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Article Reference The history of the domestic cat in Central Europe
A recent study from Central Europe has changed our perception of the cat's domestication history. The authors discuss how this has led to the development of an interdisciplinary project combining palaeogenetics, zooarchaeology and radiocarbon dating, with the aim of providing insight into the domestic cat's expansion beyond the Mediterranean.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022 OA
Article Reference The Holocene depositional history of the IJzer palaeovalley (Western Belgian coastal plain) with reference to the factors controlling the formation of intercalated peat beds.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference The Holocene occurrence of Acipenser spp. in the southern North Sea: the archaeological record
Archaeological sturgeon remains from the southern North Sea basin used to be automatically attributed to Acipenser sturio, since this was the only acipenserid species believed to occur there. These species identifications, however, were in need of revision after a growing number of indications were found for the historical presence of Acipenser oxyrinchus in western Europe. In this study, morphological and genetic data on sturgeon remains from archaeological sites along the southern North Sea are revised. A large number of Dutch, Belgian, British and some French archaeological sturgeon remains, dating from theMesolithic up to Late Modern times, are morphologically examined and fish sizes are reconstructed. This study of >7000 acipenserid bones proves the sympatric occurrence of European sturgeon A. sturio and Atlantic sturgeon A. oxyrinchus in the southern North Sea at least since the Neolithic (fourth millennium BC onwards), with A. oxyrinchus remains always outnumbering those of A. sturio. Human influence is documented by the decrease in finds through time, but no clear evidence was found for a diachronic change in fish lengths that could possibly be related to fishing pressure.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Article Reference The Holocene occurrence of the European catfish (Silurus glanis) in Belgium: the archaeozoological evidence
An overview is given of the skeletal remains of the European catfish Silurus glanis found thus far in Belgian archaeological sites. These finds demonstrate that the species is autochthonous and allow documenting its occurrence and disappearance during the Holocene in the Scheldt and Meuse basins Possible causes for the local extinction of this catfish are discussed.
Located in Associated publications / Belgian Journal of Zoology / Bibliographic References
Article Reference The Holocene occurrence of the European catfish Silurus glanis in Belgium: the archaeozoological evidence
An overview is given of the skeletal remains of the European catfish Silurus glanis found thus far in Belgian archaeological sites. These finds demonstrate that the species is autochthonous and allow documenting its occurrence and disappearance during the Holocene in the Scheldt and Meuse basins. Possible causes for the local extinction of this catfish are discussed.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference The holothurian subgenus Mertensiothuria (Aspidochirotida: Holothuriidae) revisited.
Mertensiothuria is one of the 20 subgenera currently recognized under Holothuria. The diagnosis of the subgenus is amended with new information on the ossicles found in the longitudinal muscles. The number of species of Mertensiothuria considered to be valid at present is six. These species are redescribed on the basis of new material, type and non-type museum material and on re-evaluation of literature. Two of them, Holothuria hilla and Holothuria aphanes, are transferred from the subgenus Thymiosycia to Mertensiothuria. Four species formerly referred to Mertensiothuria are removed; provisionally they are not referred to any of the known subgenera of Holothuria. Full annotated descriptions or (where the type material was not available) references to the literature are given for each species. An identification key is given to the species belonging to the subgenus Mertensiothuria.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference The human-initiated model of wolf domestication – an expansion based on human-dingo relations in Aboriginal Australia
The historically known relationship of interspecies companionship between Aboriginal foraging communities in Australia and free-ranging dingoes provides a model for understanding the human-canid relations that gave rise to the first domesticated dogs. Here, we propose that a broadly similar relationship might have developed early in time between wild-living wolves and mobile groups of foragers in Late Pleistocene Eurasia, with hunter-gatherers routinely raiding wild wolf dens for pre-weaned pups, which were socialized to humans and kept in camp as tamed companions (“pets”). We outline a model in which captive wolf pups that reverted to the wild to breed when they were sexually mature established their territories in the vicinity of foraging communities — in a “liminal” ecological zone between humans and truly wild-living wolves. Many (or most) of the wolf pups humans took from the wilderness to rear in camp may have derived from these liminal dens where the breeding pairs had been under indirect human selection for tameness over many generations. This highlights the importance of the large seasonal hunting/aggregation camps associated with mammoth kill-sites in Gravettian/Epigravettian central Europe. Large numbers of foragers gathered regularly at these locations during the wild wolf birthing season. We infer that if a pattern of this kind occurred over long periods of time then there might have been a pronounced effect on genetic variation in free-ranging wolves that denned and whelped in the liminal zones in the vicinity of these human seasonal aggregation sites. The argument is not that wolves were domesticated in central Europe. Rather, it is this pattern of hunter-gatherers who caught and reared wild wolf pups gathering seasonally in large numbers that might have been the catalyst for the early changes leading to the first domesticated dogs — whether in western Eurasia or further afield.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference The HYPERMAQ dataset: bio-optical properties of moderately to extremely turbid waters
Because of the large diversity of case 2 waters ranging from extremely absorbing to extremely scattering waters and the complexity of light transfer due to external terrestrial inputs, retrieving main biogeochemical parameters such as chlorophyll-a or suspended particulate matter concentration in these waters is still challenging. By providing optical and biogeochemical parameters for 180 sampling stations with turbidity and chlorophyll-a concentration ranging from 1 to 700 FNU and from 0.9 to 180 mg m−3 respectively, the HYPERMAQ dataset will contribute to a better description of marine optics in optically complex water bodies and can help the scientific community to develop algorithms. The HYPERMAQ dataset provides biogeochemical parameters (i.e. turbidity, pigment and chlorophyll-a concentration, suspended particulate matter), apparent optical properties (i.e. water reflectance from above water measurements) and inherent optical properties (i.e. absorption and attenuation coefficients) from six different study areas. These study areas include large estuaries (i.e. the Rio de la Plata in Argentina, the Yangtze estuary in China, and the Gironde estuary in France), inland (i.e. the Spuikom in Belgium and Chascomùs lake in Argentina), and coastal waters (Belgium). The dataset is available from Lavigne et al. (2022) at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.944313.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022
Article Reference The impact of policy measures on profitability and risk in geothermal energy investments
The development of geothermal energy is below the European National Renewable Energy Action Plans’ anticipated trajectory. High upfront investment costs and multiple sources of uncertainty result in a major investment risk, hampering the mobilization of required capital. To evaluate different policy measures, we developed a geological economic Monte Carlo simulation model that integrates both market and geological uncertainty and a firms’ option to abandon the geothermal project development after a first drilling is made. If the objective is to reduce the abandonment rate of geothermal projects, a heat premium comes forward as the most cost-efficient policy instrument. However, the risk that a project turns out unprofitable is not reduced and windfall profits do occur. In contrast, a recoverable loan reduces both the investment risk and the abandonment rate. An insurance scheme targets the investment risk as well. However, it also increases the abandonment rate and appears as the least cost-efficient policy measure. Considering the different policy performance indicators, a tax rebate is never preferred. Our results demonstrate the intricacies of choosing the correct policy measure, and the need to support such policy decisions with quantitative analyses.
Located in Library / No RBINS Staff publications
Article Reference The impact of taphonomic processes on interpreting paleoecological changes in large lake ecosystems: Ostracodes in Lakes Tanganyika and Malawi
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications