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Revision of the Eurybrachidae (XVI). The Australian Olonia rubicunda (Walker, 1851): Description of the male, distribution and host plants (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Eurybrachidae)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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A New Mammal Skull from the Late Cretaceous of Romania and Phylogenetic Affinities of Kogaionid Multituberculates
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Among the Late Cretaceous fossil sites of Europe, only those from the so-called “Haţeg Island” in Transylvania, western Romania, are remarkable by their abundance in mammal remains. Curiously, all of them belong to a single family of multituberculates, the Kogaionidae, one of the rare families that survived the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction in Europe. Kogaionids are mostly represented by isolated teeth except for three partial large skulls from the Maastrichtian Sânpetru Formation of the Haţeg Basin that have been described from the Sânpetru locality as Kogaionon ungureanui and from the Pui locality as Barbatodon transylvanicus and Litovoi tholocephalos. Here we report for the first time the discovery of a partial skull associated with p4 of a small-sized kogaionid from the Nălaţ-Vad locality in the Sânpetru Formation that we refer to Kogaionon radulescui, sp. nov. An updated phylogenetic analysis, including seven Maastrichtian and Paleocene kogaionids is performed and confirms that Kogaionidae is a monophyletic clade at the base of Cimolodonta. Kogaionon differs from Barbatodon in its narrower snout, proportionally smaller P1, narrower anterior part of P4 with four similar-sized cusps in the middle row, more squared or rounded M1 with an anteroposteriorly longer lingual row, and shorter p4 (at least for K. radulescui). Litovoi tholocephalos is here considered to be a junior synonym of B. transylvanicus. Despite their Maastrichtian age, the very simple and conservative dental morphology of these Romanian kogaionids suggests that they originated from an eobaatarid-like ancestor dispersing from Asia or possibly already existing in Europe between the Barremian and Albian, 40 to 55 Ma earlier.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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A new partial skeleton of Kryptobaatar from the Upper Cretaceous of Bayan Mandahu (Inner Mongolia, China) relaunch the question about variability in djadochtatherioid multituberculate mammals
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A new well-preserved partial skeleton of the djadochtatheriid multituberculate Kryptobaatar is here described from the Campanian Bayan Mandahu Formation of the southern Gobi Basin in Inner Mongolia, China. We refer to it as Kryptobaatar sp. because it presents characters that are specific to Kryptobaatar dashzevegi and others specific to Kryptobaatar mandahuensis, as well as characters of its own. When those taxa are incorporated into a phylogenetic analysis of the Djadochtatherioidea, the Kryptobaatar species appear to be paraphyletic. This raises again questions about the high intraspecific variability in some multituberculates. Based on a comparison with the published specimens, we conclude that K. mandahuensis is a valid species, close to but distinct from K. dashzevegi. Our results also suggest that endemism alone in the Gobi Basin is not the cause of the high variability observed in the genus Kryptobaatar. But the impact of a possible difference in age or paleoenvironment between the different Kryptobaatar-bearing sites of the Gobi Desert is, for the moment, not possible to test in the current state of knowledge.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
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Foreword for the thematic volume of the PalEurAfrica project international symposium Evolution and paleoenvironment of early modern vertebrates during the Paleogene
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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Original articleSystematics and diversity of the giant soft-shelled turtles (Cryptodira,Trionychidae) from the earliest Eocene of Belgium
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In 1909, the famous paleontologist Louis Dollo identified two putative new species of giant soft-shelled turtles from the lowest Eocene record of Belgium, ‘Trionyx erquelinnensis’ and ‘Trionyx levalensis’, from Erquelinnes and Leval, respectively. However, these proposals did not meet the requirements of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, so they were considered as nomina nuda. The information on these specimens or about any other specimen of this lineage of giant turtles from the Belgian record is currently extremely limited. Relatively scarce material from giant trionychids has been described for the lower Eocene record of other European regions. Considering the available information, all the European material has recently been recognized as belonging to the genus Axestemys, which has a North American origin, and possibly attributable to a single species, Axestemys vittata, which currently lacks a diagnosis. Numerous and well-preserved Belgian specimens are deposited in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. In addition to the cited individuals from Erquelinnes and Leval, additional specimens from both localities, as well as others from Orp-le-Grand, are part of this collection. These specimens, found between the decades of 1910 and 1930, have been recently restored, and their study is carried out here. The presence of Axestemys vittata in Belgium (in Leval and Orp-le-Grand) is confirmed. Knowledge about this species is significantly improved, and a diagnosis is proposed. However, the hypothesis proposed by Dollo is here confirmed, this species being not the only identified in the Belgian record. So, Axestemys erquelinnensis nov. sp. is defined based on the carapace from Erquelinnes known by Dollo, suggesting that the genus probably reached Europe during the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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New Neandertal fossils from Trou Magrite, Belgium, and their contribution to our understanding of Neandertal diversity
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Belgium has yielded an exceptional Neandertal fossil record that has played a major role in Neandertal studies since the 19th century. Here we present the outcome of a new multidisciplinary project that aimed at re-assessing the skeletal collections from the Belgian site of Trou Magrite. This site yielded rich archeological assemblages spanning from the Middle and Upper Paleolithic to the Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Iron Age. We revised the already known human collection, conducted a systematic sorting of the faunal material, and combined the use of morphometrics, taphonomy, stable isotopes, dating, and genetic analyses to perform taxonomic and chronocultural identifications. This resulted in the identification of two new Neandertal fossils among the faunal material excavated in the 19th century: an upper right permanent canine representing an adult individual, and the left femur diaphysis of a ca. 8-10-month-old infant. We will present the biological characteristics and mitochondrial DNA phylogenetic position of the Trou Magrite Neandertals, in particular with regard to the other Northern European Neandertals. Our project adds a ninth site to the list of Belgian sites that have yielded Neandertal fossils, and emphasizes the existence of a low genetic diversity among Late Neandertals, which is to be compared to their significant behavioral (mortuary and technical) variability. As such, Belgian Neandertals continue to contribute significantly to our understanding of the population processes that resulted in the disappearance of this group. This research was funded by the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences of CSUN and the CSUN Competition for Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Awards.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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(U-Th)/He Dating of Supergene Iron (Oxyhydr-)Oxides of the Nefza-Sejnane District (Tunisia): New Insights into Mineralization and Mammalian Biostratigraphy.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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Trace-element imaging at macroscopic scale in a Belgian sphalerite-galena ore using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS).
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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A large meteoritic event over Antarctica ca. 430 ka ago inferred from chondritic spherules from the Sør Rondane Mountains
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Large airbursts, the most frequent hazardous impact events, are estimated to occur orders of magnitude more frequently than crater-forming impacts. However, finding traces of these events is impeded by the difficulty of identifying them in the recent geological record. Here, we describe condensation spherules found on top of Walnumfjellet in the Sør Rondane Mountains, Antarctica. Affinities with similar spherules found in EPICA Dome C and Dome Fuji ice cores suggest that these particles were produced during a single-asteroid impact ca. 430 thousand years (ka) ago. The lack of a confirmed crater on the Antarctic ice sheet and geochemical and 18O-poor oxygen isotope signatures allow us to hypothesize that the impact particles result from a touchdown event, in which a projectile vapor jet interacts with the Antarctic ice sheet. Numerical models support a touchdown scenario. This study has implications for the identification and inventory of large cosmic events on Earth.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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A New Species of the Genus Thinophilus Wahlberg from the River Banks of the Mekong River in Thailand (Diptera: Dolichopodidae)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2017
