Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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Reduced plumage and flight ability of a new Jurassic paravian theropod from China
- Feathered theropods were diverse in the Early Cretaceous Jehol Group of western Liaoning Province, China. Recently, anatomically distinct feathered taxa have been discovered in the older Middle-Late Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation in the same region. Phylogenetic hypotheses including these specimens have challenged the pivotal position of Archaeopteryx in bird phylogeny. Here we report a basal troodontid from the Tiaojishan Formation that resembles Anchiornis, also from Jianchang County (regarded as sister-taxa). The feathers of Eosinopteryx are less extensive on the limbs and tail than Anchiornis and other deinonychosaurians. With reduced plumage and short uncurved pedal claws, Eosinopteryx would have been able to run unimpeded (with large foot remiges cursorial locomotion was likely problematic for Anchiornis). Eosinopteryx increases the known diversity of small-bodied dinosaurs in the Jurassic,shows that taxa with similar body plans could occupy different niches in the same ecosystem and suggests a more complex picture for the origin of flight.
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A Jurassic avialan dinosaur from China resolves the early phylogenetic history of birds
- The recent discovery of small paravian theropod dinosaurs with well-preserved feathers in the Middle–Late Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation of Liaoning Province (northeastern China)1–4 has challenged the pivotal position of Archaeopteryx3,4, regarded from its discovery to be the most basal bird. Removing Archaeopteryx from the base of Avialae to nest within Deinonychosauria implies that typical bird flight, powered by the forelimbs only, either evolved at least twice, or was subsequently lost or modified in some deinonychosaurians3,5. Here we describe the complete skeleton of a new paravian from the Tiaojishan Formation of Liaoning Province, China. Including this new taxon in a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis for basal Paraves does the following: (1) it recovers it as the basal-most avialan; (2) it confirms the avialan status of Archaeopteryx; (3) it places Troodontidae as the sistergroup to Avialae; (4) it supports a single origin of powered flight within Paraves; and (5) it implies that the early diversification of Paraves and Avialae took place in the Middle–Late Jurassic period.
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A new Lower Cretaceous ichthyosaur from Russia reveals skull shape conservatism within Ophthalmosaurinae
- Ophthalmosaurinae is a recently recognized clade of derived ichthyosaurs (marine reptiles) ranging from the Bajocian (Middle Jurassic) to the late Albian (late Early Cretaceous). Whereas the Middle–Late Jurassic ophthalmosaurine Ophthalmosaurus is often regarded as a hyperspecialized deep diver, very little is known about the anatomy, evolutionary history and ecology of Cretaceous ophthalmosaurines because of the scarcity of the fossils and the lack of well-preserved skull material. Here, we describe the skull of a new basal ophthalmosaurine ichthyosaur, Leninia stellans gen. et sp. nov., from the lower Aptian of western Russia, and compare the ocular characteristics of ophthalmosaurids. Leninia is recovered as a basal ophthalmosaurine; it possesses unique traits such as a star-shaped frontal–parietal suture as well as features previously thought to be unique to Ophthalmosaurus such as a supratemporal–stapes contact. A large sclerotic aperture – significantly larger than in platypterygiine ophthalmosaurids and similar to that of the largest-eyed modern animals (giant and colossal squids) – and reduced dentition appear widespread within ophthalmosaurines. This conservatism suggests ophthalmosaurine ophthalmosaurids occupied similar ecological niche(s) throughout their long evolutionary history.
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A basal thunnosaurian from Iraq reveals disparate phylogenetic origins for Cretaceous ichthyosaurs
- Cretaceous ichthyosaurs have typically been considered a small, homogeneous assemblage sharing a common Late Jurassic ancestor. Their low diversity and disparity have been interpreted as indicative of a decline leading to their Cenomanian extinction. We describe the first post-Triassic ichthyosaur from the Middle East, Malawania anachronus gen. et sp. nov. from the Early Cretaceous of Iraq, and re-evaluate the evolutionary history of parvipelvian ichthyosaurs via phylogenetic and cladogenesis rate analyses. Malawania represents a basal grade in thunnosaurian evolution that arose during a major Late Triassic radiation event and was previously thought to have gone extinct during the Early Jurassic. Its pectoral morphology appears surprisingly archaic, retaining a forefin architecture similar to that of its Early Jurassic relatives. After the initial latest Triassic radiation of early thunnosaurians, two subsequent large radiations produced lineages with Cretaceous representatives, but the radiation events themselves are pre-Cretaceous. Cretaceous ichthyosaurs therefore include distantly related lineages, with contrasting evolutionary histories, and appear more diverse and disparate than previously supposed.
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New eutherian mammals from the Late Cretaceous of Aix-en-Provence Basin, south-eastern France
- (Labes, Lainodon, and Valentinella). Labes and Lainodon are well-supported members of Zhelestidae, a stem eutherian clade, whereas Valentinella is more problematic, being recently considered as a nomen dubium. Based on X-ray computed microtomography scan analysis of the holotype and thanks to the discovery of new specimens from the type locality (Vitrolles-La Plaine, south-eastern France, late Maastrichtian), we reassessed Valentinella. This genus is unique by the association of an enlarged and rounded jaw angle with an assumed relatively elevated angular process, a bulbous protoconid and an unbasined heel on p4, a p5 with a wide molariform talonid and a hypoflexid, a robust molar morphology with a potential specialized crushing-grinding function (bulbously constructed cusps, large talonid, and horizontal apical wear facet of the hypocone), a somewhat reduced m3 relative to m2, a premolariform ?P3 or ?P4 lacking a metacone, and a relatively large hypocone on upper molars. These characters reinstate Valentinella as a valid genus. We also describe Mistralestes arcensis gen. et sp. nov. from a newly discovered locality (La Cairanne-Highway, south-eastern France, late Campanian). Mistralestes is defined by a robust premolariform p5 with no cingulid, paraconid, or metaconid; molars with a transverse protocristid, a gradual compression of the trigonid from m1 to m3, and paracristid and protocristid probably confluent on m3. Based on comparisons and phylogenetic analyses, Valentinella and Mistralestes may belong to Zhelestidae but this systematic attribution remains poorly supported.
