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Article Reference Shallow Suberitida (Porifera, Demospongiae) from Peru
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023 OA
Article Reference Environmental and climatic inferences for Marine Isotope Stage 2 of southern Belgium (Meuse valley, Namur Province) based on rodent assemblages
The environmental and climatic conditions of the Late Pleistocene of Southern Belgium are here determined for the final part of Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3) and for MIS 2 on the basis of a study of rodent assemblages. This paper provides a synthesis of several sets of environmental and climatic data from Late Pleistocene sites, all of which are located in southern Belgium. One has previously been published (Caverne Marie-Jeanne), and seven are unpublished (Cavernes de Goyet, Trou des Nutons, Trou du Frontal, Trou de Chaleux, Grotte la Chefalize, Trou du Chˆene, and Trou du Sureau). The habitat weighting and quantified ecology methods are applied to rodent material housed in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS, Brussels), and previous radiocarbon dates are updated, in order to reconstruct past environments. Among all the sites under analysis, the quantified ecology method shows that Trou de Chaleux corresponds to the coldest temperatures and lowest precipitation. Trou de Chaleux, with a chronology between ca. 15,964–14,014 cal yr B.P., could probably be placed in Greenland Stadial 2 (GS2) or Heinrich Event 1 (HE1). It has a rodent assemblage associated with a predominance of open dry and rocky formations, the most abundant species being the collared lemming and the narrow-headed vole. These data are found to coincide with previous studies carried out on the large-mammal, herpetofaunal, and avifaunal associations of the site, as well as on small-mammal associations from other sites in southern Belgium with similar chronology, such as Grotte Walou. Taken together, this indicates that these latest Pleistocene intervals in southern Belgium were characterized by harsh climatic and environmental conditions. In contrast, the other assemblages under study yielded much more heterogeneous results, frequently inconsistent with an attribution to the Pleistocene. This is likely to be a result of their admixture with Holocene material due to recent intrusions.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Extension of the lanternfly genus Neoalcathous Wang & Huang, 1989 to Vietnam with a new species and new subfamily placement (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Fulgoridae)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2018
Article Reference New distribution data in the genus Autocrates Thomson, 1860 (Coleoptera, Trictenotomidae)
Located in Library / No RBINS Staff publications
Article Reference Attagenus smirnovi (Zanthiev, 1973) aan de westrand van Brussel (Coleoptera: Dermestidae)
Located in Library / RBINS collections by external author(s)
Article Reference Ecological signal in the size and shape of marine amniote teeth
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022
Inproceedings Reference Platychelone emarginata gigantic Cretaceous marine turtle from Belgium
Platychelone emarginata Dollo, 1909 is a large turtle from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) chalk sediments of Limburg, Belgium. Hitherto, only the name was given to this turtle without describing details or providing figures. A single well articulated carapace (IRScNB. Reg. 1681), lacking nuchal, peripherals, and pygal plates, is preserved. The distance from the first costal to the distal end of the eighth costal is 180 cm, indicating that the original carapace was about 210 cm long. Its gigantic size, flattened shell, reduction of distal half of costals, and loss of scute sulcus, indicate that Platychelone is a member of true marine turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea). Neurals are rectangular shape and inclination of the first thoracic vertebra is almost vertical, suggesting this turtle belongs to either Protostegidae or Dermochelyidae. Seventh and eighth costals are medially meeting due to the loss of neurals; this condition is shared with the genus Mesodermochelys from the Late Cretaceous (Santonian to Maastrichtian) of Japan. Thus, it seems most probable that Platychelone is a closest relative of Mesodermochelys among basal dermochelyids. Platychelone has presumed autoapomorphic characters such as very thickened distal ends of thoracic ribs and irregular sculptures on carapace, not seen in any other chelonioids. This genus is only known by the holotype, whereas Allopleuron hoffmanni, a very common cheloniid marine turtle from in the Maastrichtian deposits of Belgium and Netherland, is known from some hundred specimens. So far, there is no ancestral or related taxon of Platychelone from the Campanian deposits of Belgium. The occurrence of Platychelone is very rare but evokes a high taxonomic diversity of gigantic chelonioids in the Cretaceous Tethys.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Inproceedings Reference The small-mammal assemblage from Caverne Marie-Jeanne (Hastière-Lavaux, Belgium): environmental and climatic approach of the marine isotope stage 3 in North-Western Europe
Small mammal faunas from the Pleistocene of Belgium are not well-known. Some have been studied from the second half of the Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene. However, only a few sites from the first half of the Late Pleistocene (Marine Isotope Stage 3, MIS 3, ca. 60-30 ka) have yielded small mammal assemblages. Among them is the Marie-Jeanne Cave that is situated in the southeast of Belgium, in the Ardennes region. It is formed in the Early Carboniferous limestone deposits above the Meuse River, near the town of Hastière-Lavaux. The excavated deposits evidenced ten different layers but only the layers 6 to 2 yieldeda large collection of faunal remains. Recent dating of the stratigraphic sequence of the Marie-Jeanne Cave shows that these layers have a chronological range pertaining to MIS 3 (about 50-40 ka BP). During the first field campaign in 1943, about 40 m3 of sedimentswereextracted recovering a large collection of disarticulated bone fragments and several plant, mollusc and archaeological remains housed at the RBINS. A first study of this material underlined the presence of 29 taxa of insectivores, bats and rodents. The recent revision of the material revealed 9897 identified specimens, corresponding to a minimum of 4980 individuals. This permitted us to add to the previous list two vole species, the steppe lemming Lagurus lagurus and the European pine vole Microtus (Terricola) subterraneus. We also undertook new paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstructions based on alternative methods from those previously used for the MIS 3 sequence of the Marie-Jeanne Cave. Our results indicate that MIS 3 is characterized by dynamic alternations of forest expansion with semiarid area expansion in accordance with the warming and cooling, respectively, of the sea-surface temperatures. It was in this context of rapid fluctuations that the terrestrial sequence of the Marie-Jeanne Cave in north-western Europe was formed. The fossiliferous layers underwent cold and dry environmental and climatic conditions. This is indicated by lower temperatures and slightly higher precipitation than today, together with an environment dominated by open woodland formations and open dry meadows. Our results are consistent with the available chronological, large-mammal, herpetofaunal, and mollusc datasets for this lower part of the sequence. They are also consistent with regional loess studies in Belgium and with previous work performed on small mammals from MIS 3 in Belgium and elsewhere in Europe. Grant Information: Generalitat de Catalunya projects, Synthesis Grants, PhD grant of the Erasmus Mundus Programme - International Doctorate in Quaternary and Prehistory.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference Environmental and climatic reconstruction of MIS 3 in northwestern Europe using the small-mammal assemblage from Caverne Marie-Jeanne (Hastière-Lavaux, Belgium)
Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3, ca. 60–30 ka) is characterized by dynamic alternations of forest expansion with semi-arid area expansion in accordance with the warming and cooling, respectively, of the sea-surface temperatures in Northern Europe. It was in this context of rapid fluctuations that the terrestrial sequence of Caverne Marie-Jeanne (Hastière-Lavaux, Belgium) in northwestern Europe was formed. The habitat weighting method and the bioclimaticmodel, as well as the Simpson diversity index, are applied to the small-mammal assemblage of CaverneMarie-Jeanne in order to reconstruct the environmental and climatic fluctuations that are reflected in the MIS 3 sequence of the cave. Revision of the small-mammal fossil material deposited in the collections of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS, Brussels, Belgium) shows that the lower layers (6 to 4) of the cave, pertaining to MIS 3 (ca. 50–40 ka), underwent cold, dry environmental and climatic conditions for these layers. This is indicated by temperatures lower than at present and precipitation slightly higher than at present, together with an environment dominated by openwoodland formations and open dry meadows. Our results are consistent with the available chronological, large-mammal, herpetofaunal and mollusc datasets for this lower part of the sequence. They are also consistentwith regional loess studies in Belgium andwith previouswork performed on small mammals from MIS 3 in Belgium and elsewhere in Europe.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference Review of the central African leaf chafer genus Entypophana Moser, 1913 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Schizonychini)
Located in Library / RBINS collections by external author(s)