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Niche partitioning in the odontocete fauna from the Early Miocene Chilcatay Formation of Peru
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Inferring internal anatomy from the trilobite exoskeleton: the relationship between frontal auxiliary impressions and the digestive system
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The digestive system of trilobites is rarely preserved. As a result, many aspects of its organization remain unknown. Fortunately, the exoskeleton sometimes preserves evidence of soft-tissue attachment sites that can be used to infer internal anatomy. Among them are the frontal auxiliary impressions (FAIs), probable soft-tissue insertion sites located on the fronto-median glabellar lobe of some trilobites. FAIs are herein described in the Carboniferous trilobite Phillipsia belgicaOsmólska 1970– representing the only known example of such structures in the Proetida and their youngest occurrence. A taphonomic scenario is proposed to explain their variable preservation. Although particularly common in the Phacopina, FAIs or FAI-like structures are also found in several orders that differ greatly. Comparisons with modern analogues suggest that FAIs might represent attachment sites for extrinsic muscles associated with a differentiated crop within the foregut. A review of purported remains of the trilobite digestive system indicates that it usually consisted of a tube-like tract flanked by a variable number of metamerically paired diverticulae. Its anterior portion is not particularly individualized, except in a few specimens that might hint at the presence of a crop. This differentiation of a crop might have constituted a secondarily evolution of the foregut in trilobites, occurring independently in different clades. Accompanied by a strengthening of associated extrinsic muscles, this modification of the foregut might explain the presence of more conspicuous muscle insertion sites on the glabella. Study of FAIs might therefore provide new data on the anatomy of the foregut in trilobites and evidence of diverse feeding habits.
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Vertebrate predation in the Late Devonian evidenced by bite traces and regurgitations: implications for an early tetrapod freshwater ecosystem.
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The terrestrialization process by vertebrates occurred during the Devonian period, with fully land-dwelling tetrapods recorded in the Carboniferous. Thus, the Late Devonian is an important period for deciphering the ecological pressures that applied during the water-to-land transition. Higher predation pressures in the underwater environment have been suggested as an influential biotic evolutionary factor in this key habitat shift. Direct evidence of ancient predation on Palaeozoic vertebrates is seen in the form of rare traces preserved on fossils, and these range from trauma observed on the skeleton (such as attack marks) to ingested food remains (bromalites). The late Famennian freshwater ecosystem of Strud (Belgium) consists of a rich assemblage of many coeval gnathostomes or jawed fishes (placoderms, ‘acanthodians’, actinopterygians, and various sarcopterygian groups including tetrapods). Here we analyse the record of direct evidence for predation in the Strud vertebrate fossil assemblage. We recognize 12 regurgitalites and 13 bite traces, including a rare case of a tooth embedded in its original prey body target. Fossils from regurgitalites were imaged using scanning electron microscopy and chemically analysed to test for their possible ingestion signature by comparison with other isolated skeletal remains from the same locality. From this evidence, tristichopterid tetrapodomorphs are inferred to be the highest consumers of the trophic network, targeting small placoderms, and porolepiforms, and probably congeners. We observe two possible prey patterns in regurgitalites, for sarcopterygians and actinopterygians, both of which are associated with acanthodians. In Strud, no trophic position can be deduced for tetrapods from direct fossil evidence of predation.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
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Deciphering causes and behaviors: A recurrent pattern of tail injuries in hadrosaurid dinosaurs
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Variation in ecosystem services within biogenic reefs: The role of reef-building species under distinct hydrodynamic conditions
