Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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Mons/Spiennes - Apport à la chronologie radiocarbone des minières néolithiques. [Société de Recherche Préhistorique en Hainaut a.s.b.l.]
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Apport à la chronologie absolue des minières néolithiques de Spiennes
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Indices d’extraction minière néolithique à Obourg - Le Village
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Activities on 7 early neolithic houses belonging to Darion in Belgium. First results of lithic use-wear analysis
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New multituberculate mammals from the Late Cretaceous of Transylvania (Romania)
- In the scope of the Belgo-Romanian excavation campaigns in Transylvania, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and the University Babeş-Bolyai excavated three Late Cretaceous vertebrate localities in the Haţeg Basin. Compared to other European localities, the studied sites show rich mammal remains, which are dominated by multituberculates. At three localities, more than five tons of fossiliferous sediments were screen washed (mesh width 0.5 mm) and yielded forty-three dental specimens. This material essentially provides new information on the enigmatic European family Kogaionidae. A new small species of the genus Kogaionon is recognized on the basis of four dental positions from the fluviatil deposits of Pui (excavation 2000). In the floodplain deposits of the new site Toteşti-baraj (excavation 2001) sixteen teeth representing seven different dental positions of two kogaionid genera were found (Codrea et al., 2002). One lower first molar is similar to that of Barbatodon transylvanicus Rădulescu & Samson, 1986. A nearly complete upper dental series of a new species of Kogaionon is particularly well preserved. In the floodplain deposits of the new site Nălaţ-Vad (excavation 2002), one of the exceptional fossiliferous marl pockets yielded twelve teeth and three dentary fragments of the genera Kogaionon and Barbatodon (Smith et al., 2002). A new small species of Barbatodon is represented by a dentary with a very long rounded fourth premolar, a small first molar, but with the third premolar absent. On the other hand, Kogaionon presents a lower fourth premolar with a typical triangle shape differing clearly from Barbatodon. The results reveal for the first time the morphology of all the upper and lower dental positions characteristic of the family Kogaionidae, which allows more precise discussion of the phylogenetic position of this family among the multituberculates. Comparisons with other kogaionid multituberculates from the Paleocene of Spain, Belgium, Romania and France permit analysis of the possible migration ways following the paleogeography of Europe during the end of the Cretaceous.
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New specimens of Indohyaenodon raoi from the Early Eocene of Vastan Mine, India and their implication for phylogeny and biogeography of Hyaenodontid mammals
- Cambaytherium, Nakusia, and Kalitherium are closely related early Eocene mammals from the Indo-Pakistan region that have been assigned to Perissodactyla (Laurasiatheria) or Anthracobunidae. The latter have been variously considered artiodactyls or perissodactyls, but more recently are usually placed at the base of the order Proboscidea or of the more inclusive Tethytheria (Afrotheria). We present new evidence from the dentition, skull, and postcranial skeleton of Cambaytherium, from Gujarat, India (ca. 54.5 Ma), that cambaytheres occupy a pivotal position as the sister taxon of Perissodactyla. Cambaytherium was more robust than basal perissodactyls such as ″Hyracotherium″ and Homogalax, and had a body mass of ~25-27 kg based on humeral, radial, and dental regressions. Perissodactyl synapomorphies include a transverse nasal-frontal suture, twinned molar metaconids, and an astragalus with deeply grooved trochlea and a saddleshaped navicular facet. Like perissodactyls, cambaytheres are mesaxonic and have hooflike unguals and a cursorially-adapted skeleton. Plesiomorphic traits compared to basal perissodactyls include bunodont molars with large conules and almost no hint of bilophodonty, unmolarized premolars, sacrum with four vertebrae, humerus with distally extensive pectoral crest and distal articulation lacking a capitular tail, distal radius without discrete scaphoid and lunate fossae, femur with low greater trochanter, calcaneus robust and wide with rounded ectal facet, astragalus wide with moderately long neck and vestigial astragalar foramen, navicular and cuboid short and wide, metapodials short and robust, and Mc I and Mt V present. In most or all of these traits cambaytheres are intermediate between phenacodontid condylarths and perissodactyls but closer to the latter. Our phylogenetic analyses place cambaytheres just outside perissodactyls, and place anthracobunids among primitive perissodactyls. However, similarities between cambaytheres and anthracobunids suggest that they are closely related, and future discovery of skeletal material of anthracobunids will provide a test of this hypothesis. Our results indicate that Anthracobunidae are not Proboscidea or tethytheres, and suggest that the origin of Perissodactyla may have taken place on the drifting Indian plate. How the progenitors of perissodactyls reached India is more problematic but might have involved land connections with Afro-Arabia during the Paleocene. Field work and research supported by the National Geographic Society.
