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Article Reference Prionus antonkozlovi n. sp. de Chine (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Prioninae)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Article Reference The systematic position of Pamera noctuabunda Bergroth, 1907 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Rhyparochromidae), with a revised key to the species of Satlaria Harrington, 1980
Located in Library / RBINS collections by external author(s)
Article Reference The Old World species of Thinodromus Kraatz, 1857 morphologically resembling the former Apocellagria Cameron, 1920 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Oxytelinae)
Located in Library / RBINS collections by external author(s)
Article Reference Is vertebral shape variability in caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) constrained by forces experienced during burrowing?
Caecilians are predominantly burrowing, elongate, limbless amphibians that have been relatively poorly studied. Although it has been suggested that the sturdy and compact skulls of caecilians are an adaptation to their head-first burrowing habits, no clear relationship between skull shape and burrowing performance appears to exist. However, the external forces encountered during burrowing are transmitted by the skull to the vertebral column, and, as such, may impact vertebral shape. Additionally, the muscles that generate the burrowing forces attach onto the vertebral column and consequently may impact vertebral shape that way as well. Here, we explored the relationships between vertebral shape and maximal in vivo push forces in 13 species of caecilian amphibians. Our results show that the shape of the two most anterior vertebrae, as well as the shape of the vertebrae at 90% of the total body length, is not correlated with peak push forces. Conversely, the shape of the third vertebrae, and the vertebrae at 20% and 60% of the total body length, does show a relationship to push forces measured in vivo. Whether these relationships are indirect (external forces constraining shape variation) or direct (muscle forces constraining shape variation) remains unclear and will require quantitative studies of the axial musculature. Importantly, our data suggest that mid-body vertebrae may potentially be used as proxies to infer burrowing capacity in fossil representatives.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022
Article Reference Generalized osteosclerotic condition in the skeleton of Nanophoca vitulinoides, a dwarf seal from the Miocene of Belgium
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018
Inproceedings Reference Les collections de paléontologie de l’IRSNB : réelles et/ou virtuelles ?
Dans la course contre la montre à qui rendra le plus accessible les collections des musées d’histoire naturelle, l’Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique s’est doté d’outils maison « Open Source » afin de valoriser ses 38 millions de spécimens. Ceux-ci datent parfois d’époques reculées et demandent donc généralement une restauration et un reconditionnement physique (reboxing des Anglo-Saxons) ainsi que leur encodage dans des bases de données efficaces permettant à la fois l’inventaire et la géolocalisation dans les conservatoires où ils sont préservés. Dans ce cadre, la base de données Darwin « darwin.naturalsciences.be » (système de gestion PostgreSQL) stocke les données et métadonnées relatives aux spécimens des collections de l’IRSNB. La plateforme Virtual Collections « virtualcollections.naturalsciences.be » permet elle l’accès aux images et aux modèles 3D des spécimens types et figurés, bien nécessaire dans ce monde devenu (si) virtuel. Elle est divisée en six collections principales : entomologie, invertébrés récents, vertébrés récents, anthropologie-préhistoire, géologie et paléontologie. Cette dernière, bien que n’étant qu’au début du processus de numérisation de ses 42.000 types et figurés sur 3 millions de spécimens fossiles, n’en est pas la moins diversifiée au niveau des techniques de prises d’images. En effet, on y trouve déjà des photographies digitales à haute résolution prises en photostaking, d’autres au microscope électronique à balayage, sans compter des modèles tridimensionnels provenant d’acquisition par micro-tomographie ou photogrammétrie. Mais tout ceci n’aurait aucune valeur scientifique sans les données historiques et bibliographiques liées aux spécimens. Ce volet disponible via Collections«°collections.naturalsciences.be » sera développé pour la paléontologie dans une troisième phase. Il inclura, outre les données historiques et bibliographiques, les articles numérisés au format pdf. S’il est clair que ces trois outils virtuels aident grandement à l’accessibilité rapide des collections paléontologiques et à leurs données, ils ne remplacent toutefois pas les spécimens de référence qui font partie d’un patrimoine mondial (One World Collection initiative) et restent accessibles aux globe-trotteurs que sont les chercheurs.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018
Inproceedings Reference Reassessment of the morphology and taxonomic status of the varanid lizard Saniwa orsmaelensis from the early Eocene of Northwest Europe
Saniwa is an extinct genus of varanid lizard from the Eocene of North America and Europe. It is the sister taxon to the crown-group Varanus. Up to now, only one poorly known species is recognized from Europe, Saniwa orsmaelensis from the earliest Eocene of Dormaal, Belgium. This species originally named by Louis Dollo nearly a century ago, is the earliest varanid of Europe. Unfortunately, the material was limited to vertebrae with only preliminary description and no figure provided, except for one dorsal vertebra that later has been designated as the lectotype. Here we describe and illustrate new fossil specimens collected from Dormaal and other early Eocene localities of the Paris Basin, France, including dentary and maxilla fragments as well as skull material, allowing to reassess the validity of the European taxon. These fossils allow further comparisons with the type-species, Saniwa ensidens, from the late early Eocene Bridger and Green River formations of Wyoming and to propose a new diagnosis for S. orsmaelensis. The occurrence of S. orsmaelensis is restricted to the early Eocene of Northwest Europe and its geographic origin is unresolved because the earliest record of Saniwa in North America is also from the earliest Eocene. The brief presence of varanid lizards in the European Paleogene could result from two major climatic events. At the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum, large biotic interchanges occurred in the northern hemisphere allowing new dispersals into Europe. However, at the end of the Eocene, thermophilic lizards disappeared due to cooler conditions. Another hypothesis for their disappearance could be the competition that occurred with other anguimorph lizards. Grant Information: This abstract is a contribution to the Belspo Brain network project BR/121/A3/PalEurAfrica funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018
Inproceedings Reference Constructing a DNA barcode database of Belgian rove beetles (Staphylinidae) and its application in forensic cases
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Inproceedings Reference Untangling possible relationships between urbanization and the eco-evolutionary dynamics of the land snail Cepaea nemoralis
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Inproceedings Reference Molecular analysis of the Baikalodrilus species flock (Clitellata, Naididae), an endemic genus to Lake Baikal (Siberia, Russia)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016