Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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La séquence loessique Pléistocène moyen à supérieur d'Etricourt-Manancourt (Picardie, France) : un enregistrement pédo-sédimentaire de référence pour les derniers 350 ka
- THE MIDDLE AND UPPER PLEISTOCENE LOESS SEQUENCE OF ÉTRICOURT-MANANCOURT (PICARDY, FRANCE): A REFERENCE PEDO-SEDIMENTOLOGICAL RECORD FOR THE LAST 350 KA In this study, we describe a new Middle Pleistocene loess-palaeosol sequence uncovered during a preventive excavation at Étricourt-Manancourt (Somme, France; fig. 1). The full 12-m-thick sequence exhibits five stacked glacial-interglacial cycles and integrates five in situ Palaeolithic levels and remarkably one Acheulean level dated by TL on burned flints at about 280 - 300 ka. Detailed field stratigraphic approach has been completed by (1) a high-resolution sedimentological study (grain size, TOC) based on a set of more than 380 5-cm-thick samples collected from continuous sampling columns covering the entire units, (2) more than 110 micromorphological block samples for thin sections analysis (fig. 3) and (3) a set of 37 sub-samples for the study of heavy minerals. Despite specific samples (tubes) having been extracted for future OSL dating, the geochronological control is mainly based on TL dating of heated (archaeological) flints, completed by IRSL dating on K-feldspars. The archaeological excavation, located on the slope of a dry valley, was opened over more than 4500 m² and led to the discovery of two deep sinkholes developed in the chalk bedrock (fig. 6). The bottom of the deepest one is located at more than 11 m from the surface of the topsoil and 5 m below the average chalk surface. The study of four reference profiles distributed throughout the excavation (figs. 6-9), and their correlation using well defined pedological level marks led to the definition of a ca. 12-m-thick cumulative loess-palaeosols succession including eighteen main stratigraphic units. This approach allowed building a global pedosedimentary sequences for the Étricourt site that presently serves as a reference for northern France (fig. 14 & tab. 2).
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Collecting information and identification of Oscarella from Cabo Frio, Brazil (Porifera, Homoscleromorpha, Oscarellidae)
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Archeozoölogisch, carpologisch en palynologisch onderzoek van beerputvullingen op de site Greenwich, Kartuizerstraat – rue des Chartreux (BR 111, Brussel): voorlopige resultaten
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Biodiversity of the freshwater crabs of Benin (Potamonautidae): a genetic approach
- Introduction: Published reports on freshwater crabs in Benin (West Africa) are very scarce and mention only two accepted taxa: Sudanonautes aubryi and S. monodi (the latter with no precise locality). The inventory of these species (described using specimens from Gabon and Cameroon, respectively) is still poorly known. Methods: Here, we explore the diversity of freshwater crabs in Benin using a selection of 18 specimens collected in 2022 and 2023 in a range of aquatic biotopes and throughout the country, except for the far north. The specimens were examined morphologically and sequenced for fragments of the COI, 16S and H3 genes. Results: Despite a general variability in color, shape, size and in the DNA sequences (proportion of substitution per site up to ca. 8% for COI, 3% for 16S and 0.3% for H3), our results suggest that all the Beninese crabs belong to a single species of the Sudanonautes genus. They also show that they are neither S. aubryi nor S. floweri, with which they show consistent morphological differences and larger proportions of substitution per site at COI (>10%), 16S (>6%) and H3 (>0.6%). Conclusions: The Beninese crabs may belong to an undescribed species. However, they are more likely conspecific with S. pelii, a species described from the coastal plain of Ghana, previously considered to be a junior synonym of S. aubryi, and whose lectotype’s photographs show no obvious morphological differences with the Sudanonautes crabs from Benin. It is therefore likely that S. pelii will have to be revalidated for certain populations of Sudanonautes crabs from Ghana, Benin and probably adjacent countries.
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Ant communities in recently restored dune grassland ecosystems in Belgium (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
- In the period 2000-2001 nature restoration projects drastically reshaped the Nature Reserve in Lombardsijde near the Ijzer Estuary in Flanders, Belgium. Dikes were constructed and new dune grasslands were installed. Seven years after the restoration the ant fauna of these newly created sites was compared with reference sites from foredunes, dune grasslands and grey dunes. Ants were collected with pitfall traps in 10 sample sites during 4 years. Our results showed that after 7 even 10 years of nature restoration, the ant fauna in the newly created sites still differs substantially from those of the reference sites. However, typical dune grassland ant species like Myrmica specioides, Myrmica sabuleti and Lasius psammophilus were already present at the newly created sites. Our data also suggests that it takes a longer period for characteristic dune grassland ants species to colonize and settle in these new environments than for other invertebrate groups like spiders and carabid beetles that were also collected and studied during the same project and reported before.
