Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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Osteology and phylogenetic relationships of Agoultpycnodus aldrovandii gen. and sp. nov., a new pycnodont fish genus (Pycnodontidae) from the marine Late Cretaceous of Morocco.
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Sexual dimorphism in a population of +Pycnodontiformes of the Aptian (Lower Cretaceous) from Profeti (Province of Caserta, Southern Apennines, Italy)
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The Cretaceous fishes of Nardò. 41°. New data on the teleosts Capassoichthys alfonsoi (Ichthyodectidae) and Chanoides chardoni (Ostariophysi, Otophysi).
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Les poissons du Santonien (Crétacé supérieur) d’Apricena (Italie du Sud). 9°. Garganomyctophum sorbinii gen. et sp. nov. (Teleostei, Myctophiformes, Myctophidae)
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The Pantodontidae (Teleostei, Osteoglossomorpha) from the marine Cenomanian (Upper Cretaceous) of Lebanon. 1°. Pankowskipiscis haqelensis gen. and sp. nov.
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The Pantodontidae (Teleostei, Osteoglossomorpha) from the marine Cenomanian (Upper Cretaceous) of Lebanon. 2°. Petersichthys libanicus gen. and sp. nov.
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The Pantodontidae (Teleostei, Osteoglossomorpha) from the marine enomanian (Upper Cretaceous) of Lebanon. 3°. Palaeopantodon vandersypeni gen. and sp. nov.
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Anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of Temnodontosaurus zetlandicus (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria)
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1001 décisions, gouvernance et gestion - 1001 besslissingen, beleid en politiek
- Série de 10 vidéos des ministres publiées sur le channel Youtube "1001 for Biodiversity". Messages vidéos des ministres responsables de la biodiversité en Belgique à l'occasion de l'anniversaire des 20 ans de la ratification de la Convention sur la Diversité Biologique (CBD) par la Belgique et de la conférence 1001 décisions organisée le 20 mai 2016 à l'IRSNB par le Point focal national CDB. Chaque ministre livre un message sur sa politique en matière de biodiversité et un second message sur les actions qu'il met en oeuvre personnellement à l'inspiration du livret "366 gestes pour la biodiversité" publié par l'Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique.
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Biodiversity 2020 – Update of Belgium’s National Biodiversity Strategy
- "Biodiversity 2020, Update of Belgium's National Strategy (NBS)" has been developed as a direct response to Article 6 of the Convention on Biological Diversity. It was adopted on 13 November 2013 by the Interministerial Conference for the Environment, which is composed of the competent ministers of the Federal Government and the three Regions of Belgium (Flanders, Brussels, Wallonia). The Strategy spells out a range of priority objectives to anticipate, prevent and reduce the causes of biodiversity loss in Belgium. It is the unique national document on biodiversity that is applicable both at the federal and regional levels in order to comply with the European and international commitments made by Belgium. It offers a framework for the policy to follow and for the subsequent implementing actions to be developed.
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The ecology of infrastructure decommissioning in the North Sea: what we need to know and how to achieve it
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Environmental Impacts of Offshore Wind Farms in the Belgian Part of the North Sea: Marking a Decade of Monitoring, Research and Innovation.
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Radar registrations of bird migration validation through an interdisciplinary approach (RAVen project)
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The genus Charcotia Chevreux, 1906 in the Southern Ocean, with the description of a new species (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Lysianassoidea)
- It is demonstrated here that Charcotia Chevreux, 1906 (Amphipoda) has priority over Charcotia Vayssière, 1906 (Gastropoda), and that Waldeckia Chevreux, 1906 has to be treated as an invalid objective junior synonym of Charcotia Chevreux, 1906. An analysis of a part of the mitochondrial COI gene of Charcotia indicates that Charcotia obesa sensu lato, consists of two genetically distant clades that fulfil the criteria of genetic species. Each genetic clade corresponds to a different morphotype. The first one has a low triangular protrusion on the dorsal border of urosomite 1, a strong tooth on epimeron 3, and the posterodistal corner of the basis of pereiopod 7 is regularly rounded. It agrees with the original description of Charcotia obesa Chevreux, 1906. The second one has a protrusion of urosomite 1 prolongated by a sharp and usually long denticle, a small tooth on epimeron 3, and the posterodistal corner of the basis of pereiopod 7 is bluntly angular. The second form is treated herein as a new species, Charcotia amundseni sp. nov., which is described in detail. While the bathymetric distribution of the two Antarctic Charcotia species overlaps (0–300 m for C. obesa and 7–1200 m for C. amundseni sp. nov.), C. obesa largely predominates at depths of less than 150 m, while Charcotia amundseni sp. nov. predominates at greater depths. Both species are widely distributed and presumably circum-Antarctic.
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Aquatic long-distance dispersal and vicariance shape the evolution of an ostracod species complex (Crustacea) in four major Brazilian floodplains.
- Cladogenesis is often driven by the interplay of dispersal and vicariance. The importance of long-distance dispersal in biogeography and speciation is increasingly recognised, but still ill-understood. Here, we study faunal interconnectivity between four large Brazilian floodplains, namely the Amazon, Araguaia, Pantanal (on Paraguay River) and Upper Paraná River floodplains, investigating a species complex of the non-marine ostracod genus Strandesia. We use DNA sequence data from the mitochondrial COI and the nuclear Elongation Factor 1 alpha genes to construct molecular phylogenies and minimum spanning networks, to identify genetic species, analyse biogeographic histories and provide preliminary age estimates of this species complex. The Strandesia species complex includes five morphological and eleven genetic species, which doubles the known diversity in this lineage. The evolutionary history of this species complex appears to comprise sequences of dispersal and vicariance events. Faunal and genetic patterns of connectivity between floodplains in some genetic species are mirrored in modern hydrological connections. This could explain why we find evidence for (aquatic) long-distance dispersal between floodplains, thousands of kilometres apart. Our phylogenetic reconstructions seem to mostly indicate recent dispersal and vicariance events, but the evolution of the present Strandesia species complex could span up to 25 Myr, which by far exceeds the age of the floodplains and the rivers in their current forms.
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Karyotype variability and inter-population genomic differences in freshwater ostracods (Crustacea) showing geographical parthenogenesis
- Transitions from sexual to asexual reproduction are often associated with polyploidy and increased chromosomal plasticity in asexuals. We investigated chromosomes in the freshwater ostracod species Eucypris virens (Jurine, 1820), where sexual, asexual and mixed populations can be found. Our initial karyotyping of multiple populations from Europe and North Africa, both sexual and asexual, revealed a striking variability in chromosome numbers. This would suggest that chromosomal changes are likely to be accelerated in asexuals because the constraints of meiosis are removed. Hence, we employed comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) within and among sexual and asexual populations to get insights into E. virens genome arrangements. CGH disclosed substantial genomic imbalances among the populations analyzed, and three patterns of genome arrangement between these populations: 1. Only putative ribosomal DNA (rDNA)-bearing regions were conserved in the two populations compared indicating a high sequence divergence between these populations. This pattern is comparable with our findings at the interspecies level of comparison; 2. Chromosomal regions were shared by both populations to a varying extent with a distinct copy number variation in pericentromeric and presumable rDNA-bearing regions. This indicates a different rate of evolution in repetitive sequences; 3. A mosaic pattern of distribution of genomic material that can be explained as non-reciprocal genetic introgression and evidence of a hybrid origin of these individuals. We show an overall increased chromosomal dynamics in E. virens that is complementary with available phylogenetic and population genetic data reporting highly differentiated diploid sexual and asexual lineages with a wide variety of genetic backgrounds.
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On Argentodromas bellanella gen. nov., sp. nov. (Crustacea, Ostracoda) from a stream in northern Argentina (South America).
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Editorial. Happy birthday Hydrobiologia! 70 years young and still growing…
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Factors affecting the metacommunity structure of periphytic ostracods (Crustacea, Ostracoda): a deconstruction approach based on biological traits
- Metacommunity studies using the deconstruction approach based on biological traits have received a great deal of attention in recent years as they often better describe characteristics of the species that reflect adaptations to a specific environment. This approach has not yet been used for ostracods, which are nevertheless highly diverse crustaceans and abundant in continental aquatic environments. Here, we investigate the influence of environmental and spatial factors on the metacommunity structure of periphytic ostracods in 27 tropical floodplain lakes in the Upper Paraná River floodplain (Brazil). An analysis of variance partitioning was used to estimate the relative importance of these factors (environmental and spatial) on both the entire community as well as after its deconstruction according to the biological traits (size and locomotion mode). Ostracods, regardless of body size, are good dispersers at regional scales. In addition, as expected, swimming ostracods were better dispersers at local scales than non-swimmers, which were influenced mainly by the diversity of aquatic macrophytes. Environmental factors (species sorting mechanism) seem important in structuring the entire ostracods metacommunity, as well as for most categories of biological traits. The unexplained variability remained high showing that other variables, not measured here, must be important. The analysis based on deconstruction, when compared to the analysis based on the metacommunity as a whole, contributed to a better assessment of ostracod metacommunity structuring.
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First “omic” results of the putative ancient asexual Darwinula stevensoni – evidence for horizontal gene transfer and a high load of transposable elements
