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Symbiotic interactions challenged by environmental stress in aquatic transitional habitats
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
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Systematics and biogeography of the Western Ghats-Sri Lankan land-snail genus Corilla
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023 OA
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Systematics of Afrotropical Eristalinae (Diptera: Syrphidae) using mitochondrial phylogenomics
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
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Tackling the evaporation rates of volatile HNS: A lab- scale experiment to serve marine pollution response
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Release of volatile Hazard Noxious Substances (HNS) at sea can lead to the formation of toxic, flammable or explosive gas plumes that can travel large distances and pose risks over a wide area in relatively short timescales. Yet, when an emergency is declared, key information regarding the short-term behavior of HNS is not available for responders. For volatile organic compounds (VOCs), one critical parameter that should be systematically predicted and/or assessed is the evaporation kinetics: this would warn first-responders against risks of gas clouds that might originate from the HNS slick. This paper presents new experimental data on the evaporation kinetics of several VOCs that were collected using the new Cedre’s wind tunnel in the framework of the MANIFESTS1 project. The air and liquid temperatures as well as the wind velocity profile were continuously monitored above the pool. The evaporation of each liquid was monitored following the weight loss fraction over time. The final objective was to assess mass fluxes at the sea-air interface and to compare it to analytical models. It appeared that, while pure chemicals showed a linear mass loss over time, the same chemicals spilled at the surface of seawater generally presented a non-linear mass loss over time, i.e., different and longer evaporation rates. The evaporation was also generally highlighted by a sharp decrease in temperature of the liquid. These new data were finally compared to the OSERIT – Evaporation module developed in MANIFESTS and will contribute to the improvement of the prediction accuracy of existing evaporation models. This will offer crisis management stakeholders more precise information regarding the formation of toxic gas clouds (Go/No Go decision).
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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Taxonomic and phylogenetic study of the late Oligocene heterodont odontocete Eosqualodon langewieschei provides clues about the emergence of modern toothed whales
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
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Taxonomy of the heavily exploited Indo-Pacific sandfish complex (Echinodermata: Holothuriidae)
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Two commercially valuable holothurians, the sandfish and golden sandfish, vary in colour and have a confused taxonomy, lending uncertainty to species identifications. A recent molecular study showed that the putative variety Holothuria (Metriatyla) scabra var. versicolor Conand, 1986 (‘golden sandfish’) is a distinct species from, but could hybridize with, H. (Metriatyla) scabra Jaeger, 1833 (’sandfish’). Examination of the skeletal elements and external morphology of these species corroborates these findings. The identity of H. (M.) scabra is unambiguously defined through the erection and description of a neotype, and several synonyms have been critically re-examined. The nomenclaturally rejected taxon H. (Metriatyla) timama Lesson, 1830 and H. (M.) scabra var. versicolor (a nomen nudum) are herein recognized as conspecific and are allocated to a new species, Holothuria lessoni sp. nov., for which type specimens are described. The holotype and only known specimen of H. aculeata Semper, 1867, has been found and is redescribed. It is considered to be a valid species. Taxonomic clarification of this heavily exploited species complex should aid its conservation and permit species-specific management of their fisheries.
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Taxonomy of the monotypic genus Koehleria Cherbonnier, 1988 (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea: Cucumariidae)
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Voucher material recently collected from the 2-Mile Reef at Sodwana Bay (Republic of South Africa), allows the evaluation of the monotypic genus Koehleria Cherbonnier, 1988 and its species K. unica Cherbonnier, 1988 collected from Tuléar (Madagascar). Cherbonnier’s (1988) conclusion, that Koehleria is most related to the also monotypic genus Pseudocolochirus Pearson, 1910 is correct, but the differences between Koehleria and Pseudocolochirus are too small to justify the retention of Koehleria. Koehleria is relegated herein to the synonymy of Pseudocolochirus. Such a step decreases the velocity with which monotypic genera are currently described within the Dendrochirotida.
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No RBINS Staff publications
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Terebra cloveri sp. nov., a new species of Terebridae from the W Philippine Sea
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Terebra cloveri sp. nov. is described from the southeastern South China Sea (West Philippines Sea - Philippines) and compared with its congeners with which it has historically been mistaken.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024
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Terebra luteatincta sp. nov., a new species of Terebridae from Zamboanga, the Philippines
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023 OA
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The 10,000-year biocultural history of fallow deer and its implications for conservation policy
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Over the last 10,000 y, humans have manipulated fallow deer populations with varying outcomes. Persian fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica) are now endangered. European fallow deer (Dama dama) are globally widespread and are simultaneously considered wild, domestic, endangered, invasive and are even the national animal of Barbuda and Antigua. Despite their close association with people, there is no consensus regarding their natural ranges or the timing and circumstances of their human-mediated translocations and extirpations. Our mitochondrial analyses of modern and archaeological specimens revealed two distinct clades of European fallow deer present in Anatolia and the Balkans. Zooarchaeological evidence suggests these regions were their sole glacial refugia. By combining biomolecular analyses with archaeological and textual evidence, we chart the declining distribution of Persian fallow deer and demonstrate that humans repeatedly translocated European fallow deer, sourced from the most geographically distant populations. Deer taken to Neolithic Chios and Rhodes derived not from nearby Anatolia, but from the Balkans. Though fallow deer were translocated throughout the Mediterranean as part of their association with the Greco-Roman goddesses Artemis and Diana, deer taken to Roman Mallorca were not locally available Dama dama, but Dama mesopotamica. Romans also initially introduced fallow deer to Northern Europe but the species became extinct and was reintroduced in the medieval period, this time from Anatolia. European colonial powers then transported deer populations across the globe. The biocultural histories of fallow deer challenge preconceptions about the divisions between wild and domestic species and provide information that should underpin modern management strategies.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023