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Techreport Reference Seabed CommUnity Initiative: communicating sustainability challenges of marine sand use in a changing world <Seabed4U>. Final Report.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022 OA
Techreport Reference Residual currents and transports near the C-Power and Norther wind farms
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022 OA
Article Reference Tremadocian and Floian (Ordovician) linguliformean brachiopods from the Stavelot–Venn Massif (Avalonia; Belgium and Germany)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022
Article Reference One to host them all: genomics of the diverse bacterial endosymbionts of the spider Oedothorax gibbosus
Bacterial endosymbionts of the groups Wolbachia , Cardinium and Rickettsiaceae are well known for their diverse effects on their arthropod hosts, ranging from mutualistic relationships to reproductive phenotypes. Here, we analysed a unique system in which the dwarf spider Oedothorax gibbosus is co-infected with up to five different endosymbionts affiliated with Wolbachia , ‘Candidatus Tisiphia’ (formerly Torix group Rickettsia ), Cardinium and Rhabdochlamydia . Using short-read genome sequencing data, we show that the endosymbionts are heterogeneously distributed among O. gibbosus populations and are frequently found co-infecting spider individuals. To study this intricate host–endosymbiont system on a genome-resolved level, we used long-read sequencing to reconstruct closed genomes of the Wolbachia , ‘Ca. Tisiphia’ and Cardinium endosymbionts. We provide insights into the ecology and evolution of the endosymbionts and shed light on the interactions with their spider host. We detected high quantities of transposable elements in all endosymbiont genomes and provide evidence that ancestors of the Cardinium , ‘Ca. Tisiphia’ and Wolbachia endosymbionts have co-infected the same hosts in the past. Our findings contribute to broadening our knowledge about endosymbionts infecting one of the largest animal phyla on Earth and show the usefulness of transposable elements as an evolutionary ‘contact-tracing’ tool.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Ocean acidification modifies behaviour of shelf seabed macrofauna: A laboratory study on two ecosystem engineers, Abra alba and Lanice conchilega
The feeding activity and burrow ventilation by benthic invertebrates importantly affect the biodiversity and functioning of seafloor sediments. Here we investigated how ocean acidification can modify these behavioural activities in two common and abundant macrofaunal ecosystem engineering species in temperate continental shelf communities: the white furrow shell Abra alba and the sand mason Lanice conchilega. Using time-lapse imagery and sediment porewater hydraulic signatures we show that both species adapt their behaviour in response to predicted future pH conditions (-0.3 units). During a three-week laboratory experiment, A. alba reduced the duration per feeding event when suspension and deposit feeding (by 86 and 53%, respectively), and almost completely ceased suspension feeding under reduced seawater pH in comparison to ambient seawater pH (pH ~ 8.2). This behavioural change reduces the intake of low pH water during feeding and respiration. L. conchilega increased its piston-pumping frequency by 30 and 52%, respectively, after one and two weeks of exposure to future pH conditions (-0.3 units) relative to ambient conditions. This change in irrigation activity suggests higher metabolic demands under low seawater pH, and also extended low water column pH conditions deeper into the seafloor. Because the distribution of other populations depends on the physicochemical setting by our focal species, we argue that the demonstrated behavioural plasticity will likely have cascading effects on seafloor diversity and functioning, highlighting the complexity of how ocean acidification, and climate change in general, will affect seafloor ecology.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Challenges and a call to action for protecting European red wood ants
Red wood ants (RWAs) are a group of keystone species widespread in temperate and boreal forests of the Northern Hemisphere. Despite this, there is increasing evidence of local declines and extinctions. We reviewed the current protection status of RWAs throughout Europe and their International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) threat classification. Only some RWA species have been assessed at a global scale, and not all national red lists of the countries where RWAs are present include these species. Different assessment criteria, inventory approaches, and risk categories are used in different countries, and data deficiency is frequent. Legislative protection is even more complex, with some countries protecting RWAs implicitly together with the wildlife fauna and others explicitly protecting the whole group or particular species. This complexity often occurs within countries, for