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Article Reference Niphargus : a silicon band-gap sensor temperature logger for high-precision environmental monitoring
A temperature logger, named “Niphargus”, was developed at the Geological Survey of Belgium to monitor temperature of local natural processes. It has a sensitivity of the order of a few hundredths of degrees on temperature variability in open air, caves, soils and river environment. The newly developed instrument uses a state-of-the-art band-gap silicon temperature sensor with integrated digital output. This sensor reduces the risk of drift associated with thermistor-based sensing devices, especially in humid environments. The Niphargus is designed to be highly reliable, low-cost and powered by a single lithium cell with up to several years autonomy, depending on the sampling rate and environmental conditions. A batch of Niphargus loggers was also compared to a precision thermistor to assess absolute temperature accuracy. Further characterization came from two field case studies in Belgium: monitoring of a mineralized water stream near the town of Spa and air temperature monitoring inside Han-sur-Lesse cave.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Devonian antiarch placoderms from Belgium revisited
Anatomical, systematic, and paleobiogeographical data on the Devonian antiarchs from Belgium are reviewed, updated and completed thanks to new data from the field and re-examination of paleontological collections. The material of Bothriolepis lohesti Leriche, 1931 is enhanced and the species better described. An undetermined species of Bothriolepis is recorded from the Famennian of Modave (Liège Province), one species of Asterolepis redescribed from the Givetian of Hingeon and another one described from the Givetian of Mazy (Namur Province). Grossilepis rikiki sp. nov. is recorded from the Famennian tetrapod-bearing locality of Strud (Namur Province) and from the Famennian of Moresnet (Liège Province). It is the first occurrence of Grossilepis after the Frasnian and on the central southern coast of the Euramerican continent. Its occurrence in the Famennian of Belgium may be the result of a late arrival from the Moscow Platform and the Baltic Depression, where the genus is known from Frasnian deposits. Remigolepis durnalensis sp. nov. is described from the Famennian of Spontin near Durnal (Namur Province). Except for the doubtful occurrence of Remigolepis sp. in Scotland, this is the first record of this genus in Western Europe. Its occurrence in Belgium reinforces the strong faunal affinities between Belgium and East Greenland and the hypothesis of a hydrographical link between the two areas during the Late Devonian.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Landscape evolution and changes in soil hydraulic properties at the decadal, centennial and millennial scale: a case study from the Campine area, northern Belgium
Located in Library / No RBINS Staff publications
Article Reference Species identification of archaeological dung remains. A critical review of possible methods
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inbook Reference First discovery of Maastrichtian (Latest Cretaceous) terrestrial vertebrates in Rusca montana Basin (Romania)
First mentioned by F. Nopcsa, Hat¸eg Island was a paleogeographical concept sketched by this famous paleontologist in order to explain the presence of small-sized dinosaurs in uppermost Cretaceous localities from Transylvania (western Romania), and particularly from the Hateg Basin. However, this insularity is still debated, even after more than a century of research. In order to reconstruct the precise paleogeography of this area by Maastrichtian time, it is important to study all the coeval uppermost Cretaceous continental deposits from Transylvania. The westernmost region where these formations are exposed is the Rusca Montana˘ Basin (western Romanian Carpathians). The geological history of this sedimentary basin appears similar to that of the Hat¸eg Basin. We report the first Maastrichtian vertebrates from the Rusca Montana˘ Basin. These fossils include dinosaurs (ornithopod, sauropod, theropods), turtles (?Kallokibotion), indeterminate crocodiles, and multituberculate mammals (Kogaionidae). This fauna closely resembles that from the Hat¸eg Basin and is the first evidence of their presence to the west of Hateg.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference New Hypsodont Tillodont (Mammalia, Tillodontia) from the Early Eocene of India
