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An attempt of time calibration of the Tournaisian and Viséan stages (Lower and Middle Mississippian) based on long duration orbitally forced sequences
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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An endemic species flock of Candonidae Kaufmann, 1900 (Crustacea, Ostracoda) from wells in Benin (West Africa), with the description of a new subfamily, a new genus and five new species
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Between 2015 and 2022, over 200 wells were sampled in four catchment areas of Benin, using both Cvetkov plankton nets (funnel 200 μm mesh size, 150 μm below valve) and baited traps. As artificial wells serve as ecotones (interfaces between surface and groundwater ecosystems), the ostracod fauna is mostly represented by two families; Cyprididae (mainly epigeic) and Candonidae (hypogeic). Here, we describe a new subfamily of Candonidae from the wells in Benin, the Benincandoninae subfam. nov. Hotèkpo & Martens, represented by one genus, Benincandona gen. nov. Hotèkpo & Martens. we found 35 species belonging to this evolutionary radiation, of which we describe five new species: Benincandona martini gen. et spec. nov. Hotèkpo & Martens, B. ibikounlei gen. et spec. nov. Hotèkpo & Martens, B. sakitii gen. et spec. nov. Hotèkpo & Martens, B. cebios gen. et spec. nov. Hotèkpo & Martens and B. trapezoides gen. et spec. nov. Hotèkpo & Martens. The new subfamily and genus are characterised by a unique combination of characters, such as a seven-segmented antennula and a caudal ramus with a fully developed ramus, a single apical (anterior) claw and three short setae. Species within the genus can be distinguished by their carapace and hemipenis morphology, together with some limb characteristics. whereas extensive subterranean candonid radiations have previously been reported from Europe, North and Central America and Northwest Australia (Pilbara), this is the first time such a vast radiation of subterranean candonids is reported from (west) Africa.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
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An ichthyological borderland: The fishfauna of Nyungwe National Park and surroundings (Rwanda, East Africa)
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Nyungwe National Park (NP) is a mountainous region situated in the southwestern part of Rwanda on Congo-Nile watershed. In spite of the high biodiversity in pri- mates, birds and plants, no fish were reported to occur in the park, probably because of the cold temperatures of the rivers. An expedition in 2022 examined the fish diver- sity within the Nyungwe NP and its buffer zones. Additional sampling was performed in the main river draining the park into Lake Kivu: the Kamiranzovu. Three hundred and twenty specimens belonging to 13 species were collected. Specimens were col- lected only in the western part of the park, draining towards the Congo basin. The diversity within the park proper was limited to two putative species within the com- plex of Amphilius cf. kivuensis, which were caught on either side of the Kivu–Rusizi watershed. In contrast, a higher fish diversity, including one clariid species and two species of Enteromius, was observed in the rivers at a lower altitude of the buffer zone. However, the highest species diversity was found near the mouth of Kamiran- zovu River, including 11 species, of which 4 were non-native: the guppy Poecilia reti- culata, Astatotilapia burtoni, the blue-spotted tilapia Oreochromis leucosticus and the Egyptian mouth-brooder Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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An illustrated guide to the land snails and slugs of Vietnam
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RBINS Staff Publications 2017
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An incredibly massive ancient whale skeleton reveals a new way to become a giant
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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An integrated high-resolution bathymetric model for the Danube Delta system
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Acting as a buffer between the Danube and the Black Sea, the Danube Delta plays an important role in regulating the hydro-biochemical flows of this land-sea continuum. Despite its importance, very few studies have focused on the impact of the Danube Delta on the different fluxes between the Danube and the Black Sea. One of the first step to characterize this land-sea continuum is to describe the bathymetry of the Delta. However, there is no complete, easily accessible bathymetric data on all three branches of the Delta to support hydrodynamic, biogeochemical or ecological studies. In this study, we aim to fill this gap by combining 4 different datasets, three in the river and one for the riverbanks, each varying in density and spatial distribution, to create a high-resolution bathymetry dataset. The bathymetric data was interpolated on a hybrid curvilinear-unstructured mesh with an anisotropic Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) interpolation method. The resulting product offers resolutions ranging from 2 m in a connection zone to 100 m in one of the straight unidirectional channel. Cross validation of the dataset underlined the importance of the data source spatial pattern, with average Root Mean Square Error (RRMSE) of 0.55 %, 6.3 % and 27.6%, for river segments covered by the densest to the coarsest dataset. These error rates are comparable to those observed in bathymetry interpolation in rivers with similar source datasets. The bathymetry presented in this study is the first unique, high-resolution, comprehensive and easily accessible bathymetric model covering all three branches of the Danube Delta. The dataset is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14055741.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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An Integrated taxonomic tool for Online Dissemination of Concise, Verified and Visualized Information on Biodiversity, Retgrieved from Data and Text Mining of natural History Collections and Libraries
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RBINS Staff Publications 2016
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An interdisciplinary study around the reliquary of the late cardinal Jacques de Vitry
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The reliquary of Jacques de Vitry, a prominent clergyman and theologian in the early 13th century, has experienced several transfers over the last centuries, which seriously question the attribution of the remains to the late Cardinal. Uncertainty about the year of his birth poses an additional question regarding his age at death in 1240. The reliquary, located in the Saint Marie d’Oigines church, Belgium, was reopened in 2015 for an interdisciplinary study around his relics as well as the Treasure of Oignies, a remarkable cultural heritage notably built from Jacques de Vitry’s donation. Anthropological, isotopic and genetic analyses were performed independently on the remains found in the reliquary. Results of the analyses provided evidence that the likelihood that these remains are those of Jacques de Vitry is very high: the remains belong to the same human male individual and the historical tradition about his age is confirmed. In addition, a separate relic (left tibia) was analysed and found to match with the remains of the reliquary (right tibia). The unique Jacques de Vitry’s mitre, made of parchment, was sampled non-destructively and the extracted parchment collagen was analysed by a proteomic method in order to determine the animal species. The results showed that, surprisingly, not all parts of the mitre were made from the same species. All together, these findings are expected to fertilize knowledge carried by historical tradition around the relics of Jacques de Vitry and his related cultural heritage.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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An introduction to the survey of the diversity of the flies (Diptera) in the centennial Botanic Garden Jean Massart (Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023 OA
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An Overlooked Group of Citizen Scientists in Non-Indigenous Species (NIS) Information: Shell Collectors and Their Contribution to Molluscan NIS Xenodiversity
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
