during much of the Eocene, canalization and simplification of carnivorous dentitions, and a lack of non-dental material for critical hyaenodontid groups. The new phylogeny is consistent with either an African or an Asian origin for the group.
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Crassostrea gigas or Magallana gigas: A Community-based Scientific Response
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RBINS Staff Publications 2018
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Critical analysis of carnivoran mammal success in Europe during the Paleogene
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Why are we surrounded by only one group of placental carnivorous mammals (Carnivora: the present-day lions, dogs, bears, and seals among others) today, while at least three other groups of placental mammals (Hyaenodonta, Mesonychia, Oxyaenidae) were in competition with carnivorans 50 million years ago? Since the 1990s, palaeontologists have investigated the success of carnivoraform mammals (including Carnivora) and their crucial adaptations in detail. Analysis of the taxonomic and morphological diversification of these groups in the North American fossil record clearly showed that carnivoraforms outcompeted hyaenodonts and oxyaenids during the Eocene, specifically from around 50 Ma when carnivoraforms began to dominate. It has been suggested that the evolutionary success of carnivorans may have resulted from the broad range of dental adaptations (i.e., a broad variety of diets) conferred by the particular position of their carnassial teeth. Here we document the evolutionary history of the taxonomic diversity as well as the evolution of the body mass of carnivorous mammals that lived in Europe during the Paleogene (66–23 Ma). The results suggest that this competition was diametrically opposed in North America and Europe. Carnivoraforms actually did not become diversified in Europe during the Eocene and thus were not as taxonomically successful in Europe as in North America during that period. Moreover, when one considers body mass, the European hyaenodonts were distinctly more diversified than the carnivoraforms. The situation dramatically changed during the 'Grande Coupure' (around Eocene–Oligocene boundary; ca. 33.9 Ma). This transition corresponds to a major faunal turnover in Europe: during the earliest Oligocene global cooling (Oi-1) event, the Eocene endemic carnivorous fauna were replaced by immigrant taxa (hyaenodonts and carnivorans), mainly from Asia. The Oligocene fossil record shows a diversification of the carnivorans, whereas hyaenodonts were almost only represented by the hypercarnivorous genus Hyaenodon. However, two distinct periods can be discriminated in the Oligocene: the Rupelian was dominated by the Nimravidae and feliforms, while the Chattian was dominated by the caniformians (especially the Amphicyonidae and Ursidae). This turnover seems to be concomitant with the Latest Oligocene Warming and Microbunodon Event. Based on these results, one can hypothesize that the evolution of the European carnivorous mammals might have been profoundly driven by climate modifications (abiotic factors). Grant Information: This abstract is a contribution to the Belspo Brain Pioneer project BR/175/PI/CARNAGES funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2018
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Crocidurobia faini n.sp. (Acariformes: Myobiidae), a new mite species prasitising shrews of the genus Crocidura Wagler (Soricomorpha: Soricidae) in DR Congo
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RBINS Staff Publications 2016
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Crop diversity and choices in the prehistory of South Eastern Europe: the archaeobotanical evidence from Greece and Bulgaria
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RBINS Staff Publications