A new tillodont, Anthraconyx hypsomylus, n. gen. n. sp., is described from the early Eocene Cambay Shale Formation at Vastan Lignite Mine, Gujarat, India. Anthraconyx hypsomylus is the smallest Eocene tillodont and is distinguished by having the most buccally hypsodont cheek teeth of any known esthonychine. The closest dental resemblances are to North American Esthonyx and Azygonyx and European Plesiesthonyx, providing further evidence of affinities between the Vastan local fauna and Euroamerican vertebrate faunas.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Dental and tarsal anatomy of 'Miacis' latouri and a phylogenetic analysis of the earliest carnivoraforms (Mammalia, Carnivoramorpha)
One of the earliest basal carnivoraforms, Miacis latouri, previously known by only two teeth from the earliest Eocene of Dormaal, Belgium, is here described based on about 280 new specimens from Dormaal, allowing illustration of almost the entire deciduous and permanent dentition and thus giving information on the dentition of an early basal carnivoraform species and its variability. Based on the dental features, we refer the species to a new genus, Dormaalocyon. We identify possible sexual dimorphism in D. latouri that is less pronounced than in Uintacyon rudis. We also describe for the first time the tarsal bones (calcaneum and astragalus) of D. latouri; these indicate arboreal capabilities for this species. In order to ascertain the position of Dormaalocyon among basal carnivoraforms, we performed a phylogenetic analysis of the carnivoramorphans. Among basal carnivoraforms, three groups are recovered: the Uintacyon group, Oodectes group, and the Vulpavus group. Dormalocyon is one of the most primitive carnivoraforms and is closely related to North American Vulpavus and Miacis species. We propose that the two latter genera are North American with an ancestry that involves the European Dormaalocyon; this implies a dispersal of carnivoraforms from Europe to North America near the Paleocene-Eocene boundary. Finally, the topology of the phylogenetic tree supports a Paleocene radiation of the carnivoraforms, which is presently unknown.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Dispersals of placental carnivorous mammals (Carnivoramorpha, Oxyaenodonta & Hyaenodontida) near the Paleocene-Eocene boundary: a climatic and almost worldwide story
During the Late Paleocene and around the Paleocene-Eocene boundary, there were important mammalian dispersals in Laurasia involving earliest modern mammals such as rodents, primates, perissodactyls, and artiodactyls. The placental carnivorous mammals (Viverravidae, “Miacidae”, Hyaenodontida, Oxyaenodonta) importantly took part in these dispersals. The present article shows that these latter mammals allow reconstructing faunal dispersal scenarios during the early Paleogene. Indeed, they evidenced several dispersal ways among Laurasia, but also with Africa and possibly India. The dispersal phases discussed in the present paper concern the Early Paleocene, Late Paleocene, latest Paleocene (Clarkforkian NALMA), and Paleocene-Eocene transition.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Tarsal diversity in the earliest Eocene mammal fauna of Dormaal, Belgium
Mammal teeth bring important information regarding phylogeny and diet. However, postcranial elements, although poorly studied for small Paleogene mammals, can provide other significant data. The purpose of this study is to associate tarsal bones with dental specimens for a systematic identification. We thus chose the Belgian locality of Dormaal (Tienen Formation, Belgium) that has yielded the earliest Eocene mammals of Europe. This particularly rich fauna, dated between 55.5 and 55.8 Ma, occurred during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, a key period in the mammal evolution. It is composed by archaic mammals (“condylarths”, arctocyonids, plesiadapiforms, “insectivorans”…) and also by earliest modern taxa (primates, rodents, carnivoraforms, artiodactyls …), representing about 14,000 dental specimens. 488 tarsal bones are studied according to three methods: morphology, relative abundance and relative size. 12 morphotypes of astragali and 18 of calcanei are discriminated and most of them are identified at the level of species (e.g. the marsupial Peratherium constans), genus or family (e.g. ischyromyid rodents). New perspectives in phylogeny and paleoecology are proposed for further studies implying tarsal bones.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference On the occurrence of the osteoglossid genus Scleropages (Teleostei, Osteoglossiformes) in the continental Paleocene of Hainin (Mons Basin, Belgium)
Some bony remains, otoliths and squamules belonging to the osteoglossid genus Scleropages are described from the continental Paleocene of Hainin (Mons Basin, Belgium). The hypotheses to explain the occurrence of such a freshwater fish in Europe at that time are discussed.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications