Skip to content. | Skip to navigation

Personal tools

You are here: Home

Search results

RSS Subscribe to an always-updated RSS feed.

1598 items matching your search terms.
Filter the results.
Item type



































New items since



Sort by relevance · date (newest first) · alphabetically
Article Reference Eocene stratigraphy of the Wadi Al-Hitan World Heritage Site and Adjacent areas
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Application du logiciel de modélisation musculosquelettique lhpFusionBox à une problématique paléoanthropologique. Spyrou le Néandertalien marche !
Résumé LhpFusionBox est un logiciel développé pour des études biomécaniques et cliniques relatives au système musculosquelettique des hommes anatomiquement modernes (HAM). Il a été récemment adapté aux problématiques paléoanthropologiques et utilisé pour l’étude biomécanique de la locomotion des hominidés fossiles. Il n’existe aucun squelette de Néandertalien complet. Le but de notre étude a consisté à réaliser un modèle virtuel en trois dimensions (3D) du squelette relativement complet du Néandertalien Spy II et à tester la faisabilité d’une analyse biomécanique de la locomotion du genou et des bras de levier des muscles ischio-jambiers. Des ossements appartenant à d’autres individus néandertaliens ont été mis à l’échelle de ceux de Spy II afin de remplacer les ossements incomplets ou manquants. Ces études biomécaniques préliminaires semblent montrer que les Néandertaliens et les HAM ont une locomotion comparable. Les Néandertaliens semblent avoir des bras de levier plus grands au niveau des muscles de la cuisse, ce qui pourrait leur procurer un avantage biomécanique. Le squelette obtenu a été imprimé en 3D et a servi de base à la reconstruction artistique de Spyrou qui est hébergée en l’espace de l’homme de Spy (EHoS). [Application of the musculo-skeletal modelling software lhpFusionBox to a paleoanthropological problem: the Spyrou Neandertal moves!] Abstract LhpFusionBox is a program originally designed for biomechanical and clinical studies relating to the musculoskeletal system of anatomically modern humans (AMH). The program has recently been adapted for paleontological purposes and used to reconstruct and biomechanically analyse a fossil hominid. There is no complete Neandertal skeleton in the fossil record. The aim of the study was to reconstruct a complete three-dimensional (3D) model of a Neandertal using the relatively complete Spy II Neandertal and to conduct biomechanical feasibility studies on the knee and hamstring moment arms of the skeleton. Different Neandertal specimens were scaled to the size of Spy II to replace incomplete or missing bones. Biomechanical feasibility studies performed on the knee seem to show that Neandertal and AMHh gait is similar and Neandertals were shown to have larger moment arms in the hamstring muscles, which would have given them a mechanical advantage. The complete Neandertal was printed in 3D and used as the base to create the artistic model of “Spyrou” housed at l’Espace de l’Homme de Spy (EHoS) museum.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Agora 3D: evaluating 3D imaging technology for the research, conservation and display of museum collections
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Pipeline Design for a Least-cost Router Application for CO2 Transport in the CO2 Sequestration Cycle
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Ammonites from the Dababiya Quarry Corehole: Taxonomic notes and age assessment
We describe a small collection of ammonites from the Dababiya Quarry corehole. It is almost entirely composed of heteromorph ammonites, in particular of scaphitids and baculitids. The presence of Indoscaphites pavana (Forbes 1848),which is for the first time reported from Egypt, points to a late to possibly latest Maastrichtian age for the interval DBD 80.36–DBD 99.11 of the Dababiya Quarry core. This is corroborated by preliminary data on planktonic foraminifera.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference In search of the Latest Danian Event in a paleobathymetric transect off Kasserine Island, north-central Tunisia.
