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Inproceedings Reference The dental dimensions of Spy 1 and Spy 2 in view of the Neanderthal variability.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inproceedings Reference Dental microwear analyses of prehistoric and medieval samples.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference High diversity of acrodontan lizards in the Early Eocene Vastan Lignite Mine of India
The Ypresian Cambay Formation at Vastan Mine in Gujarat, western India, has yielded a rich herpetological fauna including snakes, lizards and amphibians, but strangely, lizards are only represented by Acrodonta. Here we describe the acrodontan assemblage based on numerous, diverse and well-preserved dentaries, premaxillae, and maxillae. Among the five taxa described one new genus and species characterised by a short splenial represents the youngest occurrence of the extinct family Priscagamidae. The other four taxa belong to the extant family Agamidae. Two of them previously known, Vastanagama susanae and Tinosaurus indicus, are here revised. The two other taxa are new. The first one, Suratagama neeraae gen. and sp. nov., is characterised by the presence of six small pleurodont teeth with a nearly cylindrical shaft and an obtusely pointed apex. The second one, Indiagama gujarata gen. and sp. nov., has rectangular teeth in lateral view, unicuspid crowns forming a nearly horizontal cutting edge, and wear facets on both the lingual and labial sides of the dentary. Our results confirm that Acrodonta is the only lizard group present in Vastan, whereas many other groups are already present from the beginning of the Early Eocene on the other continents. The diversity of the agamids in Vastan and the absence of non-acrodontan lizard in India tentatively support the Out-of-India hypothesis for agamids.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference The carnivoran-like insectivore Butselia biveri Quinet & Misonne, 1965 (Mammalia, Plesiosoricidae) from the lowermost Oligocene of Europe
Plesiosoricidae is a small extinct family of soricomorphan insectivores distributed from the Early Eocene to the Late Miocene on the three continents of the Northern Hemisphere. One of two known plesiosoricid subfamilies is represented by the particular Eurasian subfamily Butseliinae. Here we describe new dental and postcranial elements of Butselia biveri, the type-species of the genus Butselia from the lowermost Oligocene of Belgium. The specialized anterior dentition shows a strong caniniform i2 while the upper and lower molars show a remarkable convergent evolution with early carnivorans, especially the small Early Eocene miacids. Tarsal bones of Butselia biveri are also identified and described, suggesting a closely relationship with Nyctitheriidae but also indicating some convergent features with small scansorial carnivorans.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Galliformes, Upupiformes, Trogoniformes, and other avian remains (?Phaethontiformes and ?Threskiornithidae) from the Rupelian stratotype in Belgium, with comments on the identity of “Anas” benedeni Sharpe, 1899
We describe new avian fossils from the Boom Formation of Belgium, which almost double the number of bird taxa known from this part of the Rupelian stratotype. Three galliform species can, at least tentatively, be assigned to the paraortygid species Paraortyx brancoi, P. lorteti, and Pirortyx major. Among the fossils is a partial sternum, which shows that Paraortyx lacks a spina interna. The absence of this structure is plesiomorphic for Galliformes and probably related to the absence of a large crop, thus indicating that Paraortygidae were not yet adapted to the regular processing of coarse and dry food. Two distal humeri belong to Trogoniformes (trogons) and Upupiformes (hoopoes, woodhoopoes, and allies), respectively. A femur is tentatively assigned to Phaethontiformes (tropicbirds), and a carpometacarpus is, likewise tentatively, referred to Threskiornithidae (ibises and spoonbills). We finally comment on the affinities of “Anas” benedeni Sharpe, 1899 and detail that this species most likely belongs to Gaviiformes (loons).
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference A new species of Archaeoryctes from the Middle Paleocene of China and the phylogenetic diversification of Didymoconidae
Didymoconidae are an enigmatic group of Asian endemic insectivorous mammals. We describe the new didymoconid species Archaeoryctes wangi sp. nov. from the Upper Member of the Wanghudun Formation (Middle Paleocene). This new species from the Qianshan Basin (Anhui Province, China) forms an interesting geographical intermediate between A. notialis from South China and A. borealis and A. euryalis from the Mongolian Plateau. To better understand the origin and evolutionary diversification of Didymoconidae, we performed a cladistic and stratocladistic study of the Didymoconidae and various outgroups. This study of dental material did not resolve the higher level affinities of Didymoconidae, but confirms the validity of the family and its distinctiveness from the morphologically similar Sarcodontidae. Moreover, our results corroborate the current didymoconid classification with the distinction of three subfamilies: “Ardynictinae”, Kennatheriinae and Didymoconinae; “Ardynictinae” are a paraphyletic stemgroup for the two other subfamilies. Our results suggest three distinct didymoconid radiations: (1) primitive ardynictines appeared in South China from the start of the Nongshanian; their evolution continues on the Mongolian Plateau with (2) the radiation of more evolved ardynictines and kennatheriines at the start of the Middle Eocene Arshantan and (3) the origin of didymoconines at the start of the Late Eocene Ergilian.
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Article Reference The earliest Eocene mammal fauna of the Erquelinnes Sand Member near the French-Belgian border
The earliest Eocene Erquelinnes site was discovered in 1880, but its mammal fauna has been frequently ignored. This paper provides the first detailed overview of the Erquelinnes mammals since 1929. The new faunal list doubles the known diversity at Erquelinnes to a total of 16 species, now also including amphilemurids, hyaenodontids, mesonychids, louisinids, equids and diacodexeids. The majority of the Erquelinnes species is also present in the earliest Eocene Dormaal MP7 reference fauna, with as most notable exceptions the presence of a potentially dwarfed specimen of Dissacus, and of two perissodactyl taxa at Erquelinnes. The ceratomorph perissodactyl Cymbalophus cuniculus is also known from the earliest Eocene of England, but a specimen identified as cf. Sifrhippus sandrae is closely similar to contemporaneous primitive North American equids. This specimen represents the oldest unambiguous European equid and highlights faunal similarities between Europe and North America during this time interval. Faunal differences between Erquelinnes and Dormaal seem mostly due to depositional differences, and the Erquelinnes fauna represents a typical earliest Eocene fauna, closely similar to other MP7 and PEI faunas in Europe.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Phylogenetic affinities and taxonomic composition of the Oligocene Diomedeoididae, and the basal divergences among extant Procellariiformes (Aves)
The Palaeogene Diomedeoididae are amongst the earliest representatives of procellariiform birds (albatrosses, tubenoses, and allies). Although several fossils of these birds have been reported in the past, many details of their osteology remained unknown. Here we describe a comprehensive collection of diomedeoidid fossils from the Rupelian stratotype in Belgium, which was found more than 100 years ago. The material includes all major limb elements as well as other cranial and postcranial bones, and allows the recognition of previously unknown features of phylogenetic significance. Based on these new osteological data, diomedeoidids were for the first time subjected to a phylogenetic analysis, which resulted in a position outside a clade including Hydrobatidae (northern storm-petrels), Pelecanoididae (diving-petrels), and Procellariidae (fulmars, petrels, shearwaters, and allies), either as the sister taxon of Diomedeidae (albatrosses) or as that of all crown group Procellariiformes. The latter placement is better supported by the osteological evidence, and diomedeoidids lack several apomorphies of crown group Procellariiformes. Previously unrecognized derived features are reported that support a monophyletic Hydrobatidae, thus contradicting recent proposals that Oceanitinae (southern storm-petrels) are the earliest diverging crown group Procellariiformes. The new fossils also have a bearing on the convoluted taxonomy of diomedeoidids, and Diomedeoides Fischer, 1985 is synonymized with Rupelornis van Beneden, 1871. Diomedeoides lipsiensis (Fischer, 1983) is synonymous with Rupelornis definitus (van Beneden, 1871), a species that exhibits a large size range.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Reassessment of the Morphology and Taxonomic Status of the earliest Herpetotheriid Marsupials of Europe
The earliest Eocene locality of Dormaal (Belgium) has provided the oldest Cenozoic herpetotheriid marsupials of Europe. No herpetotheriid has ever been reported earlier than the Eocene in Europe, except for a questionable single upper molar from the Upper Cretaceous of the Belgian/Dutch border. The systematics of the herpetotheriids of Dormaal was formerly based on only a dozen dental specimens, which were assigned, after several revisions, to two species Peratherium constans and Amphiperatherium brabantense. Most importantly, these two species were considered at the root of most of the hepetotheriid lineages of the European Paleogene. Here we report a large sample of about 400 new dental remains that allow a better definition of both species as well as a testing of their systematic status. The evidence of significant morphological variability leads us to reconsider the diagnosis of Peratherium constans and to question the validity of Amphiperatherium brabantense. This study highlights that the primitive species Peratherium constans and Amphiperatherium brabantense are hardly distinguishable from each other, and therefore conclude that Peratherium constans was the only marsupial present at Dormaal. The important morphological variation exhibited by this herpetotheriid is similar to the variability observed in the type-species Peratherium elegans and in other fossil and extant metatherians. Consequently, our results suggest that several Amphiperatherium species from the Eocene could represent variants of the genus Peratherium. The question of the Amphiperatherium presence in Europe is therefore raised and a thorough discriminate analysis of both genera should be conducted in later works.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Reappraisal of the morphology and phylogenetic relationships of the middle Eocene alligatoroidDiplocynodondeponiae (Frey, Laemmert and Riess, 1987) based on a 3D-prepared specimen
We describe a three-dimensionally prepared specimen of Baryphracta deponiae from the middle Eocene of Messel (Darmstadt, Germany). Based on a phylogenetic analysis that included the addition of 20 novel scorings for characters previously unavailable for this taxon and the recoding of four additional characters, we found B. deponiae to be nested within Diplocynodon.We propose the new combination Diplocynodon deponiae. The name Baryphracta is thus a junior synonym of Diplocynodon. The small species D. deponiae (∼1 m in total length) shares several features with other species of Diplocynodon, including the presence of two subequal alveoli in the maxilla and dentary, exclusion of the splenial from the symphysis, and the shape of the iliac blade. However, it also differs in a few characters, including the presence of molariform teeth and the extension of osteoderms along the limbs and tail. Such osteodermal cover, which developed very early in ontogeny, easily distinguishes even small-sized specimens of D. deponiae from the co-occurring Diplocynodon darwini. The crocodylian fauna of Messel shows an astonishing diversity including at least seven taxa, with two belonging to the same genus. The two congeners exhibit differences in dentition and size that likely allowed for niche partitioning that minimized competition, thereby allowing them to be syntopic.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications