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Article Reference The upper Eocene-Oligocene carnivorous mammals from the Quercy Phosphorites (France) housed in Belgian collections
The Quercy Phosphorites Formation in France is world famous for its Eocene to Miocene faunas, especially those from the upper Eocene to lower Oligocene, the richest of all. The latter particularly helped to understand the ‘Grande Coupure’, a dramatic faunal turnover event that occurred in Europe during the Eocene-Oligocene transition. Fossils from the Quercy Phosphorites were excavated from the middle 19th century until the early 20th century in a series of sites and became subsequently dispersed over several research institutions, while often losing the temporal and geographical information in the process. In this contribution, we provide an overview and reassess the taxonomy of these barely known collections housed in three Belgian institutions: the Université de Liège, KU Leuven, and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. We focus our efforts on the carnivorous mammals (Hyaenodonta and Carnivoramorpha) and assess the stratigraphic intervals covered by each collection. These fossils are derived from upper Eocene (Priabonian), lower Oligocene (Rupelian), and upper Oligocene (Chattian) deposits in the Quercy area. The richness of the three collections (e.g., the presence of numerous postcranial elements in the Liège collection), the presence of types and figured specimens in the Leuven collection, and some identified localities in the RBINS collection make these collections of great interest for further studies on systematics and the evolution of mammals around the ‘Grande Coupure’.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Article Reference The Upper Miocene Deurne Member of the Diest Formation revisted: unexpected results from the study of a large temporary outcrop near Antwerp International Airport, Belgium
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference The World Amphipoda Database: History and Progress
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023 OA
Article Reference They live under our streets: ant nests (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in urban pavements
In the context of global insect decline, the urbanisation process plays a key role. However, urban pavements, which are considered to be impervious to biodiversity, can harbour ground-nesting insects under certain conditions. Recent observations have revealed the presence of Formicidae nests under urban pavements. The aim of this work is to determine the species richness of Formicidae nesting under urban pavements in the Brussels-Capital Region (Belgium) and to characterise their nest environment and soil texture. Seven ant species were identified in 120 nesting sites: Lasius niger, Lasius brunneus, Lasius flavus, Lasius fuliginosus, Tetramorium caespitum, Tetramorium impurum and Myrmica rugulosa. Concrete slabs or natural stones with a sandy sub-layer are the main structures in which ants nest. In addition, nests were mainly found under modular pavements with degraded rigid joints. The results of this work highlight the capacity of urban structures to host part of ant biodiversity in cities.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Three in one: molecular phylogeny of the genus Helodrilus (Crassiclitellata: Lumbricidae) with a description of two new genera and two new species
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022 OA
Article Reference Three new Hymedesmia Bowerbank, 1864 (Demospongiae, Poecilosclerida, Hymedesmiidae) from the Southeast Pacific (Peru and Chile)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022
Article Reference Three new species of Muricidae (Ocenebrinae, Pagodulinae) from the Gulf of California, Mexico and update of the living muricids from the area
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) infesting transhumant cattle stalled in Kisangani (DR Congo): a neglected veterinary health issue
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Article Reference Tidally Driven Dispersion of a Deep-Sea Sediment Plume Originating from Seafloor Disturbance in the DISCOL Area (SE-Pacific Ocean)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022
Article Reference Timing of intercontinental faunal migrations: Anguimorph lizards from the earliest Eocene (MP 7) of Dormaal, Belgium
Here we report on anguimorph lizards from the earliest Eocene (MP 7) of the Dormaal locality in Belgium, from the time of the warmest global climate of the past 66 million years. Several clades can be identified in this site: Glyptosauridae, Varanidae, and Palaeovaranidae. Our study focuses on glyptosaurid specimens previously reported from the site, some of which had been provisionally described as a new species,?Placosaurus ragei, and some assigned to an unnamed Placosauriops-like ‘melanosaurine’. Our study presents data on new material, including an almost complete glyptosaurine frontal that has enabled us to assign much of the previously described material to a single genus and species. The specimens that had been assigned to both ?P ragei and the ‘melanosaurine’ share apomorphies (flat osteoderms and chevron-shaped osteoderms) with Gaultia, a glyptosaurid previously known from the earliest Eocene of Wyoming, USA. The Dormaal material represents the first record of this genus outside North America. In fact, the only potential evidence of the occurrence of ‘Melanosaurinae’ in Dormaal might be a single isolated vertebra described here. Here we also describe previously unfigured material of Saniwa and palaeovaranids from Dormaal. The presence of previously reported helodermatids cannot be supported in this Belgian site.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024 OA