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Article Reference A new long-tailed basal bird from the Early Cretaceous of north-eastern China
A new basal Avialae, Jeholornis curvipes sp. nov., from the Yixian Formation (Early Cretaceous) of Liaoning Province (north-eastern China) is described. A revision of long-tailed birds from China and a phylogenetic analysis of basal Avialae suggest that Jeholornithiformes were paraphyletic, with Jixiangornis orientalis being the sister-taxon of pygostylia. The phylogenetic analysis also recovered that the tail reduction is a unique event in the evolution of birds. Jeholornis species were cursorial, nonperching, and seed-eating birds.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference High Diversity in Cretaceous Ichthyosaurs from Europe Prior to Their Extinction
Background: Ichthyosaurs are reptiles that inhabited the marine realm during most of the Mesozoic. Their Cretaceous representatives have traditionally been considered as the last survivors of a group declining since the Jurassic. Recently, however, an unexpected diversity has been described in Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous deposits, but is widely spread across time and space, giving small clues on the adaptive potential and ecosystem control of the last ichthyosaurs. The famous but little studied English Gault Formation and ‘greensands’ deposits (the Upper Greensand Formation and the Cambridge Greensand Member of the Lower Chalk Formation) offer an unprecedented opportunity to investigate this topic, containing thousands of ichthyosaur remains spanning the Early–Late Cretaceous boundary. Methodology/Principal Findings: To assess the diversity of the ichthyosaur assemblage from these sedimentary bodies, we recognized morphotypes within each type of bones. We grouped these morphotypes together, when possible, by using articulated specimens from the same formations and from new localities in the Vocontian Basin (France); a revised taxonomic scheme is proposed. We recognize the following taxa in the ‘greensands’: the platypterygiines ‘Platypterygius’ sp. and Sisteronia seeleyi gen. et sp. nov., indeterminate ophthalmosaurines and the rare incertae sedis Cetarthrosaurus walkeri. The taxonomic diversity of late Albian ichthyosaurs now matches that of older, well-known intervals such as the Toarcian or the Tithonian. Contrasting tooth shapes and wear patterns suggest that these ichthyosaurs colonized three distinct feeding guilds, despite the presence of numerous plesiosaur taxa. Conclusion/Significance: Western Europe was a diversity hot-spot for ichthyosaurs a few million years prior to their final extinction. By contrast, the low diversity in Australia and U.S.A. suggests strong geographical disparities in the diversity pattern of Albian–early Cenomanian ichthyosaurs. This provides a whole new context to investigate the extinction of these successful marine reptiles, at the end of the Cenomanian.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference A Jurassic ornithischian dinosaur from Siberia with both feathers and scales
Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous deposits from northeastern China have yielded varied theropod dinosaurs bearing feathers. Filamentous integumentary structures have also been described in ornithischian dinosaurs, but whether these filaments can be regarded as part of the evolutionary lineage toward feathers remains controversial. Here we describe a new basal neornithischian dinosaur from the Jurassic of Siberia with small scales around the distal hindlimb, larger imbricated scales around the tail, monofilaments around the head and the thorax, and more complex featherlike structures around the humerus, the femur, and the tibia.The discovery of these branched integumentary structures outside theropods suggests that featherlike structures coexisted with scales and were potentially widespread among the entire dinosaur clade; feathers may thus have been present in the earliest dinosaurs.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Simbirskiasaurus and Pervushovisaurus reassessed: implications for the taxonomy and cranial osteology of Cretaceous platypterygiine ichthyosaurs
The ichthyosaur fossil record is interspersed by several hiatuses, notably during the Cretaceous. This hampers our understanding of the evolution and extinction of this group of marine reptiles during the last 50 million years of its history. Several Cretaceous ichthyosaur taxa named in the past have subsequently been dismissed and referred to the highly inclusive taxon Platypterygius, a trend that has created the impression of low Cretaceous ichthyosaur diversity. Here, we describe the cranial osteology, reassess the stratigraphic age, and evaluate the taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships of two Cretaceous ichthyosaurs from western Russia: Simbirskiasaurus birjukovi from the early Barremian and Pervushovisaurus bannovkensis from the middle Cenomanian, both formerly regarded as nomina dubia, and allocated to Platypterygius sp. and Platypterygius campylodon, respectively. We show that Simbirskiasaurus birjukovi and Pervushovisaurus bannovkensis are valid platypterygiine ophthalmosaurids, notably characterized by a peculiar narial aperture. The cranial anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of these taxa illuminate the evolution of narial aperture anatomy in Cretaceous ichthyosaurs, clarify the phylogenetic relationships among platypterygiines, and provide further arguments for a thorough revision of Platypterygius.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Response to the Technical Comment on 'A Jurassic ornithischian dinosaur from Siberia with both feathers and scales'
Lingham-Soliar questions our interpretation of integumentary structures in the Middle-Late Jurassic ornithischian dinosaur Kulindadromeus as feather-like appendages and alternatively proposes that the compound structures observed around the humerus and femur of Kulindadromeus are support fibres associated with badly degraded scales. We consider this hypothesis highly unlikely due to the taphonomy and morphology of the preserved structures.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Caractérisation de la céramique médiévale d’Autelbas (Arlon, Belgique) et identification de la source de la matière première.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Molecular identification of novel intermediate host species of Angiostrongylus vasorum in Greater London
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Identification of Belgian mosquito species (Diptera: Culicidae) by DNA barcoding
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Coding region SNP analysis to enhance dog mtDNA discrimination power in forensic casework
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Population genetic structure of the tree-hole tick Ixodes arboricola (Acari: Ixodidae) at different spatial scales
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications