Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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New records of Palaearctic Dynastinae (3) : occurence of Eophileurus pectoralis Arrow, 1908 in China, and complement to its distribution in India
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First records of Archophileurus chaconus (Kolbe, 1910) for Europe in the province of Valencia (east iberian peninsula) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae)
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Revision of the genus Hystatoderes Lameere, 1917 (Part I): species from Vietnam (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Prioninae, Anacolini)
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South American terrestrial Gastropoda in the collection of the Auckland War Memorial Museum
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The “Triceratops” leafhoppers. A new species of the genus Cornutipo Evans, 1934 from Northern Queensland, Australia. (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Eurymelinae: Ipoini)
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The Entognatha, Malacostraca and Myriapoda of the botanical garden Jean Massart (Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium)
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Updated checklist, origin, distribution, literature and genital drawings of the spiders of the Galápagos Islands
- The list of Galapagos spider species has been updated and now includes 161 species. We provide information on their synonyms and distribution. Existing literature is also mentioned for each species. The species illustrated were all captured by members of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences on various missions to the Galapagos and identified by the first author, and are held in the collections of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.
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Flies in the centennial Botanic Garden Jean Massart (Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium)
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Évolution du paysage végétal médiéval et mise en évidence de la densification des activités humaines sur le site de la “Petite rue des Bouchers” (Bruxelles, Belgique). Étude interdisciplinaire
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Etude archéozoologique d’Anthisnes – Brassine - Bas Moyen Age et Temps Modernes (Tamisage)
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Etude archéozoologique d’Andenelle – Château Noël. Ateliers de potiers médiévaux
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Analyse d’échantillons de sédiments à la recherche d’opercules de Bithynia (1)
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Analyse d’échantillons de sédiments à la recherche d’opercules de Bithynia (2)
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Shell anatomy of the African Paleocene bothremydid turtle Taphrosphys congolensis and systematic implications within Taphrosphyini
- The bothremydid pleurodiran turtle Taphrosphys congolensis is a member of Taphrosphyina from the Paleocene of the Cabinda Province (Congo Basin, Angola). Very few specimens corresponding to elements of its shell have been so far figured. Abundant unpublished remains are analyzed in this paper. As a consequence, several regions of the shell are figured and characterized here for the first time, and intraspecific variability is recognized for several characters. Previous authors proposed some putative differences between the shells of Taphrosphys congolensis and the North American Paleocene Taphrosphys sulcatus. The increase in the knowledge about the shell of this African form allows us to refute most of them, the shell of both forms being recognized as more similar than previously identified. Thus, the identification of the genus Taphrosphys as restricted to three forms (i.e. the skull taxon Taphrosphys ippolitoi, and the skull and shell forms T. congolensis and T. sulcatus) is supported, and the record unquestionably attributable to this genus is modified from the Upper Cretaceous–Eocene lapse of time to the Paleocene exclusively.
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Diet Records for Snakes from Guinea, West Africa
- We present various predation records based on museum-preserved snakes from southeastern Republic of Guinea, West Africa: Aparallactus niger (Atractaspididae) on an earthworm (Oligochaeta); Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia (Colubridae) on Sclerophrys sp. (Anura; Bufonidae); Grayia smithii (Colubridae) and Natriciteres variegata (Natricidae) on Arthroleptis sp(p). (Anura; Arthroleptidae); Grayia tholloni on Xenopus cf. tropicalis (Anura; Pipidae); Toxicodryas pulverulenta (Colubridae) on Agama cf. sankaranica (Agamidae); Elapsoidea semiannulata moebiusi (Elapidae) on Hemisus cf. guineensis (Anura; Hemisotidae); Naja savannula (Elapidae), Afronatrix anoscopus (Natricidae) and Causus maculatus (Viperidae) on Sclerophrys regularis; Psammophis phillipsii (Psammophiidae) on Trachylepis cf. affinis (Scincidae); Causus maculatus on Ptychadena sp. (Anura; Ptychadenidae); Limaformosa guirali (Lamprophiidae) on Atheris chlorechis (Viperidae); and Atheris chlorechis on Hyperolius sp. (Anura; Hyperoliidae). Diagnostic morphological characters are provided for all snakes involved in these records, as well as clutch sizes for pregnant females (Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia and Causus maculatus). We provide identifications for some insects found in the stomachs of the ingested amphibians.
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Publishing data to support the fight against human vector-borne diseases
- Vector-borne diseases are responsible for more than 17% of human cases of infectious diseases. In most situations, effective control of debilitating and deadly vector-bone diseases (VBDs), such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, Zika and Chagas requires up-to-date, robust and comprehensive information on the presence, diversity, ecology, bionomics and geographic spread of the organisms that carry and transmit the infectious agents. Huge gaps exist in the information related to these vectors, creating an essential need for campaigns to mobilise and share data. The publication of data papers is an effective tool for overcoming this challenge. These peer-reviewed articles provide scholarly credit for researchers whose vital work of assembling and publishing well-described, properly-formatted datasets often fails to receive appropriate recognition. To address this, GigaScience’s sister journal GigaByte partnered with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) to publish a series of data papers, with support from the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), hosted by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Here we outline the initial results of this targeted approach to sharing data and describe its importance for controlling VBDs and improving public health.
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Four notable additions to the South African echinoid fauna (Echinodermata, Echinoidea)
- Although a comprehensive guide to the South African echinoid fauna was published as recently as 2017, four notable additions to the fauna have emerged since that time and are reported on here. The first South African records for Histocidaris purpurata (Thomson, 1872), Echinothrix diadema (Linnaeus, 1758), Mi- crocyphus rousseaui L. Agassiz, in Agassiz and Desor 1846, and Pseudoboletia maculata Troschel, 1869 are presented. All four species have previously been recorded from the Atlantic and/or Indian Oceans and their ranges are thus extended southwards here. These additions increase the total number of echinoid species known from South Africa to 74.
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Sublittoral and bathyal sea cucumbers (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) from the Northern Mozambique Channel with description of six new species
- The 2009 expedition with the research vessel Miriky sampled the sublittoral and bathyal waters of the northern Mozam- bique Channel. This exploration campaign resulted in a small, but very diverse collection of holothuroids comprising 174 specimens representing 31 species, 18 genera, 10 families and 5 orders. Of these species, many were hitherto unknown for Madagascar or even for the Indian Ocean, and six, Bathyplotes aymeric sp. nov., Holothuria (Cystipus) yann sp. nov., Holothuria (Stauropora) bo sp. nov., Holothuria (Metriatyla) alex sp. nov., Holothuria (Theelothuria) cyrielle sp.nov., Molpadia thandari sp. nov., are new to science. Molpadia lenticulum (Cherbonnier & Féral, 1981) is a new combination. This contribution provides an illustrated and annotated overview of the poorly known, highly biodiverse, sublittoral and bathyal sea cucumber fauna of the northern Mozambique Channel. Our findings demonstrate how ignorant we are about the poorly explored habitats of our planet and therefore stress the urgent need for more explorations to such regions.
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Enabling Renewable Energy While Protecting Wildlife: An Ecological Risk-Based Approach to Wind Energy Development Using Ecosystem-Based Management Values
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Fit for porpoise? Assessing the effectiveness of underwater sound mitigation measures
- In this chapter, we review how developers complied with the environmental license conditions formulated to mitigate the potential negative impacts of pile driving on marine mammals in the Belgian part of the North Sea (BPNS), whether this impacted the timing of development and what the likely consequences were for marine mammals. Between 2009 and 2020, offshore wind farm developers in the BPNS complied to a large extent with those environmental license conditions formulated to mitigate the potential negative impacts of pile driving on marine mammals. However, we did identify several possible improvements to these environmental license conditions, including changes in the use of acoustic deterrent devices, formalising obligatory mammal surveys, and requiring developers to comply with the national threshold for impulsive underwater sound. The reduction in the costs of applying noise mitigation measures ensures that these suggested improvements should not affect the economic viability of future projects.
