We describe a stem group representative of Diomedeidae from the early Oligocene (Rupelian) of Belgium. The fossil remains, wing, and pectoral girdle bones of two individuals are described as Tydea septentrionalis, gen. et sp. nov., and constitute the earliest well-established record of the taxon and the first Paleogene record from the North Sea Basin. The new species was about the size of the extant Black-browed Albatross (Thalassarche melanophris) and establishes that albatrosses had already reached a large size 30 mya. The wing bones of T. septentrionalis are distinguished by several plesiomorphic features from those of species in crown group Diomedeidae, which may indicate differences in aerodynamic performance between the fossil species and extant albatrosses. We detail that a previously described early Miocene species, “Plotornis” arvernensis, should be expunged from the fossil record of albatrosses. However, the new fossils provide further evidence that the extant, mainly Southern Hemispheric, distribution of albatrosses is relictual compared with the past distribution of the total group (stem group + crown group). With unambiguous records from the early Oligocene, early Miocene, and Pliocene, albatrosses are now known to have had a long evolutionary history in the European part of the North Atlantic, but the reasons for their extinction remain poorly understood
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Although prehistoric sites frequently contain numerous fragments and traces of many different kinds of colouring matter, intensive study of this type of archaeological remains began only recently. Such studies, aimed at determining how raw materials formed and changed over time, and how they were transported by the groups of humans who used them, are extremely valuable as they reveal shared strategies, that is, cultural traditions and the spaces in which they developed. The scope of this paper focusses on the description of the main geological contexts in which ferruginous colouring materials form and are found. In the framework of a collective research program called Pigmentothèque (iron- and manganese-rich rocks and minerals library), geological surveys are conducted taking into consideration the geological settings in which colouring materials are present and using a common record and sampling methodology which is followed by petrophysical, mineralogical and chemical analyses based on a shared procedure and vocabulary. In order to go beyond descriptions based solely on colour and chemical composition, we describe the great variety of iron-rich materials that can be used to obtain colouring matter. This diversity in the formation and evolution of iron-rich materials must be taken into account when trying to understand past humans’ choices of raw materials, their provenance and the anthropogenic and natural modifications they have undergone. We also describe criteria for recognising cohesive remains of colouring matter during archaeological excavations, so these artefacts can take their place alongside other mineral resources in helping improve our understanding of past societies.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