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To enhance the climate resilience of coastlines, measures are being implemented to protect and restore coastal ecosystems, such as biogenic reefs and dunes. These measures, known as Nature-based Solutions (NbS), provide protection against storms, coastal erosion, and flooding. They are also recognised for increasing biodiversity and delivering a range of ecosystem services (ES). This study investigated the ES provided by biogenic reefs composed of two reef-building species (Mytilus edulis and Lanice conchilega) under distinct hydrodynamic conditions. Three ES were assessed at two sites in the Belgian part of the North Sea: (1) coastal protection, (2) carbon sequestration, and (3) water quality regulation. The two sites have different hydrodynamic conditions due to their relative locations in relation to local sandbanks, making one site more exposed and the other more sheltered. The ES were quantified and monetised using in-situ measurements and literature data based on the SUstainable Marine Ecosystem Services (SUMES) model. The results suggest that the provision of ES in biogenic reefs is determined by multiple factors, including environmental conditions (e.g. hydrodynamics) and reefbuilding species. (1) Sediment accumulation was only observed under low hydrodynamic conditions, due to the higher settlement success of M. edulis and the presence of L. conchilega. (2) M. edulis “produces” carbon under both low and high hydrodynamic conditions, due to high respiration and biocalcification rates. However, low hydrodynamic conditions are more conducive to carbon burial, thus enhancing carbon sequestration. (3) M. edulis patches exhibited higher denitrification rates under low hydrodynamic conditions than under high hydrodynamic conditions or in L. conchilega patches, due to divergent macrobenthic functional diversity. In conclusion, the level of ES provision is determined by location and associated environmental conditions, as well as temporal and spatial variation in biogenic reefs and the physiological characteristics of reef builders. Therefore, both aspects need to be carefully considered when planning coastal protection measures and determining the provision of ES. Finally, when implementing NbS along high-energy coastlines, sheltered sites should be prioritised.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Assessment tool addresses implementation challenges of ecosystembased management principles in marine spatial planning processes
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Ecosystem-based marine spatial planning is an approach to managing maritime activities while ensuring human well-being and biodiversity conservation as key pillars for sustainable development. Here, we use a comprehensive literature review and a co-development process with experts to build an assessment framework and tool that integrates the fundamental principles of an ecosystem approach to management and translates them into specific actions to be undertaken during planning processes. We illustrate the potential of this tool through the evaluation of two national marine spatial plans (Spain and France), in consultation with the representatives involved in their development and implementation. To ensure more coherent future planning, socio-ecological system evolution in a climate change scenario and the future marine space needs of maritime sectors should be considered, as well as improving the governance structure and knowledge of ecosystem processes. This framework provides a consistent and transparent assessment method for practitioners and competent authorities.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Pahon Cave, Gabon: New insights into the Later Stone Age in the African rainforest
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Although the Later Stone Age as a distinctive techno-cultural phase has disappeared, forager groups in the African rainforest persist today. However, their origins remain poorly understood. The absence of stone tool production raises questions about the pace and processes of its decline and its relationship to the emergence or adoption of metallic tools. Archaeological sequences from the Middle and Late Holocene are particularly valuable for documenting the coexistence of diverse subsistence strategies and technologies within the Central African rainforest. In this context, the Pahon Cave sequence, in Gabon, spanning a period from 7,571 cal. BP to 2,523 cal. BP, provides an opportunity to study the evolution of stone tool production in the rainforest of the Ogooué Basin. This chronological range coincides with significant broader techno-cultural and environmental changes in Central Africa. This article provides a detailed description of the lithic industry for each layer, along with the identification of faunal remains, giving insight into the exploitation of rainforest resources and hunting practices. At Pahon Cave, our findings suggest that stone tool technology remained stable over time, at least until around 2,523 cal. BP. Furthermore, the technological characteristics of the lithic industry indicate no clear cultural affiliations. These features contribute highlighting a techno-cultural diversity during the Middle and Late Holocene Later Stone Age in Atlantic Central Africa.
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Predator-prey dynamics in a latest Cretaceous marine ecosystem: mosasaur and shark attacks on the echinoid Hemipneustes striatoradiatus from the Maastrichtian type area (the Netherlands, Belgium)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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Earliest evidence for heavy metal pollution on wildlife in Midle Age Europe
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
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A new ‘acanthothoracid’ placoderm from the Arctic Canada (Early Devonian) and its bearing on the evolution of jaws and teeth
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RBINS Staff Publications 2025
