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Article Reference Phylogenomics of Psammodynastes and Buhoma (Elapoidea: Serpentes), with the description of a new Asian snake family
Asian mock vipers of the genus Psammodynastes and African forest snakes of the genus Buhoma are two genera belonging to the snake superfamily Elapoidea. The phylogenetic placements of Psammodynastes and Buhoma within Elapoidea has been extremely unstable which has resulted in their uncertain and debated taxonomy. We used ultraconserved elements and traditional nuclear and mitochondrial markers to infer the phylogenetic relationships of these two genera with other elapoids. Psammodynastes, for which a reference genome has been sequenced, were found, with strong branch support, to be a relatively early diverging split within Elapoidea that is sister to a clade consisting of Elapidae, Micrelapidae and Lamprophiidae. Hence, we allocate Psammodynastes to its own family, Psammodynastidae new family. However, the phylogenetic position of Buhoma could not be resolved with a high degree of confidence. Attempts to identify the possible sources of conflict in the rapid radiation of elapoid snakes suggest that both hybridisation/introgression during the rapid diversification, including possible ghost introgression, as well as incomplete lineage sorting likely have had a confounding role. The usual practice of combining mitochondrial loci with nuclear genomic data appears to mislead phylogeny reconstructions in rapid radiation scenarios, especially in the absence of genome scale data.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Article Reference Whale evolution: Ancient toothed relative of baleen whales breaches northward
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Article Reference Lessons from assembling UCEs: A comparison of common methods and the case of Clavinomia (Halictidae)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Article Reference Salvation and documentation: additional (probable) type material of South American land-snail species (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora) in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Article Reference Lessons from the calibration and sensitivity analysis of a fish larval transport model
ABSTRACT: Numerous fish populations show strong year-to-year variations in recruitment. The early life stages play a crucial role in determining recruitment and dispersal patterns. A helpful tool to understand recruitment and dispersal involves simulations with a Lagrangian transport model, which results from the coupling between a hydrodynamic model and an individual-based model. Larval transport models require sound knowledge of the biological processes governing larval dispersal, and they may be highly sensitive to the parameters selected. Various assumptions about larval traits, behaviour and other model parameters can be tested by comparing simulation results with field data to identify the most sensitive parameters and to improve model calibration. This study shows that biological parameterization is more important than inter-annual variability in explaining the year-to-year differences in larval recruitment of common sole in the North Sea and the eastern English Channel. In contrast, year-to-year variability of connectivity leads to higher variability than changes in the biological parameters. The most influential parameters are pelagic larval duration, spawning period and mortality. Calibration over a 12 yr recruitment survey shows that a scenario with low mortality associated with a long larval duration and behaviour involving nycthemeral and tidal migration best reproduces the observations. This research provides insights into factors influencing fish dispersal and recruitment, suggesting a strategy for enhancing the accuracy of models in upcoming studies. The study supports the improvement of larval dispersal modelling by incorporating an easily applicable sensitivity analysis for both calibration and validation. Incorporating sensitivity analyses enhances larval dispersal models, providing performing tools that can contribute to informed fisheries management and understanding of recruitment variability.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Article Reference The transition between coastal and offshore areas in the North Sea unraveled by suspended particle composition
Identifying the mechanisms that contribute to the variability of suspended particulate matter concentrations in coastal areas is important but difficult, especially due to the complexity of physical and biogeochemical interactions involved. Our study addresses this complexity and investigates changes in the horizontal spread and composition of particles, focusing on cross-coastal gradients in the southern North Sea and the English Channel. A semi-empirical model is applied on in situ data of SPM and its organic fraction to resolve the relationship between organic and inorganic suspended particles. The derived equations are applied onto remote sensing products of SPM concentration, which provide monthly synoptic maps of particulate organic matter concentrations (here, particulate organic nitrogen) at the surface together with their labile and less reactive fractions. Comparing these fractions of particulate organic matter reveals their characteristic features along the coastal-offshore gradient, with an area of increased settling rate for particles generally observed between 5 and 30 km from the coast. We identify this area as the transition zone between coastal and offshore waters with respect to particle dynamics. Presumably, in that area, the turbulence range and particle composition favor particle settling, while hydrodynamic processes tend to transport particles of the seabed back towards the coast. Bathymetry plays an important role in controlling the range of turbulent dissipation energy values in the water column, and we observe that the transition zone in the southern North Sea is generally confined to water depths below 20 m. Seasonal variations in suspended particle dynamics are linked to biological processes enhancing particle flocculation, which do not affect the location of the transition zone. We identify the criteria that allow a transition zone and discuss the cases where it is not observed in the domain. The impact of these particle dynamics on coastal carbon storage and export is discussed.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024 OA
Article Reference Octet Stream Distribution model of shrimp species in lake Nokoué, Southern Benin, West Africa
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Deriving pre-eutrophic conditions from an ensemble model approach for the North-West European seas
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Quantifying the carbon benefits of ending bottom trawling
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Redescription of three fossil baleen whale skulls from the Miocene of Portugal reveals new cetotheriid phylogenetic insights
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024