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Article Reference Ergasilid copepods in Africa: first application of next-generation sequencing and update on distribution and phylogenetic position of Ergasilus kandti, a parasite of cichlid fishes
Ergasilidae are a family of globally distributed copepods parasitizing freshwater fishes. Despite their widespread occurrence, their phylogeographic patterns are poorly understood, specifically in the African Great Lakes. Here, we aim to provide an update on distribution of Ergasilus kandti, a copepod species infecting Tylochromis polylepis, an endemic cichlid fish species in Lake Tanganyika, and the phylogenetic relationship of African ergasilids. We present the first record of E. kandti parasitizing the gills of T. polylepis in Lake Tanganyika proper, identified through light microscopy and, for the first time for any ergasilid, confocal laser scanning microscopy. We suggest that this technique adds spatial context to characters and are hardly visible while using light microscopy. Phylogenetic analyses based on ribosomal DNA fragments suggest two monophyletic groups of African ergasilids. However, the phylogenetic relationships of Ergasilus remain unresolved, possibly because of the insufficient resolution of these widely used phylogenetic markers and low taxonomic coverage. A comparison of ergasilid mitochondrial genomes highlights traits found in other parasite lineages including genome shrinkage and low evolutionary rates of the cox1 gene. This study presents the most extensive molecular characterization of any ergasilid species to date.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Article Reference Binkhorstiidae, a new family of crabs (Decapoda, Brachyura, Retroplumoidea) from the upper Cretaceous of the Netherlands and Belgium.
In addition to the type species, Binkhorstia ubaghsii, which is fairly common in the upper part of the Nekum Member (Maastricht Formation) in the wider vicinity of Maastricht (the Netherlands) and Binkhorstia euglypha, which appears to be restricted to the overlying Meerssen Member of the same formation (uppermost Maastrichtian), a third member, B. desaegheri nov. sp., is recorded from the upper middle Santonian of the Campine area in north-east Belgium. The history of Binkhorstia is convoluted, serving as a prime example of how attempts to unravel the higher-level taxonomic position of late Mesozoic crabs may prove difficult. Over time, the genus has been referred to various families or subfamilies, either podotreme or putative eubrachyuran; here the new family Binkhorstiidae is placed in the superfamily Retroplumoidea. Binkhorstiids appear to have been a relatively short-lived endemic group that fell victim to Cretaceous‒Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary perturbations.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Article Reference Amplified seasonality in western Europe in a warmer world
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Article Reference Integrated assessment of deep geothermal heating investments in Northern Belgium through techno-economic, life cycle, global sensitivity and real options analysis
The decarbonization of the heating sector is crucial for the green transition of the energy mix. This study investigates threefold the economic and environmental performance of deep geothermal heating investments in Northern Belgium First, techno-economic and life cycle assessment (LCA) are performed, followed by a global sensitivity analysis focusing on the geological uncertainty. Lastly, real options analysis (ROA) is employed to investigate the economic and environmental value of the investors’ flexibility. A novel ROA method is proposed that considers the LCA results to calculate development decisions that minimize the expected environmental impact of the investment. The results show that the economic and environmental performance of the investment vary with the energy prices and the electricity mix. The performance of the investment is driven by the plant’s pumping requirements, which are induced by the relatively low rock permeability at the targeted location. Also, the results’ variability mainly originates by uncertainty regarding the permeability value. Nevertheless, the investors’ flexibility adds large economic and environmental value to the investment. However, the development strategies that optimize the economic or the environmental performance of the plant present some trade-offs. This study demonstrates that the economic and environmental performance of deep geothermal heating investments in Northern Belgium can be improved by focusing on the factors that simultaneously drive the costs, environmental impacts, and their variability. It also shows that utilizing the investors’ flexibility to optimize the investment’s economic and environmental performance can add significant value to the investment.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Article Reference Integrated geo-techno-economic and real options analysis of the decision to invest in a medium enthalpy deep geothermal heating plant. A case study in Northern Belgium