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Invertebrate and avian predators as drivers of chemical defensive strategies in tenthredinid sawflies
- BACKGROUND: Many insects are chemically defended against predatory vertebrates and invertebrates. Nevertheless, our understanding of the evolution and diversity of insect defenses remains limited, since most studies have focused on visual signaling of defenses against birds, thereby implicitly underestimating the impact of insectivorous insects. In the larvae of sawflies in the family Tenthredinidae (Hymenoptera), which feed on various plants and show diverse lifestyles, two distinct defensive strategies are found: easy bleeding of deterrent hemolymph, and emission of volatiles by ventral glands. Here, we used phylogenetic information to identify phylogenetic correlations among various ecological and defensive traits in order to estimate the relative importance of avian versus invertebrate predation. RESULTS: The mapping of 12 ecological and defensive traits on phylogenetic trees inferred from DNA sequences reveals the discrete distribution of easy bleeding that occurs, among others, in the genus Athalia and the tribe Phymatocerini. By contrast, occurrence of ventral glands is restricted to the monophyletic subfamily Nematinae, which are never easy bleeders. Both strategies are especially effective towards insectivorous insects such as ants, while only Nematinae species are frequently brightly colored and truly gregarious. Among ten tests of phylogenetic correlation between traits, only a few are significant. None of these involves morphological traits enhancing visual signals, but easy bleeding is associated with the absence of defensive body movements and with toxins occurring in the host plant. Easy bleeding functions through a combination of attributes, which is corroborated by an independent contrasts test indicating a statistically significant negative correlation between species-level integument mechanical resistance and hemolymph feeding deterrence against ants. CONCLUSIONS: Our analyses evidence a repeated occurrence of easy bleeding, and no phylogenetic correlation including specific visual signals is significant. We conclude that the evolution of chemically-based defenses in tenthredinids may have been driven by invertebrate as much as by avian predation. The clear-cut visual signaling often encountered in the Nematinae would be linked to differential trends of habitat use by prey and predators. Further studies on (prey) insect groups should include visual signals and other traits, as well as several groups of natural enemies, to better interpret their relative significance and to refine our understanding of insect chemical defenses.
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The sawfly fauna of the Hautes-Pyrénées (France), with results of the 15th International Sawfly Workshop, 2011
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Cranial Endocast of the Lambeosaurine Hadrosaurid Amurosaurus riabinini from the Amur Region, Russia
- Information on the structure of the brain of the lambeosaurine hadrosaurid dinosaur Amurosaurus riabinini, from the Late Maastrichtian of Blagoveschensk, Far Eastern Russia, is presented based on endocranial casts. The endocasts are compared with physical and digital endocasts of other dinosaurs. The olfactory tract was large. The cerebral hemispheres are enlarged and round, illustrating the important development of this part of the brain in hadrosaurids. The pituitary body is enlarged as well, perhaps prefiguring the large size attained by hadrosaurids. The EQ of Amurosaurus was similar to that of the lambeosaurine dinosaur Hypacrosaurus altispinus and was relatively larger than in most extant non-avian reptiles, including sauropod and ceratopsian dinosaurs. However, it was apparently relatively smaller than those of most theropod dinosaurs. The relatively large size of the cerebrum is consistent with the range and complexity of social behaviors inferred for lambeosaurine dinosaurs.
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L'angoisse du conservateur au moment de l'acquisition: écho du terrain
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L'orogenèse varisque dans le sillon houiller de Haine-Sambre-et-Meuse
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Feather-like structures and scales in a Jurassic neornithischian dinosaur from Siberia
- Recent discoveries in Middle–Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous deposits from northeastern China have revealed that numerous theropod dinosaurs were covered by feathers. Furthermore, filamentous integumentary structures were also recently described in rare Early Cretaceous ornithischian dinosaurs from Liaoning Province in China. Whether these filaments can be regarded as epidermal and therefore part of the evolutionary lineage towards feathers remains controversial. Here we describe a new basal neornithischian dinosaur, based on isolated bones and partial skeletons collected in two monospecific bonebeds from the Middle–Late Jurassic Kulinda locality in the Transbaikal region (Russia). Varied integumentary structures were found directly associated with skeletal elements, supporting the hypothesis that simple filamentous feathers, as well as compound feather-like structures comparable to those in theropods, were widespread amongst the whole dinosaur clade. Moreover, scales along the distal tibia and on the foot closely resemble the secondarily-appearing pedal scales in extant birds. More surprisingly, dorso-ventral movements of the tail were prevented by large imbricated scales on its dorsal surface. It is hypothesized that, at the same time early feathers evolved within the whole dinosaur clade, genetic mechanisms limiting the growth of long epidermal structures on the distal portion of the hind limb and on the tail were selected as they facilitate bipedal terrestrial locomotion.
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Black shales in Belgium
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Organic-rich roof shales in coal sequences as gas shales: well KB174, Campine Basin, Belgium
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What can we learn from the brain of ornithopod dinosaurs?
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Gas shales in Belgium?
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Assessing cathodoluminescence as a tool for sourcing oolitic ironstones
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Q&A
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Kiribati
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Thermaal water voor Kuuroord Terhills, Maasmechelen : geologisch – mijnbouwhistorisch vooronderzoek
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Notes historiques. La Pierre d'Avesnes (première partie)
