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Sinopaninae and Arfianinae (Hyaenodontida, Mammalia) from the Early Eocene of Europe and Asia; evidence for dispersal in Laurasia around the Paleocene/ Eocene boundary and for an unnoticed faunal turnover in Europe
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Hyaenodontida are represented in Europe by three subfamilies: Proviverrinae, Arfianinae and Sinopaninae. Here, we review all the specimens of Arfianinae and Sinopaninae known to date in Europe and Asia. A new Galecyon species is erected: Galecyon gallus nov. sp. We discuss the taxonomic position of the two Asian hyaenodontidans Anthracoxyaena palustris and Arfia langebadreae; the genus Anthracoxyaena is synonymized with Arfia. The analysis of the European and Asian arfianines and sinopanines provides new data concerning the dispersals and faunal events that occurred during the Early Eocene in Laurasia. The Arfianinae and Sinopaninae appeared in Europe around the Paleocene/Eocene boundary (reference-level MP7). The sinopanines are widespread in Europe; they are known in Dormaal (Belgium, reference-locality of the level MP7), Rians, Soissons, Pourcy, Try, Le Quesnoy (France), and Abbey Wood (England). The analysis of the paleogeographic distribution of all Oxyaenodonta and Hyaenodontida at and after the MP7 supports the existence of two European provinces: the North Province and Mesogean Province. We show that the Arfianinae and Sinopaninae rapidly disappeared from Europe; they are unknown in Avenay (reference-locality of the level MP8+9) and younger localities. Their disappearance from Europe is synchronous with that of the Oxyaenodonta. These observations support the existence of a faunal turnover, which occurred between the reference-levels MP7 (Dormaal) and MP8+9 (Avenay). The hypothesis of a dispersal from Europe to North America during the Paleocene-Eocene transition for the Arfianinae and Sinopaninae is supported. Moreover, the study of Arfianinae supports a dispersal from Europe to Asia around the P/E boundary, followed by a short period of endemic evolution. However, our study does not support a close relationship between Arfia and the ‘‘Arfia-like South Asian Proviverrinae’’ (Kyawdawia, Indohyaenodon, Paratritemnodon and Yarshea).
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Sint-Barbara - Sainte Barbe
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
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Siphonochelus japonicus (A. Adams, 1863) and Siphonochelus nipponensis Keen & Campbell, 1964, and Their Intricate History with the Description of a New Siphonochelus Species from Mozambique (Gastropoda: Muricidae)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2017
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Site Fidelity of Formica rufa: Micro-Scaled and Persistent Despite Disturbance (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
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Long-term site fidelity or Ortstreue is an individual foraging strategy typical of ants exploiting stable and predictable food sources in space and time. Red wood ant workers (Formica s. str.) are central-place foragers feeding on honeydew secreted by stable aphid populations. In this field study, temporal site fidelity of Formica rufa honeydew tenders was investigated on a micro-scaled level for a period of time. Additionally, the effect of exchanging honeydew workers between two trees on site fidelity was examined. Site fidelity of the honeydew tenders was very high and they returned repeatedly to particular micro-sites (branches, set of leaves) on a tree. The transfer to a new feeding site apparently did not influence site fidelity as honeydew tenders mainly return to their initial tree. Small-scale site fidelity decreased with time and was not so rigid as larger-scale fidelity. We discuss how site fidelity on one hand and flexibility in foraging and recruiting on the other hand promote foraging efficiency of the colony.
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Sites with Holocene dung deposits in the Eastern Desert of Egypt: visited by herders?
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The Tree Shelter and Sodmein Cave are two sites in the Egyptian Eastern Desert with stratified archaeological deposits. In Middle Holocene contexts of both sites, dated to the 7th millennium BP and later, animal dung has been found, in the shape of small concentrations of pellets at the Tree Shelter and of large accumulations at Sodmein Cave. The combination of several lines of evidence, including the size and weight of the excrements, the dimensions of the dung layers from Sodmein and the presence of hearths and artefacts inside them, and the species represented in the bone assemblages from Sodmein and the Tree Shelter, indicates that the dung was mostly deposited by herds of domestic ovicaprines. Sodmein Cave and the Tree Shelter belong to the oldest sites of the African continent where evidence for domestic small livestock has been attested. The importance and size of the herds seems to have been greater than would be suspected from the scant bone remains that were found. The visits to the caves were probably short but repeated over a long time period. Macrobotanical remains recovered from the dung suggest that these visits took place after seasonal winter rains.
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Six new species of Elpidium Müller, 1880 (Podocopida: Limnocytheridae) from Eastern Brazil
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Elpidium is the most common ostracod genus occurring in phytotelmata in the Neotropical region, with distributions ranging from Florida, USA in the north to Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil in the south. However, the genus remains poorly known both in terms of diversity and of the distributional pattern of its species. Here, we describe six new species of Elpidium, E. oxumaen. sp., E. cordiforme n. sp., E. picinguabaensen. sp., E. eriocaularumn. sp., E. higutiaen. sp., E. puriumn. sp., all from phytotelm environments in the Brazilian Atlantic rain forest. In addition, we discuss the distributional pattern and endemicity levels of Elpidium species in the light of these new taxonomic results and argue about possible misunderstandings on the distribution of the type species E. bromeliarum.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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Six new species of Paciocinebrina (Gastropoda: Muricidae: Ocenebrinae) from the northeast Pacific
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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Six new species of the Platypalpus pallidiventris-cursitans group (Diptera: Hybotidae) from the Caucasus
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Sixteen issid planthopper species in one day in Dong Son-Ky Thuong Nature Reserve in North Vietnam: Eight new species, one new genus and additional new records (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Issidae)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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Size of the lower carnassial in the arctic and the red fox from Late Pleistocene in Belgium compared to other ancient and extant populations
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Lengths, widths, and size proportions (length to width) of the lower carnassial were measured in 45 teeth of the arctic fox and 35 teeth of the red fox from Belgium radiocarbon dated to 46 640–14 120 ka BP. Data the Late Pleistocene foxes from Belgium were compared to 20 ancient and extant populations form Europe, Asia, and North America. The Pleistocene arctic fox from Belgium showed larger carnassial than in all recent samples of this species, whereas the Belgian fossil red foxes were characterized by the carnassial size comparable to that of the recent Siberian red foxes. Both fox species from the Pleistocene of Belgium showed the highest index of the carnassials length to width, which means increase in carnivorous adaptation. We conclude that the higher level of carnivorous specialization reached by the Belgian arctic and red foxes at the end of the Late Pleistocene reflected their scavenging on kills of large carnivores and human hunters (remains of megafauna). Harsh environmental conditions of that period and specific composition of ecosystems led to adapting to a more carnivorous food niche in both foxes.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
