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Shell anatomy of the African Paleocene bothremydid turtle Taphrosphys congolensis and systematic implications within Taphrosphyini
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The bothremydid pleurodiran turtle Taphrosphys congolensis is a member of Taphrosphyina from the Paleocene of the Cabinda Province (Congo Basin, Angola). Very few specimens corresponding to elements of its shell have been so far figured. Abundant unpublished remains are analyzed in this paper. As a consequence, several regions of the shell are figured and characterized here for the first time, and intraspecific variability is recognized for several characters. Previous authors proposed some putative differences between the shells of Taphrosphys congolensis and the North American Paleocene Taphrosphys sulcatus. The increase in the knowledge about the shell of this African form allows us to refute most of them, the shell of both forms being recognized as more similar than previously identified. Thus, the identification of the genus Taphrosphys as restricted to three forms (i.e. the skull taxon Taphrosphys ippolitoi, and the skull and shell forms T. congolensis and T. sulcatus) is supported, and the record unquestionably attributable to this genus is modified from the Upper Cretaceous–Eocene lapse of time to the Paleocene exclusively.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2018
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Shell chemistry of the Boreal Campanian bivalve Rastellum diluvianum (Linnaeus, 1767) reveals temperature seasonality, growth rates and life cycle of an extinct Cretaceous oyster.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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Shell thickness of Nucella lapillus in the North Sea increased over the last 130 years despite ocean acidification
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
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Shells from aquaculture: a valuable biomaterial, not a nuisance waste product
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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Short-term changes in the structure of ant assemblages in a Guinean savanna under differing fire regimes at Lamto Scientific Reserve, Côte d’Ivoire
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To maintain savanna vegetation, mid-seasonal fire has been applied since 1961 in the Lamto Savanna (Côte d’Ivoire). However, this prescribed fire has not impeded tree encroachment during recent years, nor have its effects on insect assemblages been documented. Also the impact of tree intrusion on insect assemblages is poorly studied in savanna. To prevent tree density increasing, a change in fire regime might be a solution. In this study, we examined the effect of different fire regimes (early, mid-seasonal and late fires) on leaf-litter ant assemblages in order to suggest appropriate measures for preventing tree invasion without having an effect on insect communities. Sampling was implemented by combining pitfall trapping and leaf-litter sampling before and after three different fire regimes, early, mid-seasonal and late fires. While the ant species richness declined after the passage of early and mid-seasonal fires, significantly more species were found in the burnt savanna after the late fire. However, the losses or gains of species due to different fire regimes did not cause severe changes in the ant species composition. Of the functional groups identified, only the generalists and specialist predators were respectively strongly affected by the early and mid-seasonal fires, certainly due to micro-habitat modification. Based on the trends observed in the present study, we suggest sampling other invertebrate fauna in similar savanna plots to find out if other insect groups have similar reactions to the applied fire regimes.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2018
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Short-term effects of fishery exclusion in offshore wind farms on macrofaunal communities in the Belgian part of the North Sea
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With the wide scale construction of offshore wind farms (OWFs) throughout the entire North Sea, largeareas are permanently being closed to beam trawl fisheries. Beam trawling has affected macrobenthicassemblages for centuries, especially the fragile and long-lived species. Due to the prohibition of beantrawling in many OWFs, opportunities are being provided to investigate the potential recovery of vulnera-ble species and the creation of de-facto Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The soft-substrate macrobenthiccommunity was investigated from 2008 to 2012, before and after the construction of an OWF in theBelgian part of the North Sea, situated on the Bligh Bank. The fishery enclosed area (±21 km2) withinthe OWF (No Fishery area) was compared with a surrounding control area (±30 km2) where regularfishing activities were registered through vessel monitoring system (VMS) data throughout the period2010–2011. Three years after the exclusion of beam trawl fisheries, subtle changes within the macroben-thic community were observed in the No Fishery area. The benthic mysid shrimp Gastrosaccus spinifer(30 ± 15 ind m−2), tube-building polychaetes Terebellidae sp. (196 ± 151 ind m−2) and the echinodermEchinocyamus pusillus (73 ± 71 ind m−2), sensitive to trawling activities, showed increased abundanceswithin the No Fishery area. With an expansion of the wind farm concession area to 238 km2in the future,the likely increase of dense Terebellidae patches (e.g., Lanice conchilega reefs) within the No Fishery areacould create an ecological important large-scale refugium for higher trophic levels. This study creates abaseline for the evaluation of long-term changes due to the fishing impacts and effects related to the pres-ence of OWFs and highlights the importance of executing long-term monitoring programs in combinationwith targeted research.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2016
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Shrews (Soricidae) of the lowland forests around Kisangani (DR Congo)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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Sic transit gloria mundi. Does it really? Wasting seventh century AD Sagalassos (SW Turkey)
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RBINS Staff Publications
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SIDbase : a database built for the management of Social Insects Diversity inventories
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Siedlungen der späten Bronze- und fru¨hen Eisenzeit in Südwestbulgarien.Vorbericht zu den deutsch-bulgarischen Forschungen 2012 im Struma- und Mestatal
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After long-term surveys 2012 a German-Bulgarian team started excavations in the valleys of the rivers Struma and Mesta in south-western Bulgaria. The goal of our research is get a better understanding of the execution of power by the population of these mountain valleys as well as to reveal the processes of transfer and exchange of objects and technologies between the Aegean and the Danube regions. For this reason the excavations were conducted on the Late Bronze/Early Iron Age hillfort Kresna in the Mesta valley near Sandanski and on the Early Iron Age settlement Bresto near Raslog located close to the upper course of the Mesta river. Similar to the hillforts in the valley of Struma near Blagoevgrad, possible large-sized grain storages were exposed in Kresna. Bresto stands out for its massive fortified walls dated to the Early Iron Age as well as for the thousands secondary burnt daub fragments often supplied with plastic decorations. The comparison of various parts of the valleys of the rivers Struma and Mesta demonstrates the difference of interest for foreign objects and the acquisition of technologies on the micro-region level.
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RBINS Staff Publications