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Article Reference Adulis and the transshipment of baboons during classical antiquity
Adulis, located on the Red Sea coast in present-day Eritrea, was a bustling trading centre between the first and seventh centuries CE. Several classical geographers—Agatharchides of Cnidus, Pliny the Elder, Strabo—noted the value of Adulis to Greco-Roman Egypt, particularly as an emporium for living animals, including baboons (Papio spp.). Though fragmentary, these accounts predict the Adulite origins of mummified baboons in Ptolemaic catacombs, while inviting questions on the geoprovenance of older (Late Period) baboons recovered from Gabbanat el-Qurud (‘Valley of the Monkeys’), Egypt. Dated to ca. 800–540 BCE, these animals could extend the antiquity of Egyptian–Adulite trade by as much as five centuries. Previously, Dominy et al. (2020) used stable isotope analysis to show that two New Kingdom specimens of Papio hamadryas originate from the Horn of Africa. Here, we report the complete mitochondrial genomes from a mummified baboon from Gabbanat el-Qurud and 14 museum specimens with known provenance together with published georeferenced mitochondrial sequence data. Phylogenetic assignment connects the mummified baboon to modern populations of P. hamadryas in Eritrea, Ethiopia, and eastern Sudan. This result, assuming geographical stability of phylogenetic clades, corroborates Greco-Roman historiographies by pointing toward present-day Eritrea, and by extension Adulis, as a source of baboons for Late Period Egyptians. It also establishes geographic continuity with baboons from the fabled Land of Punt (Dominy et al., 2020), giving weight to speculation that Punt and Adulis were essentially the same trading centres separated by a thousand years of history.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Techreport Reference Final Scientific Report. Take home messages and project results. Jaak Monbaliu, Tina Mertens, Annelies Bolle, Toon Verwaest, Pieter Rauwoens, Erik Toorman, Peter Troch and Vincent Gruwez (Editors)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Inproceedings Reference Metastrongyloid parasites of felines in naturally infected gastropods in Greece
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022 OA
Book Reference Joseph Charles Hippolyte Crosse (1826-1898), 1: biography, bibliography and new taxa introduced
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022 OA
Article Reference The transition between coastal and offshore areas in the North Sea unraveled by suspended particle composition
Identifying the mechanisms that contribute to the variability of suspended particulate matter concentrations in coastal areas is important but difficult, especially due to the complexity of physical and biogeochemical interactions involved. Our study addresses this complexity and investigates changes in the horizontal spread and composition of particles, focusing on cross-coastal gradients in the southern North Sea and the English Channel. A semi-empirical model is applied on in situ data of SPM and its organic fraction to resolve the relationship between organic and inorganic suspended particles. The derived equations are applied onto remote sensing products of SPM concentration, which provide monthly synoptic maps of particulate organic matter concentrations (here, particulate organic nitrogen) at the surface together with their labile and less reactive fractions. Comparing these fractions of particulate organic matter reveals their characteristic features along the coastal-offshore gradient, with an area of increased settling rate for particles generally observed between 5 and 30 km from the coast. We identify this area as the transition zone between coastal and offshore waters with respect to particle dynamics. Presumably, in that area, the turbulence range and particle composition favor particle settling, while hydrodynamic processes tend to transport particles of the seabed back towards the coast. Bathymetry plays an important role in controlling the range of turbulent dissipation energy values in the water column, and we observe that the transition zone in the southern North Sea is generally confined to water depths below 20 m. Seasonal variations in suspended particle dynamics are linked to biological processes enhancing particle flocculation, which do not affect the location of the transition zone. We identify the criteria that allow a transition zone and discuss the cases where it is not observed in the domain. The impact of these particle dynamics on coastal carbon storage and export is discussed.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024 OA
Article Reference Lessons from the calibration and sensitivity analysis of a fish larval transport model
