Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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Response to the Technical Comment on 'A Jurassic ornithischian dinosaur from Siberia with both feathers and scales'
- Lingham-Soliar questions our interpretation of integumentary structures in the Middle-Late Jurassic ornithischian dinosaur Kulindadromeus as feather-like appendages and alternatively proposes that the compound structures observed around the humerus and femur of Kulindadromeus are support fibres associated with badly degraded scales. We consider this hypothesis highly unlikely due to the taphonomy and morphology of the preserved structures.
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Long-standing enigmas of a giant ornithomimosaur Deinocheirus mirificus resolved
- The holotype of Deinocheirus mirificus was collected by the 1965 Polish-Mongolian Palaeontological Expedition at Altan Uul III in the southern Gobi of Mongolia1. Because the holotype consists mostly of giant forelimbs (2.4m in length) with scapulocoracoids2, Deinocheirus has remained one of the most mysterious dinosaurs for almost 50 years. The mosaic of ornithomimosaur and non-ornithomimosaur characters in the holotype has made it difficult to resolve the phylogenetic status of Deinocheirus3,4. Here we describe two new specimens of Deinocheirus that were discovered in the Nemegt Formation of Altan Uul IV in 2006 and Bugiin Tsav in 2009. The Bugiin Tsav specimen (MPC-D 100/127) includes a left forelimb clearly identifiable as Deinocheirus and is 6% longer than the holotype. The Altan Uul IV specimen (MPC-D 100/128) is approximately 74% the size of MPC-D 100/127. Cladistic analysis indicates that Deinocheirus is the largest member of the Ornithomimosauria; however, it has many unique skeletal features unknown in other ornithomimosaurs, indicating that Deinocheirus was a heavily built, non-cursorial animal with an elongate snout, tall neural spines, an expanded pelvis for strong muscle attachments, and a relatively short hind limb. Ecomorphological features in the skull, more than a thousand gastroliths, and stomach contents (fish remains) suggest Deinocheirus was a megaomnivore that lived in mesic environments.
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Intercontinental dispersal of mammals during the Paleocene new data from Europe
- The Paleocene in general and in Europe in particular, is generally considered as an epoch with high endemism and few intercontinental dispersals of mammals, although some faunal interchange is known between Asia and North America, mainly from the Tiffanian-Clarkforkian boundary. Up to now, however, faunal interchange between Europe and North America during the Paleocene has almost never been demonstrated. The study of the early Paleocene fauna of Hainin (Belgium) reveals high endemism in European mammals at the end of the Danian (early Paleocene). The age of the fauna of Walbeck (Germany) is reevaluated and is likely to be Selandian (middle Paleocene), significantly older than previously suggested. Therefore, Walbeck is closer in age to Hainin than to the typical late Paleocene fauna of Cernay (France). However, the faunas from Walbeck and Cernay share many common genera that are not present in Hainin, showing a faunal turnover around the Danian-Selandian boundary in Europe, marked by the first occurrence of Plesiadapis, Arctocyon and Adunator in Walbeck, and of neoplagiaulacid multituberculates and Dissacus in Cernay. The three genera present in Walbeck are abundant and diversified in North America from the beginning of the Tiffanian, i.e., older than the expected age of Walbeck. Therefore, it is inferred that these genera dispersed from North America to Europe around the Danian–Selandian boundary, corresponding roughly to the Torrejonian–Tiffanian boundary. The absence of multituberculates in the fauna of Walbeck does not allow the drawing of definite conclusions about the moment of their dispersal, but it is likely that it happened at the same time as Plesiadapis and Arctocyon, because neoplagiaulacids are abundant and diversified during the whole Paleocene in North America. Similarly, Dissacus is very rare in Cernay, and could also have dispersed at the same time as others, but remained unnoticed because of its rarity. The Clarkforkian in North America is marked by massive arrival of taxa from Asia, among which are rodents, carnivorans, and tillodonts. The recent discovery of the latest Paleocene fauna of Rivecourt (France), where typical Paleocene taxa cohabit with rodents and a carnivoran, indicates that the large-scale dispersal event marking the Paleocene–Eocene boundary began in Europe about at the same time as in North America, with the arrival of rodents and carnivorans. The morphology of the new carnivoran species suggests that this group dispersed separately from Asia to Europe and from Asia to North America.
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A new palaeobatrachidé frog from the Early Paleocene of Belgium
- Palaeobatrachids are an extinct group of aquatic frogs. They occurred from the Late Cretaceous to the Pleistocene, only in Europe with the exception of one questionable species recorded in the late Maastrichtian Lance Formation of Wyoming and a second possible occurrence in the early Paleocene of Montana.Here, we describe about ninety isolated palaeobatrachid bones well-preserved in three-dimensions (maxillae, surangulars, vertebrae, urostyles, ilia and humeri) from the early Paleocene locality of Hainin (Belgium), which is the reference-level MP1-5 of the mammalian biochronological scale for the European Paleogene. These remains are clearly attributable to a single species of palaeobatrachid that presents the following typical characters: a surangular with a coronoid process bearing muscle scars on dorsal surface; a bicondylar sacro-urostylar articulation; an urostyle with a low neural crest and lacking transversal processes; a humerus with the humeral condyle in the alignment of the bone, epicondyles similar in size; an ilium presenting a large acetabular area, a short and posteriorly oriented pars ascendens, an elongate tuber superius, an horizontal depression on the inner surface of the iliac shaft and lacking the dorsal crest and the pars descendens; and procoelous vertebrae with typical crescent-like cotyle and condyle. The four known palaeobatrachid genera have all been recently synonymized with Palaeobatrachus for which at least seven species are now recognized. The taxon from Hainin differs from most Palaeobatrachus species in the absence of cubital fossa on the humerus, the presence of diapophyses on the first vertebra, and the maxilla that presents a higher number of tooth positions. It is thus referred to a new Palaeobatrachus species or a new genus depending of the definition of the genus Palaeobatrachus. Prior to this study, fragmentary remains of palaeobatrachids had been identified in the Campanian of France and Spain and in the Late Paleocene of France. The early Paleocene species from Hainin is therefore the earliest formally described species from Europe. This abstract is a contribution to the project BR/121/A3/PALEURAFRICA funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office.
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Huaridelphis raimondii, a new early Miocene Squalodelphinidae (Cetacea, Odontoceti) from the Chilcatay Formation, Peru
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Ichtyosaurs from the French Rhaetian indicate a severe turnover across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary
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Integrated bio-chemostratigraphical correlations and climatic evolution across the Danian–Selandian boundary at low latitudes.
- The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the base of the Selandian Stage is defined in the Zumaia section (Spain) at an abrupt change in lithology (base of Itzurun Formation), which coincides with the onset of a negative carbonate carbon isotope shift. However, this lithological change is not always very well expressed in other sections. In order to document the stratigraphic position of the Danian/Selandian boundary (DSB) on a more global scale, we have investigated three sections across the DSB, the Zumaia reference section (GSSP), the Loubieng section (auxiliary DSB reference section, France) and the Sidi Nasseur section (Tunisia). The Danian/Selandian boundary interval is subdivided and correlated throughout low latitudes, from the Altlantic Bay of Biscay to the Southern Tethys, on the basis of seven calcareous nannofossil and planktonic foraminiferal events (E-events). The base of the Selandian is proved to coincide with the end of the Braarudosphaera acme, which correlates with the lowest consistent occurrence (LCsO) of Lithoptychius aff. bitectus (=Fasciculithus janii sensu Steurbaut and Sztrákos, 2008) (event E4), but which is slightly posterior to the second radiation of the fasciculiths, up to now considered to represent the primary correlation tool of the DSB. A short-term δ13Corg negative excursion, associated with an increase in pCO2 is recorded at the very base of the Selandian. It is interpreted as a short period of global warming (hyperthermal), the duration of which is estimated at ~30 kyr. It is followed in all the three studied sections by a long-term decoupled carbon isotope event, marked by increasing δ13Corg and decreasing δ13Ccarb values. It may reflect a period of climatic cooling of a few 100 kyr, interpreted as a possible precursor of the global cooling event, marking the late Paleocene in the North Atlantic realm. The integration of the biostratigraphic and the isotope data indicates major differences in sedimentation rates during the early Selandian in the studied sections, but there is no evidence of substantial breaks in sedimentation in any of the sections during this interval. The lithological shift at the base of the Selandian points to an abrupt palaeoenvironmental reorganisation, although our integrated bio-chemostratigraphical investigation does not allow for estimating its duration nor the presence of a hiatus at that time.
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Het oudheidkundig bodemonderzoek aan de Sacramentstraat te Tongeren. Eindverslag 1993
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New Archaeozoological Data from the Fayum ‘‘Neolithic’’ with a Critical Assessment of the Evidence for Early Stock Keeping in Egypt
- Faunal evidence from the Fayum Neolithic is often cited in the framework of early stock keeping in Egypt. However, the data suffer from a number of problems. In the present paper, large faunal datasets from new excavations at Kom K and Kom W (4850–4250 BC) are presented. They clearly show that, despite the presence of domesticates, fish predominate in the animal bone assemblages. In this sense, there is continuity with the earlier Holocene occupation from the Fayum, starting ca. 7350 BC. Domesticated plants and animals appear first from approximately 5400 BC. The earliest possible evidence for domesticates in Egypt are the very controversial domesticated cattle from the 9th/8th millennium BC in the Nabta Playa-Bir Kiseiba area. The earliest domesticates found elsewhere in Egypt date to the 6th millennium BC. The numbers of bones are generally extremely low at this point in time and only caprines are present. From the 5th millennium BC, the numbers of sites with domesticates dramatically increase, more species are also involved and they are usually represented by significant quantities of bones. The data from the Fayum reflect this two phase development, with very limited evidence for domesticates in the 6th millennium BC and more abundant and clearer indications in the 5th millennium BC. Any modelling of early food production in Egypt suffers from poor amounts of data, bias due to differential preservation and visibility of sites and archaeological remains, and a lack of direct dates for domesticates. In general, however, the evidence for early stock keeping and accompanying archaeological features shows large regional variation and seems to be mainly dependent on local environmental conditions. The large numbers of fish at Kom K and Kom W reflect the proximity of Lake Qarun.