Danian (lower Paleocene) sequences in north-central Tunisia are dominantly composed of marls and shales but a conspicuous, indurated glauconite-bearing marker bed is associated with the P3a–P3b transition. This glauconite bed is considered to correlate with the Latest Danian Event (LDE) described from the Nile Basin in Egypt, with the ‘top Chron C27n event’ (Atlantic and Pacific Oceans) and with the ‘CIE-DS1’ (Zumaia, Spain). The LDE is thought to reflect a short period of global warming, similar to the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum, but of lesser magnitude. The presence of a glauconitic bed at the P3a/P3b transition in Tunisia suggests that the sequence is condensed, which is confirmed by planktic foraminifer and nannofossil biostratigraphy, and by the absence of the typical LDE beds found in most Egyptian sections. Benthic foraminiferal assemblages were quantitatively analyzed in three sections in north-central Tunisia (Sidi Nasseur, Garn Halfaya, Elles) in order to characterize the paleoenvironmental evolution during the late Danian and compare this with sections in Egypt. The benthic foraminiferal assemblages indicate that the Tunisian sections were located along a depth- and a paleoenvironmental gradient on the shelf north of Kasserine Island. The reconstructed depth range is comparable with sections in Egypt, and encompasses middle neritic (Sidi Nasseur section) to shallow upper bathyal depths (Elles section,with up to 16% Gavelinella beccariiformis below the P3a/P3b). Like in Egypt, assemblage shifts across the P3a/P3b subzonal transition indicate shallowing and a transition to amore eutrophic paleoenvironment, characterized by relatively high abundances of buliminids and Stainforthia sp. The δ13C and δ18O records generated on well-preserved specimens of the ostracode species Bairdia failed to demonstrate the presence of the carbon isotope excursion (CIE) associated with the LDE at the base of Subzone P3b. A condensed section or a hiatus associated with the glauconite bed would explain why the CIE is not recorded in the Tunisian sections.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Eocene initiation of Nile drainage due to East African uplift.
The Late Eocene and Early Oligocene sedimentary succession in the Fayum, Egypt records the progressive development of northerly flowing Nile-type African drainage. New biostratigraphic dating of these units allows the calibration of the paleomagnetic record, the combination of dating methods enabling a detailed chronology of events to be studied. Between about 38 and 35 Ma there was a dramatic change in sedimentary regime and vast quantities of clasticmaterial were transported into the area, smothering the underlying carbonate platform and initiating a stepwise progradation of clastic units. The sudden change in sediment availability coincideswith the beginning of uplift and volcanic activity in the Turkana region of East Africa, cutting off preexisting easterly drainage from the middle of the continent. The Fayum succession therefore records the initiation of northerly drainage of central and eastern Africa, and the origins of themodern Nile watershed. The development of the current route of the Nile, with the incision of the current Nile Valley, was slightly later and related tomid Oligocene uplift of the Red Sea margins and Messinian base level fall.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference New mammals from the marine Selandian of Maret, Belgium, and their implications for the age of the Paleocene continental deposits of Walbeck, Germany
The early to middle Selandian fossiliferous Orp Sand Member of the Heers Formation in Belgium has regularly been excavated at its type-locality Maret for its rich and diversified selachian fauna. Among the abundant vertebrate remains, extremely rare mammal specimens have been found. Three isolated teeth have been published previously, all with uncertain affinities. The purpose of this study is to present new specimens from the same deposits, including a small well-preserved dentary of an adapisoriculid attributable to “Afrodon” germanicus, a fragmentary upper molar, referred to Berrulestes sp., and a premolar of a large arctocyonid. Among the previous specimens we identified Arctocyonides cf. weigelti. The adapisoriculid dentary offers new clues that allow transferring “Afrodon” germanicus to the genus Bustylus. The five mammal taxa from Maret indicate an age intermediate between reference-levels MP1-5 of Hainin, Belgium and MP6 of Cernay, France and present the greatest correlation with the rich Walbeck fauna in Germany. The deposits from Walbeck were usually thought to be slightly older than the late Thanetian deposits of Cernay. We infer here that the age of Walbeck is likely to be Selandian. The strong differences observed between Hainin on the one hand, and Walbeck and Cernay on the other hand, document a dispersal event from North America to Europe around the Danian-Selandian boundary.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Unraveling the PETM in shallow marine Tethyan environments: the Tunisian stratigraphic record.
