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Article Reference The “miacids” (Carnivoraformes, Mammalia) from the Early Eocene locality of Le Quesnoy (MP7, France); first occurrence of Vassacyon in Europe
We describe here “miacid” taxa from the Early Eocene Paris Basin locality of Le Quesnoy (Oise, France). We describe the new species Vassacyon taxidiotis, the first European record of this genus. The other “miacids” identified from Le Quesnoy are Miacis latouri and Gracilocyon solei. The P4 of G. solei is described here for the first time. Its morphology (e.g., wide protocone, short postmetacrista) supports a close relationship with Miacis rundlei from Abbey Wood (MP8 + 9, England). The latter species is therefore classified as Gracilocyon rundlei. Three new tooth positions are known for Miacis latouri: P4, p4 and m2. They support its reference to Miacis. These specimens imply that the European species is more basal than the North American species. The fauna from Le Quesnoy shares with Dormaal the presence of Miacis latouri and Gracilocyon solei, but the “miacid” fauna from Le Quesnoy also contains Vassacyon taxidiotis. The presence in Le Quesnoy of the two former taxa supports a reference to MP7 level of the French locality. The presence of three distinct genera in European localities show that the “Miacidae” were diversified in Europe, as previously observed in North America. The genera Gracilocyon, Miacis, and Vassacyon probably dispersed from Europe to North America during the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Macro- and megabenthic assemblages in the bathyal and abyssal Weddell Sea (Southern Ocean)
The assemblages inhabiting the continental shelf around Antarctica are known to be very patchy, in large part due to deep iceberg impacts. The present study shows that richness and abundance of much deeper benthos, at slope and abyssal depths, also vary greatly in the Southern and South Atlantic oceans. On the ANDEEP III expedition, we deployed 16 Agassiz trawls to sample the zoobenthos at depths from 1055 to 4930 m across the northern Weddell Sea and two South Atlantic basins. A total of 5933 specimens, belonging to 44 higher taxonomic groups, were collected. Overall the most frequent taxa were Ophiuroidea, Bivalvia, Polychaeta and Asteroidea, and the most abundant taxa were Malacostraca, Polychaeta and Bivalvia. Species richness per station varied from 6 to 148. The taxonomic composition of assemblages, based on relative taxon richness, varied considerably between sites but showed no relation to depth. The former three most abundant taxa accounted for 10-30\% each of all taxa present. Standardised abundances based on trawl catches varied between 1 and 252 individuals per 1000 m2. Abundance significantly decreased with increasing depth, and assemblages showed high patchiness in their distribution. Cluster analysis based on relative abundance showed changes of community structure that were not linked to depth, area, sediment grain size or temperature. Generally abundances of zoobenthos in the abyssal Weddell Sea are lower than shelf abundances by several orders of magnitude. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Article Reference Annotated checklist of the rotifers (Phylum Rotifera), with notes on nomenclature, taxonomy and distribution
Phylum Rotifera comprises about 2030 known species classified in three main groups, the marine Seisonida (3 species), the Monogononta (1570 species) and the unique, exclusively parthenogenetic Bdelloidea with 461 clonal species. Here I present an annotated checklist of the taxon, giving the global distribution of the valid species. This checklist contains over 3,000 available names at the genus- and species-group level, including valid names and a non-comprehensive list of synonyms. A number of taxonomic and nomenclatural suggestions following from the review is presented. Suggestions include several new synonyms and two nomina nova: Dissotrocha kostei for Dissotrocha aculeata Koste, 1996 non Ehrenberg, 1838 (stat. nov., ex. Dissotrocha hertzogi aculeata) and Lepadella zigzag for Lepadella bractea Myers, 1934 non (Ehrenberg, 1838). This contribution also describes features of an on-line, global names database of the Rotifera, on which this checklist is based. Copyright © 2007 Magnolia Press.
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Article Reference Note on a highly diverse rotifer assemblage (Rotifera: Monogononta) in a Laotian rice paddy and adjacent pond
During August 1999, the authors conducted a sampling campaign in the PDR Laos, in order to contribute to the chorology of rotifers in the region. Two samples, collected from a rice paddy and an adjacent pond near Vientiane, Laos, contained a total of 135 rotifer species including several that appear new to science or that warrant taxonomical or biogeographical comments. No new species can be named, but Cephalodella boettgeri KOSTE and Floscularia armata SEGERS are recorded for the second time ever after their description from South America, and Parencentrum lutetiae (HARRING and MYERS) and Polyarthra luminosa KUTIKOVA are new to Southeast Asia. This raises the number of rotifers recorded from Laos from 9 to 130. The diversity recorded is remarkable, especially when compared with that of similar habitats in the Thai part of the floodplain of River Mekong and its tributaries. Different agricultural practices may account for the difference in species richness. Similar highly diverse rotifer faunas are known to occur in natural, tropical and subtropical floodplain systems only. This accords with the view that rice paddies can be regarded as artificial wetlands or floodplain systems, which, if managed taking biodiversity concerns into account, may have a potential for the conservation of freshwater biodiversity. © 2007 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.
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Article Reference Revision of the Cancellariidae (Mollusca, Neogastropoda, Cancellarioidea) of the eastern Atlantic (40°N-40°S) and the Mediterranean
The Cancellariidae living off the western African coast, the mid-Atlantic Islands and in the Mediterranean Sea are reviewed. Twenty species are studied: 3 Admetula, 1 Axelella, 2 Bivetiella, 4 Brocchinia, 1 Cancellaria s.l., 1 Nothoadmete, 1 Loxotaphrus, 2 Solatia, 1 Sveltia, 2 Tribia, and 2 Trigonostoma. Trigonostoma gofasi n. sp. is distinguished from the western African T. scala (Gmelin, 1791) n. comb, by its multispiral protoconch, wider umbilicus, smooth columellar callus, axial ribs on the sutural ramp not reaching the suture, and the absence of a siphonal fasciole; and from the central western American T. goniostoma (Sowerby, 1832) in its wider umbilicus, more deviated columella and in being less elongate. A species of Solatia which has previously been recognised as new, is not named due to lack of adequate material. The species name in the combination Voluta cancellata Linnaeus, 1767 is declared nomen protectum, making the senior name Murex scabriculus Linnaeus, 1758 invalid as nomen oblitum. A neotype is designated for Murex scala Gmelin, 1791. A lectotype is designated for Cancellaria minima Reeve, 1856, Cancellaria similu Sowerby, 1833, Voluta lyrata Brocchi, 1814, Cancellaria angasi Crosse, 1863 and Cancellaria rigida Sowerby, 1832; the latter name refers to a West African and not a West American species. Distribution data are updated, and relations to fossil taxa are indicated when applicable. The protoconchs of 17 species are figured; only the protoconch type of the bathyal species Brocchinia decapensis and Nothoadmete euthymei n. comb, remain unknown. Egg capsules attributed to one of the North West African Bivetiella species are figured. © Publications Scientifiques du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle.
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Article Reference Diversity of rotifer fauna from five coastal peat swamps on phuket island, southern Thailand
A total of 133 rotifer species was identified from five coastal peat swamps on Phuket Island. Of these, Dicranophoroides sp.A and Harringia rousseleti were new to Thailand. The most speciose genus was Lecane (30.82\%), followed by Lepadella (12.03\%). The highest species richness occurred in Jae-Son (100 species), followed byJik (84 species), Jood (67 species), Mai-Khao (65 species) and Sra-Boua (48 species), respectively. One hundred and ninety-three rotifer species are now known from peat swamps in Thailand.
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Article Reference Ancient DNA reveals lack of postglacial habitat tracking in the arctic fox
How species respond to an increased availability of habitat, for example at the end of the last glaciation, has been well established. In contrast, little is known about the opposite process, when the amount of habitat decreases. The hypothesis of habitat tracking predicts that species should be able to track both increases and decreases in habitat availability. The alternative hypothesis is that populations outside refugia become extinct during periods of unsuitable climate. To test these hypotheses, we used ancient DNA techniques to examine genetic variation in the arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) through an expansion/contraction cycle. The results show that the arctic fox in midlatitude Europe became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene and did not track the habitat when it shifted to the north. Instead, a high genetic similarity between the extant populations in Scandinavia and Siberia suggests an eastern origin for the Scandinavian population at the end of the last glaciation. These results provide new insights into how species respond to climate change, since they suggest that populations are unable to track decreases in habitat availability. This implies that arctic species may be particularly vulnerable to increases in global temperatures. © 2007 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA.
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Article Reference Esperiopsis koltuni sp. nov. (Demospongiae: Poecilosclerida: Esperiopsidae), a carnivorous sponge from deep water of the Sea of Okhotsk (North Pacific)
Esperiopsis koltuni, a new species of the sponge family Esperiopsidae, is described from deep water of the Sea of Okhotsk. The new species has a unique growth form: there is a basal plate with radiating cylindrical branches, whose oval flat distal parts bear filament-like outgrowths. Megascleres are arranged differently in the main part of branches and in their distal flat parts. The dermal membrane contains isochelae with protruding alae and abundant sigmancistras. Microscleres are represented by large anchorate spatuliferous isochelae, small isochelae, sigmas and sigmancistras. Esperiopsis koltuni sp. nov. is hermaphroditic, with parenchymella larva. The larval skeleton consists only of sigmas and sigmancistras. Esperiopsis koltuni sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from other Esperiopsis species by dimensions and combination of spicule types. In particular, it is the only species in the genus with three different size categories of styles. The new species lacks the aquiferous system, has a characteristic body plan with symmetrical lateral expansions, an unusual arrangement of microscleres in the dermal membrane and true sigmancistras. Moreover, prey capture by a filament-like outgrowth of the flat distal part was observed. All of these characteristics indicate that Esperiopsis koltuni sp. nov. is a carnivorous sponge.
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Article Reference Antrobathynella stammeri (Jakobi, 1954) : The first record of bathynellacea (Crustacea : Syncarida) in Belgium
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Article Reference Spiniferaphonte, a new genus of Laophontidae (Copepoda: Harpacticoida), with notes on the occurrence of processes on the caudal rami
A new genus and species of Laophontidae, Spiniferaphonte ornata n. gen., n. sp., is described from the coast of Kenya. The new genus is closely related to Laophontina and Wellsiphontina as shown by the following synapomorphies: a denticulate operculum, a sexually dimorphic P4 exopod (reduced chaetotaxy of the ultimate segment in the male), and the absence of sexual dimorphism in the P2 and P3 endopods. The two-segmented exopod of P1 and the presence of a seta on the endopodal part of the male P5 are plesiomorphies indicating that the new genus represents a separate lineage within this group. The proposal of the new genus Spiniferaphonte is supported by the following autapomorphies: three smooth setae on the female P5 exopod and a robust, dorsally bent, and strongly sclerotised caudal seta V. Within the Laophontidae, it is striking that the presence of distinct, thorn-like processes on the caudal rami is limited to interstitial genera. Distinct processes on the proximal segments of the antennule and a proximally thickened caudal seta V also appear to be associated with this interstitiality. These structures may play a role in the movement and the anchoring of the animals in their interstitial habitat.
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