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First records of a supercolonial species of the Tapinoma nigerrimum complex in Belgium (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
- In the summer of 2014, a highly supercolonial Tapinoma was discovered in Ostend, Belgium. This was the first time a Tapinoma species with an invasive behaviour was discovered outdoors in Belgium. The ant belongs to the most widely distributed of four recognized species of the Tapinoma nigerrimum complex and is the only known species being invasive in areas north of the Mediterranean zone. In a first attempt to eliminate the species, a Demand 10CS insecticide solution treatment was initiated in 2015. First results illustrate that this treatment might be efficient, however a long-term monitoring of the site and its neighbourhood are suggested.
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Secrets of de Selys Longchamps archives: one watercolour and two records of nineteenth century observations of the grasshopper species Psophus stridulus (Linnaeus, 1758) and Locusta migratoria (Linnaeus, 1758) in Belgium (Orthoptera: Acrididae)
- Next to voucher specimens in entomological collections, also historical archives and historical illustrations can contain valuable taxonomical as well as ecological and faunistic data. We report here faunistic data for two currently extinct Belgian grasshopper species from the year 1862, deduced from a letter accompanied by a watercolour. The letter and watercolour are stored in the archives of Edmond de Selys Longchamps at the Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences (RBINS). Both the watercolour and the letter are discussed, focusing on the observations of Psophus stridulus (Linnaeus, 1758) and Locusta migratoria (Linnaeus, 1758) (Orthoptera) at Lanaken in 1862. Two voucher specimens of these observations and their original labels, that are stored in the RBINS collections, were studied. We can conclude that Egide Fologne was the first to observe P. stridulus in Belgium. He reported this in a letter to Edmond de Selys Longchamps and supplied the watercolour depicting the specimen he collected and donated to Selys for his collection.
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European Red List of Terrestrial Molluscs
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New contribution to the knowledge of the genus Toxeutes Newman, 1840 with the description of a new species from Sulawesi Island in Indonesia (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Prioninae)
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Integrative taxonomy of giant crested Eusirus in the Southern Ocean, including the description of a new species (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Eusiridae)
- Among Antarctic amphipods of the genus Eusirus, a highly distinctive clade of giant species is characterized by a dorsal, blade-shaped tooth on pereionites 5–7 and pleonites 1–3. This lineage, herein named ‘crested Eusirus’, includes two potential species complexes, the Eusirus perdentatus and Eusirus giganteus complexes, in addition to the more distinctive Eusirus propeperdentatus. Molecular phylogenies and statistical parsimony networks (COI, CytB and ITS2)of crested Eusirus are herein reconstructed. This study aims to formally revise species diversity within crested Eusirus by applying several species delimitation methods (Bayesian implementation of the Poisson tree processes model, general mixed Yule coalescent, multi-rate Poisson tree processes and automatic barcode gap discovery) on the resulting phylogenies. In addition, results from the DNA-based methods are benchmarked against a detailed morphological analysis of all available specimens of the E. perdentatus complex. Our results indicate that species diversity of crested Eusirus is underestimated. Overall, DNA-based methods suggest that the E. perdentatus complex is composed of three putative species and that the E. giganteus complex includes four or five putative species. The morphological analysis of available specimens from the E. perdentatus complex corroborates molecular results by identifying two differentiable species, the genuine E. perdentatus and a new species, herein described as Eusirus pontomedon sp. nov. ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: alpha taxonomy – cryptic species – genetics – molecular systematics – phylogenetic systematics.
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Reply to comment by Kienle et al. 2017
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Lithostratigraphy Ieper Group
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Practical Guide Lithostratigraphy Ieper Group
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New insights on Tournaisian–Visean (Carboniferous, Mississippian) athyridide, orthotetide, rhynchonellide, and strophomenide brachiopods from southern Belgium
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Brachiopods collected from Madeira, off Selvagem Grande Island, (NE Atlantic Ocean) by remotely operated vehicle “Luso” during the year 2010
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Increasing knowledge on biodiversity patterns and climate changes in Earth’s history by international cooperation: introduction to the proceedings IGCP 596/SDS Meeting Brussels (2015).
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New insight on Carboniferous (Viséan) brachiopods from eastern Tafilalt (Morocco)
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A bryozoan fauna from the Mississippian (Tournaisian and Viséan) of Belgium
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Maritime ecosystem-based management in practice: Lessons learned from the application of a generic spatial planning framework in Europe
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Effects of temporal fluctuation in population processes of intertidal Lanice conchilega (Pallas, 1766) aggregations on its ecosystem engineering
