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Mitogenomic characterization and systematic placement of the Congo blind barb Caecobarbus geertsii (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae)
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This study presents the first complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Caecobarbus geertsii, the Congo blind barb, a cave-dwelling, CITES-protected, cyprinid fish endemic to the Lower Congo basin (DRC). The length of the circular mitogenome is 16,565 base pairs. The 13 protein coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes and 22 transfer RNA genes are similar in position and direction to those of other members of the family Cyprinidae. Phylogenetic analyses including 28 complete mitogenomes from representatives of the subfamily Smiliogastrinae (Cyprinidae), showed that Caecobarbus was nested within a clade including representatives of the genus Enteromius. The data presented in this study provide information on the molecular identification and classification of this threatened species. The results further suggest the need for a taxonomic revision of the genus Enteromius.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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The introduction of the European fallow deer to the northern provinces of the Roman Empire: a multi-proxy approach to the Herstal skeleton (Belgium)
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Many exotic animal species were introduced to Northern Europe during the Roman period, including fallow deer (Dama dama). To date, however, finds of fallow deer bones at archaeological sites in this region have been sporadic and disarticulated, leaving uncertainty over their origins. This article presents the first known articulated fallow deer skeleton from Roman North-western Europe. Osteological, ancient DNA, radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analyses confirm that the species was established in this region by the Roman period, probably originating from translocated, rather than native, Mediterranean populations. Clarifying the origins of fallow deer in North-western Europe is critical for understanding the dynamics of species exchange around the Roman Empire.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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Benchtop μXRF as a tool for speleothem trace elemental analysis: Validation, limitations and application on an Eemian to early Weichselian (125–97 ka) stalagmite from Belgium
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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Earthquake-related speleothem damages: observations from the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan, China
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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Comments on'U-Pb dated flowstones restrict South African early hominin record to dry climate phases'(Pickering et al. Nature 2018; 565: 226-229)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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La teneur en CO2 de l’air des grottes de Wallonie augmente plus vite que celle de l’atmosphère libre-Variations saisonnières, évolution semi-séculaire et flux de CO2
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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Modélisation 3D par imagerie lidar et analyse structurale de la Salle du Dôme des Grottes de Han-sur-Lesse (Belgique, Ardenne)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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La Grotte du Pont d’Arcole (Hastière). Dépôts et relation avec l’enfoncement de la Meuse.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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Digital restoration of the snout of Khirtharia inflata (Raoellidae, Artiodactyla) from the middle Eocene of northwest Himalaya
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In this work, we digitally restore the snout of the raoellid Khirtharia inflata from the Kalakot area (Rajouri District, Jammu & Kashmir, India). Raoellids are small, semiaquatic ungulates closely related to cetaceans. The specimen is fairly complete and preserves left and right maxillae, left premaxilla, and part of the anterior and jugal dentition. The digital restoration of this quite complete but deformed specimen of Khirtharia inflata is a welcome addition to the data available for raoellids and will be used to further the understanding of the origins of cetaceans.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024 OA
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Endocranial anatomy and phylogenetic position of the crocodylian Eosuchus lerichei from the late Paleocene of northwestern Europe and potential adaptations for transoceanic dispersal in gavialoids
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Eosuchus lerichei is a gavialoid crocodylian from late Paleocene marine deposits of northwestern Europe, known from a skull and lower jaws, as well as postcrania. Its sister taxon relationship with the approximately contemporaneous species Eosuchus minor from the east coast of the USA has been explained through transoceanic dispersal, indicating a capability for salt excretion that is absent in extant gavialoids. However, there is currently no anatomical evidence to support marine adaptation in extinct gavialoids. Furthermore, the placement of Eosuchus within Gavialoidea is labile, with some analyses supporting affinities with the Late Cretaceous to early Paleogene “thoracosaurs.” Here we present novel data on the internal and external anatomy of the skull of E. lerichei that enables a revised diagnosis, with 6 autapormorphies identified for the genus and 10 features that enable differentiation of the species from Eosuchus minor. Our phylogenetic analyses recover Eosuchus as an early diverging gavialid gavialoid that is not part of the “thoracosaur” group. In addition to thickened semi-circular canal walls of the endosseous labyrinth and paratympanic sinus reduction, we identify potential osteological correlates for salt glands in the internal surface of the prefrontal and lacrimal bones of E. lerichei. These salt glands potentially provide anatomical evidence for the capability of transoceanic dispersal within Eosuchus, and we also identify them in the Late Cretaceous “thoracosaur” Portugalosuchus. Given that the earliest diverging and stratigraphically oldest gavialoids either have evidence for a nasal salt gland and/or have been recovered from marine deposits, this suggests the capacity for salt excretion might be ancestral for Gavialoidea. Mapping osteological and geological evidence for marine adaptation onto a phylogeny indicates that there was probably more than one independent loss/reduction in the capacity for salt excretion in gavialoids.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024 OA
