Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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A new cave-dwelling Gekko (Gekko) from Lopburi Province, central Thailand (Squamata, Gekkonidae)
- We describe Gekko pradapdao sp. nov. from Tham Khao Chan (Khao Chan Cave), Tha Luang District, Lopburi Province, in central Thailand. The new species, a member of the subgenus Gekko, differs from all currently recognized Gekko species by the following combination of morphological characters and pattern: maximal known snout-vent length of 127.1 mm, lack of contact between nostrils and rostral, 24–28 interorbital scales between supraciliaries, 89–91 scale rows around midbody, 16–18 dorsal tubercle rows at midbody, 30–34 ventral scale rows at midbody, 11–13 precloacal pores in males, a single postcloacal tubercle on each side of the base of the tail, 13–16 subdigital lamellae on 1st toe and 17–19 on 4th toe, no Y-shaped mark on head, non-banded dorsal pattern on a dark chocolate brown to black background, and a dark brown iris. Urgent actions should be taken to evaluate the conservation status of the new species.
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A new sandstone-dwelling leaf-toed gecko (Gekkonidae: Dixonius mekongensis) from the Thai-Lao border
- We describe Dixonius mekongensis sp. nov. from sandstone formations in Khong Chiam District, Ubon Ratchathani Province, in extreme eastern Thailand along the Laotian border. The new species differs from all currently recognized Dixonius by the following combination of morphological characters and pattern: maximal known snout-vent length of 51.2 mm; 16 longitudinal rows of dorsal tubercles; 32 to 34 paravertebral scales; 22 to 24 longitudinal rows of ventral scales across the abdomen; seven precloacal pores in males, no pores in females; a marked canthal stripe; and a spotted to uniform dorsal pattern. This description brings the number of Dixonius species to 13, with six species endemic to Thailand.
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A new karst-dwelling, colorful pitviper (Viperidae: Trimeresurus) from northern Peninsular Thailand
- We describe a colorful and distinctively patterned, karst-dwelling pitviper, Trimeresurus kuiburi sp. nov., from the isolated, coastal massif of Khao Sam Roi Yot in Kui Buri District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, in northern Peninsular Thailand. The new species, member of the ‘Cryptelytrops group’ sensu Malhotra & Thorpe (2004) and morphologically and genetically allied to Trimeresurus kanburiensis and T. venustus, differs from all pitviper taxa by a combination of red/purple bands on a green dorsum; a white concave suborbital stripe in males (straight and less visible in females); white, spaced vertebral dots in males (absent in females); pale green belly lacking dark dots or stripe on the lateral sides of the ventrals; partially fused first supralabial and nasal scale; 19 dorsal scale rows at midbody; 164–171 ventrals; 63–65 subcaudals in males, 51–53 in females; maximal known SVL of 451 mm; and long, papillose hemipenes.
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Diversity, threats and conservation of western and central African amphibians (Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Gabon, São Tome & Principe, Eq
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Miscellanea Herpetologica Gabonica XVII
- We present new Gabonese locality records, ecological or morphological data for Pelusios castaneus (Pelomedusidae), Kinixys erosa (Testudinidae), Osteolaemus tetraspis (Crocodylidae), Agama agama (Agamidae), Monopeltis galeata (Amphisbaenidae), Feylinia currori, Trachylepis polytropis (Scincidae), Varanus ornatus (Varanidae), Philothamnus hughesi, Rhamnophis batesii, Toxicodryas adamantea and T. blandingii (Colubridae), Dendroaspis jamesoni jamesoni (Elapidae), Bothrophthalmus brunneus, Limaformosa guirali and L. savorgnani (Lamprophiidae), Atheris squamigera and Bitis nasicornis (Viperidae). One snake species each is newly recorded from Pongara National Park and Nyanga Province, and two each from Batéké Plateau National Park and Haut-Ogooué Province. We refer all records of Toxicodryas pulverulenta from Gabon to T. adamantea. We discuss the use of camera traps for monitoring reptiles in Gabon based on the results of extensive camera trap surveys. We provide geographic coordinates for selected localities mentioned in MHG III–VI.
