Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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Shell chemistry of the Boreal Campanian bivalve Rastellum diluvianum (Linnaeus, 1767) reveals temperature seasonality, growth rates and life cycle of an extinct Cretaceous oyster.
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Osteology and relationships of Luxembourgichthys (“Pholidophorus”) friedeni gen. nov. (Teleostei, “Pholidophoriformes”) from the Lower Jurassic of Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
- The osteology of Luxembourgichthys friedeni (Delsate, 1999) gen. nov. from the marine Toarcian (Grandcourt Formation, Lower Jurassic) of Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is studied in detail. This fossil teleost fish was initially assigned to Pholidophorus, a genus that recently received an emended diagnosis (Arratia, 2013). The cranial characters of L. friedeni considerably differ from those that now define Pholidophorus and the Pholidophoridae, excluding its attribution to both this genus and this family. In L. friedeni the posttemporal fossa is completely located on the lateral face of the braincase and not on the rear of the skull as usual. Such a position is unique among “Pholidophoriformes” and justifies the peculiar generic status of this taxon. L. friedeni possesses three specialized characters (a beryciform foramen piercing the anterior ceratohyal, arcocentra associated to the chordacentra and ovoid scales devoid of the peg-and-socket system) suggesting it occupies a position crownward of most “pholidophoriforms”, closer to Jurassic and younger teleosts with cycloid scales.
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Fish otoliths from the Lutetian of the Aquitaine Basin (SW France), a breakthrough in the knowledge of the European Eocene ichthyofauna.
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The composite Kortrijk section (W Belgium): a key reference for mid-Ypresian (Early Eocene) stratigraphy in the southern North Sea Basin.
- The upper part of the Kortrijk Clay Formation (the Roubaix Clay and Aalbeke Clay Members of mid-Ypresian age) has been exposed in road and canal cuttings and clay quarries in the Kortrijk area (western Belgium), and penetrated by several cored boreholes. It is overlain disconformably by the Mont-Panisel Sand Member of the Hyon Sand Formation (upper middle Ypresian). The Roubaix Clay Member contains diverse and well-preserved calcareous nannofossils, dinoflagellate cysts, foraminifera, ostracods and other calcitic microfossils, and less well-preserved mollusc assemblages, while the Aalbeke Clay Member is secondarily decalcified. The calcareous nannofossil subdivision of upper NP11 and lower NP12 has been recognised in the Kortrijk area, and calibrated with the NW European mid-Ypresian dinoflagellate cyst, ostracod and planktonic foraminiferal zones and datums (e.g. Subbotina influx). Several medium-scale depositional sequences, with an estimated duration of 400 kyr or less, have been recorded. Their respective boundaries coincide with the resistivity maxima identified on the majority of the wireline log profiles of the Belgian Ypresian. Integrated biostratigraphic, magnetostratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic analysis enables correlation with other areas in Belgium, with the London Clay Formation of southern England, and with the standard chronostratigraphic scale. A marine erosion surface has been identified at the base of Unit 20 in the Kortrijk area (mid-Ypresian, early Biochron NP12, middle C24n.1n, ~ 52.8 Ma), corresponding to the first occurrence of estuarine channel-fill units in southern England. This indicates a brief but profound sea-level fall, either eustatically or tectonically controlled. The composite Kortrijk section is proposed as a reference section for the middle Ypresian in the southern North Sea Basin, and for similar settings in mid- to high-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere (e.g. Kazakhstan and Crimea).
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Révision lithostratigraphique et biostratigraphique de l’Oligocène d’Aquitaine occidentale (France)
- La stratigraphie de l’Oligocène d’Aquitaine occidentale est revue en synthétisant les données bibliographiques et en réexaminant 93 sondages, dont 60 sont datés à l’aide de foraminifères ou nannofossiles calcaires. La révision de ces sondages a permis de reconstituer l’évolution sédimentaire de l’Aquitaine occidentale en relation avec les évènements tectoniques correspondants. Les petits foraminifères benthiques ont permis d’estimer les variations de la tranche d’eau dans les coupes, qui s’étendent du domaine épibathyal jusqu’au domaine saumâtre. Environ 60 % des foraminifères présents au Priabonien disparaissent au cours de cet étage et à la limite Éocène/Oligocène. L’apparition et la disparition des espèces est progressive dans l’Oligocène, ce qui permet d’en utiliser certaines comme marqueurs pour la stratigraphie du Bassin d’Aquitaine. Les foraminifères du Bassin d’Aquitaine montrent de nombreuses affinités avec ceux de la Paratéthys centrale, indiquant que ces deux régions étaient interconnectées à cette époque par le détroit de Gibraltar et la zone bétique. Sept formations sont retenues dans l’Oligocène marin du Bassin de l’Adour, dont une nouvellement introduite (Formation de Capcosle d’âge Rupélien-Aquitanien) et deux redéfinies (Formation de Biarritz d’âge Rupélien inférieur et Formation d’Escornebéou d’âge Chattien supérieur) ; trois sont distinguées dans le domaine continental (les Formations de Jurançon et de Campagne puis celle de l’Agenais). L’Oligocène de la plate-forme nord-aquitaine comprend deux formations marines (la Formation de Bel-Air et la Formation du Calcaire à Astéries avec le Membre à Crassostrea longirostris à la base) et trois formations continentales (du bas vers le haut : les Formations du Fronsadais, de Castillon et de l’Agenais). Trois grandes aires sédimentaires se différencient au cours de l’Oligocène dans la région aquitaine. La première, entre Labenne et Arcachon, se caractérise par les dépôts à dominance argileuse, bathyaux, épais (jusqu’à 1700 m). La deuxième aire forme un arc de cercle autour de la première et représente la plate-forme avec des sédiments plus variés : calcaires bioclastiques, argiles et sables coquilliers de 400-500 m d’épaisseur. La troisième comprend les sédiments continentaux à l’est et au sud du bassin. Les événements tectoniques pyrénéens influencent la sédimentation, comme le montrent, en premier lieu, la transgression du Rupélien moyen, qui est plus importante au nord qu’au sud, tandis que le phénomène inverse s’observe au Rupélien supérieur, et, deuxièmement, les transgressions du Chattien inférieur et supérieur, qui sont conditionnées par la subsidence locale et la réactivation d’anciennes structures.