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Monitoring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Northeast Aegean Sea using Posidonia oceanica seagrass and synthetic passive samplers.
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Validation of modelled bottom shear stress under the influence of currents and waves, using long-term measurements.
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Uncertainty of in situ SPM concentration measurements. Abstract, 13th International Conference on Cohesive Sediment Transport Processes, 7 - 11 September 2015, Leuven, Belgium, 2 pp.
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Surface SPM concentration in Taiwan Strait during summer and winter monsoon
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In situ measurements of SPM concentration to evaluate the impact of the disposal of fine grained sediments from maintenance dredging. Abstract, 13th International Conference on Cohesive Sediment Transport Processes, 7-11 September 2015, Leuven, Bel
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INVESTIGATION OF THE DEGRADATION PHENOMENA OF THE LUXEMBOURG SANDSTONE IN THE ROYAL MUSEUM FOR CENTRAL AFRICA (BELGIUM)
- The Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren was built in the beginning of the 20th century. The outer walls and ornamental elements were almost exclusively constructed in massive blocks of Luxembourg sandstone, a stone well suited as building material. Despite the stated good quality, the facades locally suffer from exposure to weathering. Moreover, certain zones show severe damage due to rain water infiltration originating from defects in the water evacuation system which is entirely hidden within the walls. As a consequence, important damage to the sandstone blocks in the form of crack-formation, scaling, spalling and (salt) staining, is noticed. This paper presents the results of an investigation carried out in the framework of the restoration strategy aiming to explain degradation and damage phenomena in relation to the properties and varieties of Luxembourg sandstone. Detailed visual observations with regard to the architectural concept was followed by a sampling plan and a test program. Physical and microscopic analysis allowed to establish the relationship between rock type, colour and weathering effects. The test program consisted of the determination of physical and mineralogical properties, hardness profiles obtained by means of the portable DRMS device (Drilling Resistance Measurement System), ultrasound velocity measurements and the determination of the actual salt contamination. The strengthening effect of a number of consolidation tests, using tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), was also evaluated by means of hardness profiles
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Middle-Holocene alluvial forests and associated fluvial environments: A multi-proxy reconstruction from the lower Scheldt, N Belgium
- Analyses of pollen, plant macrofossils (seeds, fruits, wood and mosses), molluscs, diatoms and vertebrate (mainly fish) remains allowed a detailed reconstruction of a middle-Holocene alluvial forest and its associated hydrological conditions. The use of multiple proxies resulted in a taxonomically more detailed and environmentally more comprehensive understanding of terrestrial as well as aquatic habitats. The results demonstrate possible biases in palaeoecological reconstructions of alluvial and estuarine environments drawn from single proxies. Many locally occurring woody taxa were underrepresented or remained undetected by pollen analyses. Seeds and fruits also proved to be inadequate to detect several locally important taxa, such as Ulmus and Hedera helix. Apparently brackish conditions inferred from diatoms, pollen and other microfossils conflicted strikingly with the evidence from molluscs, fish bones and botanical macroremains which suggest a freshwater environment. Brackish sediment (and the microfossil indicators) is likely to have been deposited during spring tides or storm surges, when estuarine waters penetrated more inland than usual. Despite the reworking and deposition of estuarine and saltmarsh sediment well above the tidal node at such events, local salinity levels largely remained unaffected.
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Damage assessment of ferruginous sandstone by X-ray tomografie - the "Virgin Tower" of Zichem (Belgium)
- The ferruginous sandstone of the Gothic “Virgin Tower” is suffering from a specific biological deterioration process triggered by perforating activities of mason bees. The damage due to these perforations causes extensive loss of material, so that a durable conservation of such degraded stoneblocks becomes questionable. In order to evaluate the conservation possibilities of stoneblocks damaged by perforating mason bees, an investigation of the internal structure by means of X-ray tomography was carried out. This investigation revealed that the cumulative effect of the digging work by multiple generations of mason bees may result in networks of perforations. Bioturbated sandstones were found to be most suitable for attack by mason bees because of morphological and geometrical compatibility between the original layered burrowings by marine organisms and those by the mason bees. As a conclusion, the conservation is not recommended of sandstoneblocks for which the load bearing capacity is endangered by the branched and layered perforations
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Soil Nematodes
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First report of stubby root nematode, Paratrichodorus teres (Nematoda: Trichodoridae) from Iran
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Comparative suceptability of Macrotermes bellicosus and Trinervitermes occidentalis (Isoptera: Termitidae) to entomopathogenic nematodes from Benin