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Biodiversity, Biogeography and Nature Conservation in Wallacea and New Guinea. Volume IV
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Phylogenetics and Integrative Taxonomy of African Water Snakes (Squamata: Colubridae: Grayia)
- Grayia is a genus of relatively large (1.5 – 2.5 m) aquatic Afrotropical snakes that is currently comprised of four species. Recent molecular phylogenies recovered Grayia in its own distinct subfamily (Grayiinae), which was strongly supported as the sister group to Colubrinae. Because tropical African snakes are generally understudied, the relationships within Grayia are poorly known. Due to morphological conservatism, identification is often difficult and previous studies involving Grayia included misidentified specimens in other genera. The goal of this study is to build a phylogenetic tree that can be used to understand the relationships and taxonomy of Grayia via an integrative taxonomic approach that combines molecular and morphological data. One nuclear (BDNF) and four mitochondrial genes (COI, cyt b, 16S and ND4) were used to construct a phylogenetic tree with Maximum likelihood methods; outgroups included the genera Calamaria, Sibynophis and Masticophis. Preliminary trees suggest G. ornata and G. smithii are sister taxa, whereas G. caesar (originally described as the sole member of the genus Xenurophis) is sister to G. tholloni. At least two divergent lineages of G. ornata suggest cryptic species are likely present in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Republic of Congo.
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Philothamnus ruandae Loveridge, 1951. Rwandan Green Snake. Reproduction.
- We provide new data on the reproduction of the Rwandan Green Snake Philothamnus ruandae (Squamata : Colubridae) based on high resolution x-ray computed tomography of five adult pregnant females, including the holotype and three paratypes. The smallest gravid female has a snout-vent length of 552 mm, and clutch size varies from 4 to 12.
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The taxonomic impediment: a shortage of taxonomists, not the lack of technical approaches
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Seasonality at Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites based on the presence and wear of deciduous premolars from nursing mammoth calves
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Mothering the Orphaned Pup: The Beginning of a Domestication Process in the Upper Palaeolithic
- Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the initial steps in the domestication process of the wolf. We discuss the human-initiated model in which wolf pups were brought to camp sites by male hunters and cared for by nursing women. A good relation between the more sociable and playful pups and the women and their children likely formed affiliative bonds and led to the survival of such pups into maturity. Some of these animals could have reproduced and delivered at least one litter. A selection on the behaviour of subsequent generations could ultimately have led to Palaeolithic dogs.
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Upper Pleistocene hominins and wooly mammoths in the East European Plain.
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Natural and human-driven selection of a single non-coding body size variant in ancient and modern canids
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The delusion of stripes: A century-old mystery of five-lined sun skinks (Reptilia: Scincidae: Eutropis) of Peninsular India elucidated
- We re-evaluate the taxonomic identities of five-lined skinks of the genus Eutropis (E. trivittata, E. beddomei, E. nagarjunensis, and E. bibronii) inhabiting the Indian subcontinent. Previously it has been considered that E. trivittata is distributed in the western India and E. dissimilis in the northern India (from north-eastern India up to Pakistan). Based on our analysis, we revealed that the illustration (iconotype) of the untraceable type specimen of E. trivittata depicted by Hardwicke in Gray (1834) from “Dumdum” near Kolkata, West Bengal matches the typical E. dissimilis, also described from “Bengal”. The senior synonym, E. trivittata is a morphologically unique species, which is also supported by divergence in the mitochondrial 12S and 16S regions. E. trivittata is clearly separated with divergences of 5–7% from E. beddomei, E. vertebralis and E. nagarjunensis for 16S rRNA. After placing E. dissimilis with the synonymy of E. trivittata, the taxonomic status of the western Indian ‘E. trivittata’ required to be clarified. Therefore, we resurrect Mabuia vertebralis Boulenger, 1887, a junior synonym of western Indian E. trivittata, and redescribe its holotype collected from “Belgaum”, Karnataka. Although, morphologically closest to E. beddomei, Eutropis vertebralis comb. nov. is sister to E. nagarjunensis with divergence of 4% in the same mitochondrial regions. Based on our update of the currently confirmed localities for E. vertebralis comb. nov. and E. trivittata, we conducted Species Distribution Modelling (SDM) using the Maximum Entropy algorithm to predict its distribution range, and we discuss its conservation status.