Deep geothermal energy (DGE) is a renewable energy source that is considered to cause a low global warming impact. The potential of DGE for heating is widespread and interest in deep geothermal heating (DGH) has been growing in Europe to help achieving the decarbonization of the heating mix. Nevertheless, despite its large potential, DGH development in Europe remains underexplored. DGH investments are hindered by the risks born by geological and market uncertainties. However, various flexibility options inherent to the development process, such as the option to abandon or defer, could partly mitigate these risks. To account for managerial flexibility in the investment analysis, this study suggests a novel real options (RO) framework. The RO model splits DGH development into five phases, and considers several compound options and geological and market uncertainties to investigate the timing and value of DGH development at the Campine Basin in Northern Belgium. The RO model is coupled to a geo-techno-economic model and is solved using the Least Squares Monte Carlo algorithm. The RO analysis finds a 51% probability of abandonment and an average deferral time for the development of 12 years. The abandon option mitigates the risk of large financial losses in case of inadequate geological conditions. The defer option allows the investors to wait for more favorable market conditions before investing, to increase the project value. The results show that DGH development in the investigated area is not economically desirable. However, the investors’ flexibility increases the project value by 12.16 million EUR, compared to a conventional techno-economic analysis. The implementation of supporting policy measures improves the economic performance of the plant. The consideration of flexibility leads to supporting policy measures with 3–4 times lower governmental expenditure, compared to a conventional techno-economic analysis. This study shows that a RO approach is more suitable to investigate DGH investments than static techno-economic methods. The inclusion of flexibility allows for identifying development pathways that increase the project value and for designing more cost-efficient supporting policy schemes.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Article Reference Environmental and climatic inferences for Marine Isotope Stage 2 of southern Belgium (Meuse valley, Namur Province) based on rodent assemblages
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Article Reference Assembling ancestors: the manipulation of Neolithic and Gallo-Roman skeletal remains at Pommerœul, Belgium
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Article Reference Towards an integrative revision of Haplotaxidae (Annelida: Clitellata)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Article Reference A Tale of Three Oceans — Taxonomy of the Holothuria (Thymiosycia) arenicola Semper, 1868 complex (Echinodermata: Holoturoidea: Holothuriidae)
The ubiquitous sea cucumber Holothuria (Thymiosycia) arenicola Semper, 1868, externally characterized by a double row of dark blotches of various sizes on its dorsal body wall and a cryptic behaviour, is generally assumed to have a wide tropical distribution, although it has not been reported from the Eastern tlantic. Careful morphological examination, with emphasis on the ossicle assemblage, of type and non-type H. arenicola specimens sampled in the Indian, Pacific and tlantic Ocean, its subjective synonyms and species with a similar colouration and habit, revealed that H. arenicola is often confused with other species. This paper formally separates the different species in the H. arenicola complex, one of them being a species new to science: Holothuria (Thymiosycia) kerriensis sp. nov. dditionally, we describe two other species that are often confused with H. arenicola: Holothuria (Lessonothuria) gracilis Semper, 1868 and H. (Thymiosycia) strigosa Selenka, 1867. The H. arenicola complex per se is keyed-out, with the ossicle assemblage of the musculature being recognised as an important, previously largely neglected, guide. This contribution highlights the importance of building and curating well-maintaned natural history collections to understand biodiversity through time and space.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Article Reference The Population History of Domestic Sheep Revealed by Paleogenomes
Sheep was one of the first domesticated animals in Neolithic West Eurasia. The zooarchaeological record suggests that domestication first took place in Southwest Asia, although much remains unresolved about the precise location(s) and timing(s) of earliest domestication, or the post-domestication history of sheep. Here, we present 24 new partial sheep paleogenomes, including a 13,000-year-old Epipaleolithic Central Anatolian wild sheep, as well as 14 domestic sheep from Neolithic Anatolia, two from Neolithic Iran, two from Neolithic Iberia, three from Neolithic France, and one each from Late Neolithic/Bronze Age Baltic and South Russia, in addition to five present-day Central Anatolian Mouflons and two present-day Cyprian Mouflons. We find that Neolithic European, as well as domestic sheep breeds, are genetically closer to the Anatolian Epipaleolithic sheep and the present-day Anatolian and Cyprian Mouflon than to the Iranian Mouflon. This supports a Central Anatolian source for domestication, presenting strong evidence for a domestication event in SW Asia outside the Fertile Crescent, although we cannot rule out multiple domestication events also within the Neolithic Fertile Crescent. We further find evidence for multiple admixture and replacement events, including one that parallels the Pontic Steppe-related ancestry expansion in Europe, as well as a post-Bronze Age event that appears to have further spread Asia-related alleles across global sheep breeds. Our findings mark the dynamism of past domestic sheep populations in their potential for dispersal and admixture, sometimes being paralleled by their shepherds and in other cases not.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023