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Soil properties only weakly affect subterranean ant distribution at small spatial scales
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Soil-litter arthropod communities under pasture land use in southern Rwanda
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Land use change caused by human activities is the main driver of biodiversity loss and changes in ecosystem functioning. However, less is known about how the conversion of a natural to pasture land favour the biological diversity of soil-litter arthropods to advance effective conservation plans and management systems. To fill the gap, this study focussed on soil-litter arthropod communities under a pasture land use in southern Rwanda. Data have been collected using pitfall traps and hand collection between April and June 2021. Sampled specimens of soil-litter arthropods have been identified to order and family levels by using dichotomous keys. Further, the species name was given when the identification key was available, while the morphological description was provided in absence of the identification keys. Results indicated a total of 3013 individuals of soil-litter arthropods grouped into 3 classes, 13 orders, 46 families and 87 morpho-species. Coleoptera showed a high number of families, while higher abundance and the number of morpho-species were found for ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Higher abundance of sampled soil-litter arthropods is a sign that the studied area offers suitable habitat for soil-litter arthropods. However, less abundance found for some groups of soil-litter arthropods might be influenced by the used sampling techniques which were not appropriate for them. We recommend surveys using multiple sampling techniques to maximize chances of capturing a wide range of soil-litter arthropods.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
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Soil‑litter arthropod communities under pasture land use in southern Rwanda
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Land use change caused by human activities is the main driver of biodiversity loss and changes in ecosystem functioning. However, less is known about how the conversion of a natural to pasture land favour the biological diversity of soil-litter arthropods to advance efective conservation plans and management systems. To fll the gap, this study focussed on soil-litter arthropod communities under a pasture land use in southern Rwanda. Data have been collected using pitfall traps and hand collection between April and June 2021. Sampled specimens of soil-litter arthropods have been identifed to order and family levels by using dichotomous keys. Further, the species name was given when the identifcation key was available, while the morphological description was provided in absence of the identifcation keys. Results indicated a total of 3013 individuals of soil-litter arthropods grouped into 3 classes, 13 orders, 46 families and 87 morpho-species. Coleoptera showed a high number of families, while higher abundance and the number of morpho-species were found for ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Higher abundance of sampled soil-litter arthropods is a sign that the studied area ofers suitable habitat for soil-litter arthropods. However, less abundance found for some groups of soil-litter arthropods might be infuenced by the used sampling techniques which were not appropriate for them. We recommend surveys using multiple sampling techniques to maximize chances of capturing a wide range of soil-litter arthropods
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
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Solen poppei, a new species from Vietnam (Bivalvia: Solenidae)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2016
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Solving a taxonomic puzzle: integrative taxonomy reveals new cryptic and polymorphic species of Oscarella in south-eastern Brazil (Homoscleromorpha : Oscarellidae)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
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Solving the missing pieces of the gharial puzzle: new phylogenetic framework combining morphological, molecular, and biostratigraphic data to unravel the evolution of long-snouted crocodylians.
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Among the extant crocodylians are two species with long, narrow snouts: Gavialis gangeticus,the Indian gharial and Tomistoma schlegelii, the "false" gharial. These enigmatic species are considered by the IUCN red list as critically endangered and vulnerable, respectively. However, despite this, knowledge of their evolutionary history is lacking. Extensive debate has surrounded the gharials for over four decades and remains unsolved today: the so-called gharial problem. Whereas molecular studies consistently indicate that these two species are sister taxa, morphological studies of both living and fossil taxa find that they belong to distantly related lineages. Moreover, molecular clock estimates indicate a shallow divergence time of 18-31 million years ago. This entirely contradicts the rich fossil record of gharials: in contrast to the modern gharials, these fossil taxa comprise a huge diversity and suggest that tomistomines and gavialines have diverged from each other at least 70 million years ago, prior to the K/Pg mass extinction. European museums, and especially the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, comprise rich collections containing many of the oldest fossil gavialoids, crucial to solving the gharial problem. Nevertheless, few modern morphological studies have been performed on these specimens, and their stratigraphic age is often poorly constrained. Therefore, in a new project we will use a multidisciplinary approach to study these specimens, combining morphological study and biostratigraphic analyses using dinoflagellate cysts. Moreover, we will revise the classical methods used by paleontologists to study fossil crocodylians, devising a new phylogenetic framework that makes use of both morphological, molecular, and biostratigraphic data. Here, we will present some of the first preliminary results of this project.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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Species turnover between the northern and southern part of the South China Sea in the Elaphropeza Macquart Mangrove fly communities of Hong Kong and Singapore (Insecta: Diptera: Hybotidae)
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No RBINS Staff publications
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Species-area relationships are modulated by trophic rank, habitat affinity, and dispersal ability
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Sperm whales from the Miocene of the North Sea: a re-appraisal
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Spiniferaphonte, a new genus of Laophontidae (Copepoda: Harpacticoida), with notes on the occurrence of processes on the caudal rami
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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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