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Book Reference 2nd international conference on biodiversity in the Congo Basin
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Inproceedings Reference A 1500 years-record of North Atlantic storminess from the Shetland Islands (UK) – preliminary insights
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Inbook Reference A Maastrichtian plant and dinosaur locality in Southern Chukotka: geology, stratigraphy, taxonomic composition
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inproceedings Reference A new Chinese partial skeleton revives questions about the multituberculate mammal Kryptobaatar
Multituberculates are an extinct rodent-like order that lived between Late Jurassic and late Eocene, on almost every continent. Due to their extraordinary longevity, their evolutive history is important to understand. One of the most numerous and best-preserved groups is the superfamily Djadochtatherioidea from the Late Cretaceous of the Gobi Desert. All djadochtatherioid genera are monospecific, except Kryptobaatar. The large number of K. dashzevegi fossils come from Outer Mongolia, while the only two specimens found in Bayan Mandahu, Inner Mongolia, China belong to K. mandahuensis. However, a new particularly well-preserved specimen (IMM 99BM-IV/5) found in Bayan Mandahu during the 1990s Sino-Belgian expeditions seems at first sight very close to K. dashzevegi. IMM 99BM-IV/5 consists of a skull associated with cervical and thoracic vertebrae, ribs, shoulder girdle, broken right humerus and an almost complete left forelimb. It is the first specimen for which the hand is described in detail. Based on micro-CT scan and comparison, it appears that IMM 99BM-IV/5 presents morphological characters of both species of Kryptobaatar, as well as new characters of its own. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that IMM 99BM-IV/5 has an intermediate position between K. dashzevegi and K. mandahuensis and could therefore belong to a new species. However, Kryptobaatar is paraphyletic in the resulting tree, which raises again questions about intraspecific variability in multituberculates. Since only 13 specimens of Kryptobaatar out of the hundreds found have been studied, it is impossible to reliably know if IMM 99BM-IV/5 is included in the variability of K. dashzevegi or not. However, it is crucial to know this variability to define whether the genus is monospecific or not. By comparing K. mandahuensis with published specimens, we concluded that it is a valid species. This work also highlighted the lack of knowledge of the variability of the type species K. dashzevegi, without which it is impossible to clearly assign IMM 99BM-IV/5. Finally, endemism alone is not the cause of this variability, but the role of paleoenvironment or age is currently unknown.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Inproceedings Reference A new small crocodylian skull from the early Paleocene of Qianshan, Anhui, China reveals an ancient Asian ghost lineage
The Crocodylia include all modern crocodiles, alligators, caimans and gharials, and their extinct relatives. They are an ancient lineage that originated around 70 million years ago. Recently, the field of crocodylian paleontology has experienced a rise in attention from researchers, however, much is still unknown about the early evolution of this group. Our research describes newly discovered fossil material comprised of a small crocodylian skull and associated partial lower jaw of early Paleocene age. It was discovered during a Belgian-Chinese expedition in Qianshan Basin, Anhui Province, China, as part of a bilateral cooperation project between the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In the present study, the fossil material is formally described for the first time. Micro-CT scans are made to visualize internal anatomical structures, as well as characters hidden by the sediment. A comprehensive morphological study is executed, revealing that the specimen is a juvenile. It likely constitutes a new species and genus, as it differs from other crocodyloids by several autapomorphies. A phylogenetic analysis based on morphological characteristics reveal that this specimen is the most basal taxon among Crocodyloidea, a group that comprises all species more closely related to modern crocodiles than to modern alligators, caimans, or gharials. Although it is not the oldest crocodyloid ever reported, it is the earliest crocodyloid in Asia. Moreover, its basal phylogenetic position implies that it is part of an ancient ghost lineage of crocodyloids that had already been around in Asia for a longer time. The presence of crocodyloid remains in the Late Cretaceous of North America and the late Paleocene of Europe suggests that crocodyloids may have migrated there from Asia early on in their evolutionary history.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Inproceedings Reference A pragmatic at-sea solution to comply with the multisource multibeam backscatter conundrum
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Inbook Reference A review of the Gravettian collections from the excavation of Maisières "Canal" (Prov. of Hainaut, Belgium). A combined study of fossil and non-fossil animal resources for alimentary and technical exploitation
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Inproceedings Reference Abc Taxa, Field guide to the brittle and basket stars (Echinodermata: ophiuroidea) of South Africa.
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.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Inproceedings Reference About canals and qanats: long-term human impact on Late Quaternary alluvial landscapes
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inproceedings Reference Amphibians and Squamates from the Late Pleistocene of Caverne Marie-Jeanne (Belgium)
Archaeological sites usually provide important information about the past distribution of the small vertebrate fauna, and by extension about past terrestrial environments and climate in which human activities took place. In this context, Belgium has an interesting location in North-western Europe between the well-studied zooarchaeological record of Germany and England. The Late Pleistocene (Marine Isotope Stages 3 and 2) locality of Caverne Marie-Jeanne (southeast of Belgium, Ardennes region) yielded a large collection of disarticulated bone fragments and numerous plant, mollusk, and archaeological remains. They have been collected during the first field campaign in 1943 and stored in the Quaternary collections of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. A recent revision of the rich micromammal fauna (31 taxa of insectivores, bats, and rodents among 9897 identified specimens, corresponding to a minimum of 4980 individuals) revealed the presence of the steppe lemming and the European pine vole. We present here the revision of the herpetofauna based on the 1970 Jean-Claude Rage’s study and the revision of the “indeterminate” small vertebrate specimens. It is now by far the largest Late Pleistocene collection of the Belgian institute with more than 20,500 recognized bones of amphibians and reptiles and covering the last 60,000 years. The herpetofaunal list now comprises two urodeles (Lissotriton gr. L. vulgaris and Salamandra salamandra), four anurans (Bufo gr. B. bufo-spinosus, Epidalea calamita, Rana temporaria and Rana cf. R. arvalis), three lizards (Lacerta cf. L. agilis, Zootoca vivipara and Anguis gr. A. fragilis) and three snakes (Natrix gr. N. natrix-astreptophora, Coronella austriaca and Vipera berus). This study highlights the first fossil record in Belgium for L. gr. L. vulgaris, R. arvalis, Z. vivipara, N. gr. N. natrix-astretophora and C. austriaca. This assemblage suggests a patchy humid landscape under colder and dryer climatic conditions in comparison with present ones. The study also underlines the importance to carefully reexamine old collections. Grant Information: Grant 2017-SGR-859 (Gov. of Catalonia, AGAUR), CGL2016-80000-P (Spanish Min. of Econ. & Comp.), RYC-2016-19386 (Ramón y Cajal), Synthesys BE-TAF-4385, -5469, -5468, -5708.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019