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Growth and reproduction of the shrimp population in a lagoon system in southern Benin (West Africa)
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Rhizophagus fenestralis (Linnaeus, 1758) (Coleoptera: Monotomidae) in de Benelux
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A late surviving Pliocene seal from high latitudes of the North Atlantic realm: the latest monachine seal on the southern margin of the North Sea
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Impact of man-made structures on hard substrate species connectivity patterns in the North Sea
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How is connectivity pattern of hard substrate species impacted by artificial structures in the North Sea?
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Do man-made structures impact the connectivity patterns of hard substrate species in the North Sea?
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Impact of wind farms on flatfish connectivity in the North Sea
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How larval traits impact connectivity: example of 6 commercial flatfish species in North Sea
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No anonymity for flatfish: tracing juveniles of common sole of the North Sea combining genomics, otolith microchemistry and otolith shape analysis
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Impact of wind farms on flatfish population in the North Sea
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Species richness in the African pike Hepsetus: a perfect match between genetics and morphology
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The first Belgian Flat Oyster Day on November 24, 2020: Report of the online event
- On Tuesday 24 November 2020, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), Ghent University and the Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO) jointly organised the first Belgian Flat Oyster Day, as an online event. A lot of information on several aspects of flat oyster restoration and aquaculture was presented during the event. The event demonstrated that an interest in flat oyster is emerging in Belgium, which was also illustrated by large audience (60+) that attended the event. A report of the event has been compiled, containing the biographies of the speakers and the abstract of the presentations. Also the Q&A and poll results are included. The interaction with the audience through the polls showed that there is a keen interest in the continuation of the Belgian Flat Oyster Day. In what format this will be, e.g. as a yearly event or as the creation of a Belgian Flat Oyster Consortium, in line with the Dutch initiative, is under consideration. To be continued.
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Commercially important sea cucumbers of the World
- Sea cucumbers are harvested and traded in more than 90 countries worldwide. They are exploited in industrial and small-scale fisheries, nearly from pole to pole, especially in the tropics. In some fisheries, more than 20 species are exploited by fishers. Fishers in general know how to distinguish the species they harvest, often identifying them with local names. For fishery officers and even biologists, recognizing sea cucumber species remains daunting however as they are confronted only with the final product: bêche-de-mer (or trepang) which is the processed (cooked and dried) product. This field guide offers a tool for fishery managers, scientists, trade officers and industry workers to recognize live and processed (cooked and dried) animals. This animal resource is mainly exported to Asian markets where it is sold mainly, but not exclusively, as a luxury food item. This book provides identification information on 84 species of sea cucumbers that are commonly or opportunistically (as bycatch) exploited around the world. The list is certainly not all-encompassing, as some other sea cucumber species are also exploited. More scientific data and accounts are needed for species from some regions such as the Eastern Atlantic Ocean. The accounts are based on more than 270 reports and research articles and on comments and reviews by taxonomists and field workers. Two-page identification sheets provide selected information to enable similar species to be distinguished from each other, both in the live and processed (dried) forms. Where available, the following information for each species has been included: scientific and known common names used in different countries and regions; scientific illustrations of the body and ossicles; descriptions of ossicles present in different body parts; a colour photograph of live and dried specimens; basic information on size, habitat, biology, fisheries, human consumption, market value and trade; geographic distribution maps. The volume is fully indexed and contains an introduction, a glossary, simplified dichotomous keys to live animals and dried products and a dedicated bibliography. Readers are encouraged to base their identifications on a combination of morphological features, samples of ossicles from different body parts and information on what habitat and locality the species was found.
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An Early Devonian flora from the Baviaanskloof Formation (Table Mountain Group) of South Africa