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Ypresian (early Eocene) stratigraphy of the Suvlu-Kaya reference section in the Bakhchisaray area (Crimea).
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Anthisnes/Anthisnes : alimentation d’origine animale et coq de combat, l’apport des restes fauniques du Moyen Âge et de l’Epoque moderne
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Huy - Saint-Victor: utilisation des animaux sur un site d’habitat et d’artisanat du Haut Moyen Âge
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Les prélèvements des restes bioarchéologiques: manuel de terrain
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Lanice conchilega structures carbon flows in soft-bottom intertidal areas
- Biogenic reefs constructed by the tube-building ecosystem engineer Lanice conchilega (Terrebilidae, Polychaeta) have profound structuring impacts on the benthic environment in that they alter the biogeochemical and physical properties of the sediment. This study provides new insights into the functioning and effects on food webs of L. conchilega reefs in intertidal sediments using linear inverse models to quantify the carbon flows in the food webs in the presence and absence of the tubeworm. The inverse food web models were based on an empirical dataset from 2 study sites, which provided biomass and stable isotope data, and information on general physiological constraints from the literature. Results of the model showed that the carbon input into reef food webs (mean ± SE; 191 ± 50 mmol C m−2 d−1) is ca. 40 times higher compared to bare sand areas (5 ± 2 mmol C m−2 d−1) and is mainly derived from organic matter (OM) in the water column. Most of the OM input towards these reefs is consumed by suspension-feeding macrofauna, particularly L. conchilega; however, the worm is not an important source of carbon for other macrofaunal organisms. The ratio of OM input to primary production indicates that the OM needs to be produced in an area at least 15 times larger than the reef area, demonstrating significant OM ‘focussing’ within the reef food web. The reef structures created by L. conchilega act as a trap for OM, resulting in an overall higher macrofaunal biomass and much more diverse food webs than in the absence of the tubeworm.
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Effect of short-term hypoxia on the feeding activity of abundant nematode genera from an intertidal mudflat
- The effect of short-term hypoxia (6 days) on the feeding activity of abundant nematode genera was investigated by means of a tracer experiment. Nematodes were sampled from the Paulina intertidal flat in the Westerschelde estuary (south-west Netherlands) and incubated with 13C pre-labelled diatoms at the sediment-water interface in oxic and hypoxic treatments. In general, specific uptake and uptake of carbon per unit of nematode carbon were low in all studied genera, which indicated that the added diatoms represented a limited food source for the investigated nematode genera. Results from such a low uptake are difficult to interpret; however, there was no significant decrease in feeding activity of all dominant nematodes in the hypoxic treatments. The low carbon uptake might be related to low access of nematodes and their low feeding preference to the added diatoms in the experimental cores.
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Solving the missing pieces of the gharial puzzle: new phylogenetic framework combining morphological, molecular, and biostratigraphic data to unravel the evolution of long-snouted crocodylians.
- Among the extant crocodylians are two species with long, narrow snouts: Gavialis gangeticus,the Indian gharial and Tomistoma schlegelii, the "false" gharial. These enigmatic species are considered by the IUCN red list as critically endangered and vulnerable, respectively. However, despite this, knowledge of their evolutionary history is lacking. Extensive debate has surrounded the gharials for over four decades and remains unsolved today: the so-called gharial problem. Whereas molecular studies consistently indicate that these two species are sister taxa, morphological studies of both living and fossil taxa find that they belong to distantly related lineages. Moreover, molecular clock estimates indicate a shallow divergence time of 18-31 million years ago. This entirely contradicts the rich fossil record of gharials: in contrast to the modern gharials, these fossil taxa comprise a huge diversity and suggest that tomistomines and gavialines have diverged from each other at least 70 million years ago, prior to the K/Pg mass extinction. European museums, and especially the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, comprise rich collections containing many of the oldest fossil gavialoids, crucial to solving the gharial problem. Nevertheless, few modern morphological studies have been performed on these specimens, and their stratigraphic age is often poorly constrained. Therefore, in a new project we will use a multidisciplinary approach to study these specimens, combining morphological study and biostratigraphic analyses using dinoflagellate cysts. Moreover, we will revise the classical methods used by paleontologists to study fossil crocodylians, devising a new phylogenetic framework that makes use of both morphological, molecular, and biostratigraphic data. Here, we will present some of the first preliminary results of this project.
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Les services écosystémiques dans la Réserve de Biosphère de la Pendjari.
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Environnement / Les services écosystémiques au cœur d’un atelier à Natitingou
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Mention of CEBioS videos in Glo.be, 2018
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Mention of expo wildlife European Paliament in BESNET
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Présence du frelon asiatique Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836 en région de Bruxelles-Capitale, bilan de sa progression en Belgique et sa découverte au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)
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First record of Cantharocnemis (Cantharoplatys) fairmairei Lameere, 1902 in Mozambique (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Prioninae)
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Trictenotomidae. Catalogue of species
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Evaluation post implantation de l’impact du parc éolien de Leuze-en-Hainaut sur une colonie nidificatrice de Vanneau huppé Vanellus vanellus
