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Speleothem science - A short review and state of the art - in press
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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Speleothem-based chronology and environmental context of deposits from the Mishin Kamik Cave, NW Bulgaria–A contribution to the archaeological study of the Late Pleistocene human occupation in the Balkans
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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Sphaeroptica: A tool for pseudo-3D visualization and 3D measurements on arthropods
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Natural history collections are invaluable reference collections. Digitizing these collections is a transformative process that improves the accessibility, preservation, and exploitation of specimens and associated data in the long term. Arthropods make up the majority of zoological collections. However, arthropods are small, have detailed color textures and share small, complex and shiny structures, which poses a challenge to conventional digitization methods. Sphaeroptica is a multi-images viewer that uses a sphere of oriented images. It allows the visualization of insects including their tiniest features, the positioning of landmarks, and the extraction of 3D coordinates for measuring linear distances or for use in geometric morphometrics analysis. The quantitative comparisons show that the measures obtained with Sphaeroptica are similar to the measurements derived from 3D μCT models with an average difference inferior to 1\%, while featuring the high resolution of color stacked pictures with all details like setae, chaetae, scales, and other small and/or complex structures. Shaeroptica was developed for the digitization of small arthropods but it can be used with any sphere of aligned images resulting from the digitization of objects or specimens with complex surface and shining, black, or translucent texture which cannot easily be digitized using structured light scanner or Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2024 OA
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Spinnen en loopkevers ingezameld tijdens een korte bodemvalbemonstering te Doeveren (Zedelgem‐Oostkamp)
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Spiders and carabid beetles were collected with pitfall traps during a short sampling campaign in the spring of 2017 (from 24/05 to 11/07) in the nature reserve Doeveren at Zedelgem‐Oostkamp. 49 species of spiders and 34 species of carabid beetles were found. We here discuss some particular species of both arthropod groups that are mentioned as threatened on the Red list for Flanders. We comment the management and heathland restoration measures of the last years and its impact on both faunas
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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Spiroplasma Display an Intricate Continuum of Infection Heterogeneity and Persistence in Myrmica Ants
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Many bacterial taxa evolved facultative symbiotic associations with insects and spread through host populations by horizontal and maternal transmission. Co-infection at the individual host level may facilitate or constrain the spread of facultative symbi- onts. Due to insufficiently detailed genotyping, co-infections of maternally transmitted symbionts often remain hidden, limit- ing our understanding of (co-)infection dynamics. Spiroplasma bacteria exhibit multiple independent origins of symbiosis with insects and have poorly understood patterns of transmission and co-infection. Here, we examined these traits of Spiroplasma symbiosis using Myrmica ants, a system known for high frequencies of single Spiroplasma infections. Through exhaustive genotyping of 75 colonies across seven Myrmica species, we uncovered multiple cryptic co-infections involving two distinct Spiroplasma clades that display significantly different infection frequencies in workers. Within Myrmica ruginodis, infection heterogeneity was contingent on ant caste and was lower in workers. Remarkably, the sMyr Spiroplasma variant infected four Myrmica species and was widespread in queens and workers. We provide phylogenomic and functional genomic support for an exceptionally stable symbiosis with maternally acquired sMyr, with a predicted infection persistence of seven million years in the Myrmica scabrinodis species group. Our findings reveal that Spiroplasma can display complex infection heterogeneity and evolve an evolutionary stable maternally acquired infection within insect hosts.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2026 OA
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Stable isotopes reveal agricultural practices in the Swifterbant period
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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Stable isotopes unveil one millennium of domestic cat paleoecology in Europe
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The domestic cat is the world's most popular pet and one of the most detrimental predators in terrestrial ecosystems. Effective protection of wildlife biodiversity demands detailed tracking of cat trophic ecology, and stable isotopes serve as a powerful proxy in dietary studies. However, a variable diet can make an isotopic pattern unreadable in opportunistic predators. To evaluate the usefulness of the isotopic method in cat ecology, we measured C and N isotope ratios in hundreds of archaeological cat bones. We determined trends in cat trophic paleoecology in northern Europe by exploiting population-scale patterns in animals from diverse locations. Our dataset shows a high variability of isotopic signals related to the socio-economic and/or geomorphological context. This points toward regularities in isotopic patterns across past cat populations. We provide a generalized guide to interpret the isotopic ecology of cats, emphasizing that regional isotopic baselines have a major impact on the isotopic signal.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
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State of knowledge of aquatic ecosystem and fisheries of the Lake Edward System, East Africa
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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Stick insects from Vietnam: The new genus Mycovartes gen. nov., with two new species and two new species of Neooxyartes Ho, 2018 (Phasmida: Lonchodidae: Necrosciinae)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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Strandingen en waarnemingen van zeezoogdieren en opmerkelijke andere soorten in België in 2019 [Strandings and sightings of marine mammals and remarkable other species in Belgium in 2019]
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In 2019 51 harbour porpoises washed ashore: a low number compared to previous years. More than half of these animals were in a poor state of conservation, and for many no cause of death could be identified. Four harbour porpoises died due to bycatch in fishing gear, four others as a result of predation by a grey seal. The estimated density of porpoises at sea in June and August was approximately the average of the last years. The only other cetacean that was found stranded was a very decomposed common dolphin. As was the case last year, a solitary, sociable bottlenose dolphin was present for months in the region adjacent to French waters. Groups of bottlenose dolphins were observed on two occasions. More exceptional were the sightings of a humpback whale and a minke whale. The presence of seals at our coast is still on the rise. In the port of Nieuwpoort a permanent haulout site has established; it is frequently used by more than 10 harbour seals. Also sighting rates of grey seals are increasing. The increased presence of seals translates into increasing numbers of dead and dying seals on the beach: 47, the highest number ever recorded. SeaLife took care of 11 grey seals and 15 harbour seals. Two leatherback turtles and some ocean sunfish were observed in 2019. Their presence might have been related to an unusual influx of Atlantic water. For a stranded ocean sunfish, it is still being investigated which species it belonged to. Marine mammals remain very popular: some temporary or permanent exhibitions were opened in 2019, and the skeleton of a sperm whale that washed ashore in 1989 was excavated with the objective to preserve it and to put it on display.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
