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Article Reference Impacts of Climate Change on the Global Invasion Potential of the African Clawed Frog Xenopus laevis
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Article Reference Field Method for testing Repellency of an Icaridin-Containing Skin Lotion against Vespid Wasps
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Article Reference Mitogenomics reveals high synteny and long evolutionary histories of sympatric cryptic nematode species
Species with seemingly identical morphology but with distinct genetic differences are abundant in the marine environment and frequently co-occur in the same habitat. Such cryptic species are typically delineated using a limited number of mitochondrial and/or nuclear marker genes, which do not yield information on gene order and gene content of the genomes under consideration. We used next-generation sequencing to study the composition of the mitochondrial genomes of four sympatrically distributed cryptic species of the Litoditis marina species complex (PmI, PmII, PmIII, and PmIV). The ecology, biology, and natural occurrence of these four species are well known, but the evolutionary processes behind this cryptic speciation remain largely unknown. The gene order of the mitochondrial genomes of the four species was conserved, but differences in genome length, gene length, and codon usage were observed. The atp8 gene was lacking in all four species. Phylogenetic analyses confirm that PmI and PmIV are sister species and that PmIII diverged earliest. The most recent common ancestor of the four cryptic species was estimated to have diverged 16 MYA. Synonymous mutations outnumbered nonsynonymous changes in all protein-encoding genes, with the Complex IV genes (coxI-III) experiencing the strongest purifying selection. Our mitogenomic results show that morphologically similar species can have long evolutionary histories and that PmIII has several differences in genetic makeup compared to the three other species, which may explain why it is better adapted to higher temperatures than the other species.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Article Reference Spatiotemporal variation and sediment retention effects on nematode communities associated with Halimeda opuntia (Linnaeus) Lamouroux (1816) and Sargassum polyceratium Montagne (1837) seaweeds in a tropical phytal ecosystem
Nematodes play an important role in ecological processes and are one of the most abundant meiofaunal organisms associated with seaweeds. Yet, knowledge on seaweed bed ecosystems is limited. Nematodes associated with Sargassum polyceratium and Halimeda opuntia were compared in two transects, 80 m apart and parallel to the beach line in Cupe Beach, Brazil. The temporal variation during the dry and rainy seasons and the effect of sediment retention by the seaweed on nematode density and composition were investigated. The differences in nematode communities between the two seasons were mainly caused by the increase in density of the most abundant genera in the rainy season. A significant difference was observed between the nematode communities of the two transects for H. opuntia. The nematode communities of both seaweed species did not differ significantly in the same transect. The genus Euchromadora was dominant in both seaweed species. The amount of sediment retained by the seaweeds did not affect the overall nematode density. However, it was positively correlated with the density of Draconema and Euchromadora in both seaweeds, and both genera were exclusively found associated with seaweeds. This result opposes the idea that the more sediment retained by the seaweed, the higher the nematode overall density and the higher the number of nematodes originally coming from the sediment.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Article Reference Charred olive stones: experimental and archaeological evidence for recognizing olive processing residues used as fuel
After extracting oil from olives a residue is left usually referred to as the olive oil processing residue (OPR). This study explores the way in which ancient societies may have used OPR as fuel for fires to generate heat and the various issues that are related to the residues of this fuel. After drying, the high heating value and structure of OPR makes it an excellent and efficient fuel. Upgrading OPR further, through thermal conversion or charring, provides an even more efficient fuel (COPR), with a hotter and smoke free flame, a higher heating value and which is lighter in mass and thus easier to transport. After a fire is extinguished two types of remains of the fuel are left i.e. char and ash. Analyses on both remains, recovered from archaeological deposits, could be used as a source of information on fuel utilization. Laboratory experiments on charred modern OPR and stones show that by measuring their reflectance and analyzing their structure under reflected light microscopy, OPR and COPR can be distinguished in the charred material recovered from three archaeological sites in Greece and Syria. Based on these investigations it is suggested that on the three sites COPR was used as fuel. Ash, sampled together with the char, provides the possibility of investigating if other types of fuel were used, apart from OPR or COPR. On the investigated sites no ash was collected, but the analysis of the modern OPR showed that the properties of its ash could be used to distinguish it from other types of fuel. Ash from modern OPR and olive stones showed the presence of phytoliths. The often discussed issue related to the sharpness and smoothness of the edges of charred fragmented olive stones was investigated. The results showed that this is not a reliable criterion for recognizing olive oil production. It is recommended that in addition to the identification of the botanical material more properties of the remains of fuels should be analysed. To prevent destroying and losing char and ash as a result of excavation activities such as flotation and sieving, special measures have to be taken. The results show that analysing char and ash may provide valuable information on the (pyro)technology practised in ancient societies.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Article Reference Het archeozoölogisch en carpologisch onderzoek van een afvalpakket op de site Eenmansstraat in de Brusselse beenhouwerswijk (BHG)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Article Reference Zaden en vruchten uit middeleeuws en post-middeleeuws Brussel (BHG)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Article Reference Neandertal cannibalism and Neandertal bones used as tools in Northern Europe
Almost 150 years after the first identification of Neandertal skeletal material, the cognitive and symbolic abilities of these populations remain a subject of intense debate. We present 99 new Neandertal remains from the Troisième caverne of Goyet (Belgium) dated to 40,500–45,500 calBP. The remains were identified through a multidisciplinary study that combines morphometrics, taphonomy, stable isotopes, radiocarbon dating and genetic analyses. The Goyet Neandertal bones show distinctive anthropogenic modifications, which provides clear evidence for butchery activities as well as four bones having been used for retouching stone tools. In addition to being the first site to have yielded multiple Neandertal bones used as retouchers, Goyet not only provides the first unambiguous evidence of Neandertal cannibalism in Northern Europe, but also highlights considerable diversity in mortuary behaviour among the region’s late Neandertal population in the period immediately preceding their disappearance.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Article Reference Unequal contribution of native South African phylogeographic lineages to the invasion of the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, in Europe
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Article Reference Pleistocene Mitochondrial Genomes Suggest a Single Major Dispersal of Non-Africans and a Late Glacial Population Turnover in Europe
How modern humans dispersed into Eurasia and Australasia, including the number of separate expansions and their timings, is highly debated [ 1, 2 ]. Two categories of models are proposed for the dispersal of non-Africans: (1) single dispersal, i.e., a single major diffusion of modern humans across Eurasia and Australasia [ 3–5 ]; and (2) multiple dispersal, i.e., additional earlier population expansions that may have contributed to the genetic diversity of some present-day humans outside of Africa [ 6–9 ]. Many variants of these models focus largely on Asia and Australasia, neglecting human dispersal into Europe, thus explaining only a subset of the entire colonization process outside of Africa [ 3–5, 8, 9 ]. The genetic diversity of the first modern humans who spread into Europe during the Late Pleistocene and the impact of subsequent climatic events on their demography are largely unknown. Here we analyze 55 complete human mitochondrial genomes (mtDNAs) of hunter-gatherers spanning ∼35,000 years of European prehistory. We unexpectedly find mtDNA lineage M in individuals prior to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). This lineage is absent in contemporary Europeans, although it is found at high frequency in modern Asians, Australasians, and Native Americans. Dating the most recent common ancestor of each of the modern non-African mtDNA clades reveals their single, late, and rapid dispersal less than 55,000 years ago. Demographic modeling not only indicates an LGM genetic bottleneck, but also provides surprising evidence of a major population turnover in Europe around 14,500 years ago during the Late Glacial, a period of climatic instability at the end of the Pleistocene.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016