example, in Italy, where, outside of the Alps, only the introduced species are protected, whereas the native species, which are in decline, are not. Therefore, an international, coordinated framework is needed for the protection of RWAs. This first requires that the conservation target should be defined. Due to the similar morphology, complex taxonomy, and frequent hybridization, protecting the entire RWA group seems a more efficient strategy than protecting single species, although with a distinction between autochthonous and introduced species. Second, an update of the current distribution of RWA species is needed throughout Europe. Third, a protection law cannot be effective without the collaboration of forest managers, whose activity influences RWA habitat. Finally, RWA mounds offer a peculiar microhabitat, hosting a multitude of taxa, some of which are obligate myrmecophilous species on the IUCN Red List. Therefore, RWAs’ role as umbrella species could facilitate their protection if they are considered not only as target species but also as providers of species-rich microhabitats.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022
Inproceedings Reference Un crâne de crocodilien du Paléocène inférieur de Chine recule l'apparition des crocodyloïdes en Asie
Les plus anciens crocodiliens (Crocodylia) d’Asie ne sont représentés jusqu’à présent que par des alligatoroïdes et des planocraniidés. Bien que les crocodyloïdes ne soient pas connus avec certitude avant l’Éocène supérieur, l’hypothèse a été émise que des crocodyloïdes basaux de type Asiatosuchus étaient originaires d’Asie avant la fin du Paléocène. Nous décrivons ici un nouveau crocodyloïde fossile provenant du Paléocène inférieur du Bassin de Qianshan, province d’Anhui, Chine. Le crâne et le fragment de mâchoire inférieure associé présentent plusieurs caractéristiques typiques de crocodiliens juvéniles. Ils présentent également une combinaison de caractères non observés dans aucun autre taxon, ce qui justifie l’érection d’une nouvelle espèce et d’un nouveau genre. Les affinités phylogénétiques sont testées dans des analyses basées sur deux matrices de caractères récentes d’Eusuchia. Pour évaluer l’effet des caractéristiques juvéniles sur le résultat des analyses phylogénétiques, des spécimens juvéniles des crocodiliens actuels Alligator mississippiensis et Crocodylus niloticus ont été analysés de la même manière, montrant que l’effet de leur stade ontogénétique sur leur position dans l’arbre est minime. Nos analyses indiquent que le nouveau taxon de Qianshan occupe une position basale au sein des Crocodyloidea. La présence de ces derniers en Asie est donc reculée au Paléocène inférieur, soit 15 à 20 millions d’années plus tôt que ce que l’on pensait auparavant. De plus, nos résultats corroborent les hypothèses précédentes d’une route de dispersion paléocène des crocodyloïdes de type Asiatosuchus de l’Asie vers l’Europe.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022 OA
Article Reference On a small collection of sea cucumbers from the Mediterranean continental slope with the first record and re-description of Pseudothyone serrifera (Oestergren, 1898) (Holothuroidea: Dendrochirotida), a new species for the Mediterranean Sea
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022 OA
Article Reference Toxicodryas vexator Greenbaum, Allen, Vaughan, Pauwels, Wallach, Kusamba, Muninga, Mwenebatu, Mali, Badjedjea, Penner, Rödel, Rivera, Sterkhova, Johnson, Tapondjou and Brown, 2021. Eastern Black-and-Yellow Tree Snake. Diet.
We report a case of predation by an adult Eastern Black-and-Yellow Tree Snake Toxicodryas vexator (Serpentes : Colubridae) on a juvenile Lord Derby's Scaly-tailed Squirrel Anomalurus derbianus (Rodentia : Anomaluridae) in Yangambi, Tshopo Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is the first documented interaction between these two species.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022
Article Reference The ants of the Galápagos Islands (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): a historical overview, checklist, and identification key
The Galápagos ant fauna has long been understudied, with the last taxonomic summary being published almost a century ago. Here, a comprehensive and updated overview of the known ant species of the Galápagos Islands is provided with updated species distributions. The list is based on an extensive review of literature, the identification of more than 382,000 specimens deposited in different entomological collections, and recent expeditions to the islands. The ant fauna is composed of five subfamilies (Dolichoderinae, Dorylinae, Formicinae, Myrmicinae, and Ponerinae), 22 genera, 50 species, and 25 subspecies, although three species (Crematogaster crinosa Mayr, 1862, Camponotus senex (Smith, 1858), and Solenopsis saevissima (Smith, 1855)) are considered dubious records. Finally, an illustrated identification key of the species found in the archipelago is presented.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023