Despite the increasing understanding of the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) in open marine environments, shallow marine settings remain relatively unexplored. We investigated an upper Paleocene to lower Eocene shallow-water sequence near Kalaat Senan in Tunisia (Sidi Nasseur and Wadi Mezaz sections)in order to generate a stratigraphic framework of the PETM in shallow marine fine-grained siliciclastic setting on the Southern Tethys. These sections expose the top part of the El Haria Formation (Fm.), the Chouabine Fm. and the lower part of the limestone bearing El Garia Fm., covering the upper Paleocene - lower Eocene (NP9a to NP11). The PETM interval is situated near the top of the El Haria Fm. and the regional stratigraphy is compared to the well-known Egyptian setting. The isotope record of total organic carbon (δ13Corg)reveals the characteristic negative carbon isotope excursion(CIE), comparable to the δ13Corg record of the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point of the Eocene at Dababiya (Egypt). Although the Tunesian PETM interval is quite expanded, no anomalous beds are observed and only the "CIE" core is partly represented as the top part of the PETM is truncated. In addition to a well-expressed CIE, the position of the Paleocene-Eocene boundary is supported by the appearance of nannoplankton (Discoaster araneus)and foraminiferal (e.g. Acarinina multicamerata)marker taxa. Furthermore, ostracode and benthic foraminiferal turnovers coincide with the onset of the PETM and are characterized by the disappearance of many common Paleocene taxa (e.g. Frondicularia aff. phosphatica) in this area. The lowest occurrences of Alocopocythere attitogonensis and Buntonia ? tunisiensis (ostracodes), Reophax sp. 1 (benthic foraminifera) and Fasciculithus tonii (calcareous nannplankton) may be applicable for regional correlation. These results indicate that characteristic PETM taxa evolved and/or dispersed immediately after the main δ13Corg shift.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference New Paleocene Sepiid Coleoids (Cephalopoda) from Egypt: Evolutionary Significance and Origin of the Sepiid ‘Rostrum’.
New coleoid cephalopods, assignable to the order Sepiida, are recorded from the Selandian/Thanetian boundary interval (Middle to Upper Paleocene transition, c. 59.2 Ma) along the southeastern margin (Toshka Lakes) of the Western Desert in Egypt. The two genera recognised, Aegyptosaepia n. gen. and ?Anomalosaepia Weaver and Ciampaglio, are placed in the families Belosaepiidae and ?Anomalosaepiidae, respectively. They constitute the oldest record to date of sepiids with a ‘rostrum-like’ prong. In addition, a third, generically and specifically indeterminate coleoid is represented by a single rostrum-like find. The taxonomic assignment of the material is based on apical parts (as preserved), i.e., guard, apical prong (or ‘rostrum-like’ structure), phragmocone and (remains of) protoconch, plus shell mineralogy. We here confirm the shell of early sepiids to have been bimineralic, i.e., composed of both calcite and aragonite. Aegyptosaepia lugeri n. gen., n. sp. reveals some similarities to later species of Belosaepia, in particular the possession of a distinct prong. General features of the phragmocone and protoconch of the new form are similar to both Belocurta (Middle Danian [Lower Paleocene]) and Belosaepia (Eocene). However, breviconic coiling and the presence of a longer ventral conotheca indicate closer ties with late Maastrichtian–Middle Danian Ceratisepia. In this respect, Aegyptosaepia n. gen. constitutes a link between Ceratisepia and the Eocene Belosaepia. The occurrence of the new genus near the Selandian/Thanetian boundary suggests an earlier origin of belosaepiids, during the early to Middle Paleocene. These earliest known belosaepiids may have originated in the Tethyan Realm. From northeast Africa, they subsequently spread to western India, the Arabian Plate and, probably via the Mediterranean region, to Europe and North America.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications