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Abc Taxa, Field guide to the brittle and basket stars (Echinodermata: ophiuroidea) of South Africa.
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Brittle and basket stars (ophiuroids) are one of five extant classes of the phylum Echinodermata and have a fossil record dating back almost 500 million years to the Early Ordovician. Today they remain diverse and widespread, with over 260 described genera and over 2 000 extant species globally, more than any other class of echinoderm. Ophiuroid species are found across all marine habitats from the intertidal shore to the abyss. In southern Africa, the ophiuroid fauna has been studied extensively by a number of authors and is relatively well-known. The last published review of the southern African Ophiuroidea however was by Clark and Courtman-Stock in 1976. It included 101 species reported from within the boundaries of South Africa. In the 40 years since that publication the number of species has risen to 136. This identification guide, which is the nineteenth volume of the series Abc Taxa includes a taxonomic key to all 136 species, and gives key references, distribution maps, diagnoses, scaled photographs (where possible), and a synthesis of known ecological and depth information for each. The guide is designed to be comprehensive, well-illustrated and easy to use for both naturalists and professional biologists. Taxonomic terms, morphological characteristics and technical expressions are defined and described in detail, with illustrations to clarify some aspects of the terminology. A checklist of all species in the region is also included, and indicates which species are endemic (33), for which we report significant range extensions (23), which have been recorded as new to the South African fauna (28) since the previous monograph of Clark and Courtman-Stock (1976) and which have undergone taxonomic revisions since that time (28). This contribution delivers a copiously illustrated overview of the volume and details how it has been diffused in South Africa and beyond.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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The holothurian subgenus Mertensiothuria (Aspidochirotida: Holothuriidae) revisited.
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Mertensiothuria is one of the 20 subgenera currently recognized under Holothuria. The diagnosis of the subgenus is amended with new information on the ossicles found in the longitudinal muscles. The number of species of Mertensiothuria considered to be valid at present is six. These species are redescribed on the basis of new material, type and non-type museum material and on re-evaluation of literature. Two of them, Holothuria hilla and Holothuria aphanes, are transferred from the subgenus Thymiosycia to Mertensiothuria. Four species formerly referred to Mertensiothuria are removed; provisionally they are not referred to any of the known subgenera of Holothuria. Full annotated descriptions or (where the type material was not available) references to the literature are given for each species. An identification key is given to the species belonging to the subgenus Mertensiothuria.
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The genus Labidodemas (Holothuriidae:Aspidochirotida) revisited with description of three new species and with re-positioning of Holothuria (Irenothuria) macculochi Deichman, 1958
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Prior to the present revision the taxon Labidodemas comprised Labidodemas americanum, L. pertinax, L. rugosum and L. semperianum. An up-to-date re- evaluation of the group proved that at least four additional species need to be assigned to it. Three of these are new to science: one has recently been discovered in the shallow waters of KwaZulu-Natal, Republic of South Africa; one originates from Low Island, Australia, and was erroneously identified as L. semperianum, and one stems from South-West Sulawesi, again erroneously identified as L. semperianum. In addition, Holothuria maccullochi, classified in the monotypic subgenus Irenothuria, and Holothuria proceraspina are assigned to Labidodemas; the former as a valid species and the latter as a synonym of L. semperianum. Annotated taxonomic descriptions, distribution maps and an identification key are given. The new observation that L. americanum possesses Cuvierian tubules suggests that its rank remains at generic level rather than at family level as was recently proposed.
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Het Woestijnegoed en het kasteel van Woestijne
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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New mtDNA and Isotopic Evidence on Late Pleistocene Cave Bears in the Balkans: the Case-study of Magura Cave, NW Bulgaria
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Recent genetic studies have shed light on the phylogeography of cave bears; however, their paleoecology and their diet are still debated, and data from south-eastern Europe are still scarce. Magura Cave, in northwest Bulgaria, has delivered rich faunal assemblages from the Late Pleistocene. The chronology of the excavated area spans from ca. 35 kya to more than 50 kya; the oldest stratigraphic layers being associated with final Middle Palaeolithic tools. The fauna comprises herbivores and carnivores, and potentially different taxa of cave bears, the dental remains of which also showed different tooth morphotypes, suggesting the co-existence of different dietary adaptations. We investigated the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages of the cave bears from Magura Cave as well as the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope composition of the faunal assemblage. Our data revealed that, regardless of the tooth morphotypes, only maternal lineages of Ursus ingressus were present in Magura Cave. Interestingly, one specimen with Ursus arctos mtDNA was also found, showing a clear carnivore diet. In contrast, the U. ingressus specimens had a predominantly herbivorous diet. The tooth morphotypes were associated with significantly different δ13C values, suggesting different dietary adaptations.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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Devonian and Carboniferous dendroid graptolites from Belgium and their significance for the taxonomy of the Dendroidea
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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Using ancient DNA to identify Bos primigenius in ancient cattle remains from Belgium
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Aurochs (Bos primigenius) are the wild ancestors of the domesticated taurine cattle (Bos taurus). During the Holocene, populations of aurochs gradually declined until their extinction at the turn of the 17th century. DNA data suggest that domestic cattle in Europe descended from Near East aurochs that were domesticated and brought to Europe by the first farmers during the Neolithic period. Hybridization occurred more recently in Europe between domestic cattle and local wild aurochs. Most aurochs can be distinguished from domestic cattle osteometrically, but large-sized domestic cattle may be misidentified as aurochs. Based on mitochondrial DNA, most European aurochs differ from domestic cattle (haplogroup “P” versus “T”). With the aim to provide new data on the former distribution of aurochs in Europe, we used mitochondrial DNA to identify large bovid bones attributed to aurochs and dating from Epipaleolithic to medieval times. DNA was extracted from the bones of 11 specimens from Belgium in an ancient DNA lab. Shotgun DNA sequencing provided raw reads comprising 0.02-10% of endogenous DNA. For three samples, reads covered 74-98% of the bovid mitochondrial genome and enabled the identification of one aurochs from the Bronze Age (haplogroup “P”) and two cows from Roman and medieval times (haplogroup “T”). Among the other samples (covering 2-18% of the mitogenome), three Roman specimens could be assigned to the haplogroup “T” based on a few diagnostic positions. This study provides the first mitogenomic data for a Belgian aurochs and contributes to the identification of exceptionally large Roman bovid remains.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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Anatomy, Relationships, and Paleobiology of Cambaytherium (Mammalia, Perissodactylamorpha, Anthracobunia) from the lower Eocene of western India
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The anatomy of Cambaytherium, a primitive, perissodactyl-like mammal from the lower Eocene Cambay Shale Formation of Gujarat, India, is described in detail on the basis of more than 350 specimens that represent almost the entire dentition and the skeleton. Cambaytherium combines plesiomorphic traits typical of archaic ungulates such as phenacodontids with derived traits characteristic of early perissodactyls. Cambaytherium was a subcursorial animal better adapted for running than phenacodontids but less specialized than early perissodactyls. The cheek teeth are bunodont with large upper molar conules, not lophodont as in early perissodactyls; like perissodactyls, however, the lower molars have twinned metaconids and m3 has an extended hypoconulid lobe. A steep wear gradient with heavy wear in the middle of the tooth row suggests an abrasive herbivorous diet. Three species of Cambaytherium are recognized: C. thewissi (∼23 kg), C. gracilis (∼10 kg), and C. marinus (∼99 kg). Body masses were estimated from tooth size and long bone dimensions. Biostratigraphic and isotopic evidence indicates an age of ca. 54.5 Ma for the Cambay Shale vertebrate fauna, the oldest Cenozoic continental vertebrate assemblage from India, near or prior to the initial collision with Asia. Cambaytheriidae (also including Nakusia and Perissobune) and Anthracobunidae are sister taxa, constituting the clade Anthracobunia, which is sister to Perissodactyla. We unite them in a new higher taxon, Perissodactylamorpha. The antiquity and occurrence of Cambaytherium—the most primitive known perissodactylamorph—in India near or before its collision with Asia suggest that Perissodactyla evolved during the Paleocene on the Indian Plate or in peripheral areas of southern or southwestern Asia.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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New and poorly known species of Cancellariidae (Neogastropoda: Cancellarioidea) from the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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Uncertainty assessment applied to marine subsurface datasets
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A recently released voxel model quantifying aggregate resources of the Belgian part of the North Sea includes lithological properties of all Quaternary sediments and modelling-related uncertainty. As the underlying borehole data come from various sources and cover a long time-span, data-related uncertainties should be accounted for as well. Applying a tiered data-uncertainty assessment to a composite lithology dataset with uniform, standardized lithological descriptions and rigorously completed metadata fields, uncertainties were qualified and quantified for positioning, sampling and vintage. The uncertainty on horizontal positioning combines navigational errors, on-board and off-deck offsets and underwater drift. Sampling-gear uncertainty evaluates the suitability of each instrument in terms of its efficiency of sediment yield per lithological class. Vintage uncertainty provides a likelihood of temporal change since the moment of sampling, using the mobility of fine-scale bedforms as an indicator. For each uncertainty component, quality flags from 1 (very uncertain) to 5 (very certain) were defined and converted into corresponding uncertainty percentages meeting the input requirements of the voxel model. Obviously, an uncertainty-based data selection procedure, aimed at improving the confidence of data products, reduces data density. Whether or not this density reduction is detrimental to the spatial coverage of data products, will depend on their intended use. At the very least, demonstrable reductions in spatial coverage will help to highlight the need for future data acquisition and to optimize survey plans. By opening up our subsurface model with associated data uncertainties in a public decision support application, policy makers and other end users are better able to visualize overall confidence and identify areas with insufficient coverage meeting their needs. Having to work with a borehole dataset that is increasingly limited with depth below the seabed, engineering geologists and geospatial analysts in particular will profit from a better visualization of datarelated uncertainty.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
