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A survey of the bushmeat trade of the straw-coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum Kerr, 1792) at Maele Island (Kisangani city, Democratic Republic of the Congo)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2017
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A survey of transposon landscapes in the putative ancient asexual ostracod Darwinula stevensoni
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How asexual reproduction shapes transposable element (TE) content and diversity in eukaryotic genomes remains debated. We performed an initial survey of TE load and diversity in the putative ancient asexual ostracod Darwinula stevensoni. We examined long contiguous stretches of DNA in clones from a genomic fosmid library, totaling about 2.5 Mb, and supplemented these data with results on TE abundance and diversity from an Illumina draft genome. In contrast to other TE studies in putatively ancient asexuals, which revealed relatively low TE content, we found that at least 19% of the fosmid dataset and 26% of the genome assembly corresponded to known transposons. We observed a high diversity of transposon families, including LINE, gypsy, PLE, mariner/Tc, hAT, CMC, Sola2, Ginger, Merlin, Harbinger, MITEs and helitrons, with the prevalence of DNA transposons. The predominantly low levels of sequence diversity indicate that many TEs are or have recently been active. In the fosmid data, no correlation was found between telomeric repeats and non-LTR retrotransposons, which are present near telomeres in other taxa. Most TEs in the fosmid data were located outside of introns and almost none were found in exons. We also report an N-terminal Myb/SANT-like DNA-binding domain in site-specific R4/Dong non-LTR retrotransposons. Although initial results on transposable loads need to be verified with high quality draft genomes, this study provides important first insights into TE dynamics in putative ancient asexual ostracods.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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A Systematic Revision of the Land Snails of the Western Ghats of India
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RBINS Staff Publications
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A Tale of Three Oceans — Taxonomy of the Holothuria (Thymiosycia) arenicola Semper, 1868 complex (Echinodermata: Holoturoidea: Holothuriidae)
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The ubiquitous sea cucumber Holothuria (Thymiosycia) arenicola Semper, 1868, externally characterized by a double row of dark blotches of various sizes on its dorsal body wall and a cryptic behaviour, is generally assumed to have a wide tropical distribution, although it has not been reported from the Eastern tlantic. Careful morphological examination, with emphasis on the ossicle assemblage, of type and non-type H. arenicola specimens sampled in the Indian, Pacific and tlantic Ocean, its subjective synonyms and species with a similar colouration and habit, revealed that H. arenicola is often confused with other species. This paper formally separates the different species in the H. arenicola complex, one of them being a species new to science: Holothuria (Thymiosycia) kerriensis sp. nov. dditionally, we describe two other species that are often confused with H. arenicola: Holothuria (Lessonothuria) gracilis Semper, 1868 and H. (Thymiosycia) strigosa Selenka, 1867. The H. arenicola complex per se is keyed-out, with the ossicle assemblage of the musculature being recognised as an important, previously largely neglected, guide. This contribution highlights the importance of building and curating well-maintaned natural history collections to understand biodiversity through time and space.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
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A techno-economic approach for capacity assessment and ranking of potential options for geological storage of CO2 in Austria
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RBINS Staff Publications 2016
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A three-species problem: a further example of homeomorphy in freshwater Ostracoda (Crustacea), with the description of a new genus and new species from a Brazilian river
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Homeomorphy is common in the valves and carapaces of Ostracoda. One of the best-known examples in non-marine ostracods is the morphological similarity in the extreme armature of anterior and posterior spines on the left valve in both Strandesia bicornuta Hartmann, 1964 from India and in Rudjakoviella prolongata (Triebel, 1962) Malz, 1973 from Margarita Island (West Indies). Here, we describe a third representative with such armature, Pseudocypricercus bonito gen. nov. spec. nov. from Brazil. These new taxa belong to the Cypricercinae McKenzie, 1971, which is characterized by the presence of the Triebel's loop in the middle of the attachment of the caudal ramus. The main characteristics of Pseudocypricercus gen. nov. are the shape and length of the β seta on the mandibular palp, which is slender and elongated, compared to other genera of this subfamily; the absence of seta d on the first thoracopod, and the absence of seta d2 on the second thoracopod, amongst other features. Pseudocypricercus bonito gen. nov. spec. nov. also has large anterior and posterior spines on the left valve as well as a posterior spine and the anterior blunt protrusion on the right valve. In addition, both the mandibular coxa and the third endite of the maxillula have remarkable large fist-like setae, while the male right prehensive palp has a perpendicularly positioned second segment. The similar armature on left valve and right valve in this taxon makes the homeomorphy known from R. prolongata and S. bicornuta into a “three-species problem”.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2026
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A tiny dolphin (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Kentriodontidae) cranium from the Middle Miocene of the southern North Sea with a rare osteological malformation
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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A tool for feeding and mating: the Swiss Army stylet of Gyratrix hermaphroditus (Rhabdocoela, Platyhelminthes)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023 OA
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A trait-based framework to identify North Sea fauna vulnerable to underwater noise
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In the absence of an internationally coordinated management strategy, continued exploitation of the North Sea is expected to exacerbate underwater radiated noise (URN), heightening risks of adverse impacts on marine life. Identifying indicator species and their habitats is a fundamental step in the EU framework for setting a scientifically grounded underwater noise limit value (UNLV). While past research has primarily emphasized marine mammals, there is an increasing effort to highlight that the impacts of URN extend to fishes and invertebrates. To support indicator species selection in the North Sea for URN risk assessment, a trait-based vulnerability scoring system for marine mammals, fishes and invertebrates was developed. Each scoring system evaluates multiple attributes related to a species' capacity to detect and produce sound, as well as the documented impacts from both impulsive and continuous anthropogenic noise, and highlights species of particular concern and socio-ecological significance. Five potential indicator species were identified from each of the three taxonomic groups (marine mammals, fishes and invertebrates) for URN risk assessment. The proposed vulnerability scoring system serves as an adaptive framework, open to iterative refinement as bioacoustics knowledge advances. Although data gaps persist, the establishment of regional UNLV to safeguard vulnerable species should not be delayed. By linking URN exposure with key habitats of identified indicator species, this approach facilitates an ecosystem-based management of URN in the North Sea and provides a transferable framework for other regions.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2026
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A vertebra of a small species of Pachycetus from the North Sea and its inner structure and vascularity compared with other basilosaurid vertebrae from the same site
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