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Amphibians
- I provide a commented list of the amphibian species found in the Lower Ogooué region, western Gabon, Equatorial Africa, from Ndjolé and Lambaréné to Port-Gentil and Omboué. The list includes 44 species (Dermophiidae, Arthroleptidae, Bufonidae, Conrauidae, Hyperoliidae, Phrynobatrachidae, Pipidae, Ptychadenidae, Pyxicephalidae, Ranidae and Rhacophoridae).
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Conservation
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Reptiles
- I provide a commented list of the reptile species found in the Lower Ogooué region, western Gabon, Equatorial Africa, from Ndjolé and Lambaréné to Port-Gentil and Omboué. The list includes 85 species (Pelomedusidae, Cheloniidae, Dermochelyidae, Testudinidae, Trionychidae, Crocodylidae, Agamidae, Chamaeleonidae, Gekkonidae, Gerrhosauridae, Lacertidae, Scincidae, Varanidae, Amphisbaenidae, Typhlopidae, Boidae, Pythonidae, Colubridae, Elapidae, Lamprophiidae, Natricidae and Viperidae).
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Cranial osteology of Hypoptophis (Aparallactinae: Atractaspididae: Caenophidia), with a discussion on the evolution of its fossorial adaptations
- Fossoriality evolved early in snakes, and has left its signature on the cranial morphology of many extinct Mesozoic and early Caenozoic forms. Knowledge of the cranial osteology of extant snakes is indispensable for associating the crania of extinct lineages with a particular mode of life; this applies to fossorial taxa as well. In the present work, we provide a detailed description of the cranium of Hypoptophis wilsonii, a member of the subfamily Aparallactinae, using micro-computed tomography (CT). This is also the first thorough micro-CT-based description of any snake assigned to this African subfamily of predominantly mildly venomous, fossorial, and elusive snakes. The cranium of Hypoptophis is adapted for a fossorial lifestyle, with increased consolidation of skull bones. Aparallactines show a tendency toward reduction of maxillary length by bringing the rear fangs forward. This development attains its pinnacle in the sister subfamily Atractaspidinae, in which the rear fang has become the “front fang” by a loss of the part of the maxilla lying ahead of the fang. These dentitional changes likely reflect adaptation to subdue prey in snug burrows. An endocast of the inner ear of Hypoptophis shows that this genus has the inner ear typical of fossorial snakes, with a large, globular sacculus. A phylogenetic analysis based on morphology recovers Hypoptophis as a sister taxon to Aparallactus. We also discuss the implications of our observations on the burrowing origin hypothesis of snakes.
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AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds
- Functional traits offer a rich quantitative framework for developing and testing theories in evolutionary biology, ecology and ecosystem science. However, the potential of functional traits to drive theoretical advances and refine models of global change can only be fully realised when species-level information is complete. Here we present the AVONET dataset containing comprehensive functional trait data for all birds, including six ecological variables, 11 continuous morphological traits, and information on range size and location. Raw morphological measurements are presented from 90,020 individuals of 11,009 extant bird species sampled from 181 countries. These data are also summarised as species averages in three taxonomic formats, allowing integration with a global phylogeny, geographical range maps, IUCN Red List data and the eBird citizen science database. The AVONET dataset provides the most detailed picture of continuous trait variation for any major radiation of organisms, offering a global template for testing hypotheses and exploring the evolutionary origins, structure and functioning of biodiversity.
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PITYOSTROBUS ANDRAEI(PINACEAE) FROM THE BARREMIAN (LOWER CRETACEOUS)OF BELGIUM: A MORPHOMETRIC REVISION