ABSTRACT: Numerous fish populations show strong year-to-year variations in recruitment. The early life stages play a crucial role in determining recruitment and dispersal patterns. A helpful tool to understand recruitment and dispersal involves simulations with a Lagrangian transport model, which results from the coupling between a hydrodynamic model and an individual-based model. Larval transport models require sound knowledge of the biological processes governing larval dispersal, and they may be highly sensitive to the parameters selected. Various assumptions about larval traits, behaviour and other model parameters can be tested by comparing simulation results with field data to identify the most sensitive parameters and to improve model calibration. This study shows that biological parameterization is more important than inter-annual variability in explaining the year-to-year differences in larval recruitment of common sole in the North Sea and the eastern English Channel. In contrast, year-to-year variability of connectivity leads to higher variability than changes in the biological parameters. The most influential parameters are pelagic larval duration, spawning period and mortality. Calibration over a 12 yr recruitment survey shows that a scenario with low mortality associated with a long larval duration and behaviour involving nycthemeral and tidal migration best reproduces the observations. This research provides insights into factors influencing fish dispersal and recruitment, suggesting a strategy for enhancing the accuracy of models in upcoming studies. The study supports the improvement of larval dispersal modelling by incorporating an easily applicable sensitivity analysis for both calibration and validation. Incorporating sensitivity analyses enhances larval dispersal models, providing performing tools that can contribute to informed fisheries management and understanding of recruitment variability.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024
Article Reference Harnessing the power of machine and deep learning for transferring joint species distribution models considering the structure of biotic interactions
The transferability of single or joint species distribution models ((j)SDMs) depends on their ability to predict beyond the observed environmental range and to remain consistent despite shifts in biotic interactions. Transfer accuracy may be improved by recent advances in the application of deep learning that provide greater flexibility and potentially superior predictive accu- racy than traditional approaches. We implemented jSDMs with deep and machine learning algorithms and measured the transfer accuracy from continental to regional areas in communities with different species composition. We ran jSDMs with deep neural networks (DNN), elastic net (EN), and stacked SDMs (sSDM) with random forests (RF). We used 134 689 occurrence records representing 1776 species of six taxonomic groups (beetles, birds, bryophytes, fungi, lichens and plants) from 2387 forest plots in Europe. We employed an agnostic modelling approach that covered most of the environmental con- ditions by including more than 100 satellite-derived variables and 98 climatic variables. The predictive power of the models within the training continental area was evaluated using AUC, whereas the transfer accuracy in the regional area was evalu- ated with the Boyce index calculated with independent presence records. We found that the DNN–jSDMs outperformed other models at continental scale, but model transfer from continental to regional extent was less accurate. We found that the accuracy of regional predictions was higher for taxonomic groups with better representation in the continental data, such as birds, bryophytes and plants. Depending on the algorithm and the taxonomic group, we achieved acceptable (Boyce > 0) to accurate (Boyce > 0.5) transferability for 32–78% of the species. Our findings underscored the need of considering trade-offs among hyperparameter tuning, spatial scales and model complexity. Our findings also suggest that the varying biotic interac- tion structures and, particularly, the different species compositions of the transfer areas, may affect model transferability more than previously considered.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2026 OA
Article Reference Cataulacus nywelendefu sp. nov. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): a New Arboreal Ant from Tanzania
A new species of the genus Cataulacus: Cataulacus nywelendefu sp. nov. is described from the Segoma Forest in Northeastern Tanzania. An addition to the existing key for Afrotropical Cataulacus species is given.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2026 OA
Article Reference Planting food forests can increase soil biodiversity in agricultural landscapes of Northwest Europe
Food forests are an emerging agroecosystem in the temperate zone, aimed at providing food while supporting high levels of biodiversity. How food forestry impacts belowground biodiversity is, however, largely unknown. We compared communities of 12 taxonomic groups of soil organisms between 15 food forests and nearby grasslands, croplands and forests in Northwest Europe. Food forest soil communities appeared to differ from communities in grass- and croplands and more closely resembled forest communities in terms of total biomass or number of individuals of most taxonomic groups, with especially higher numbers of most macroarthropods. In terms of composition, food forest communities of most groups were overall intermediate between those in grass- and croplands and those in forests. For microorganismal and microfaunal groups, food forest communities bore a greater resemblance to grass- and cropland communities than to forest communities. Besides a higher alpha-diversity for non-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and certain macroarthropod groups in food forests, differences in alpha- and beta-diversity were overall limited. As food forests appear to support different soil communities than grass- and croplands, planting food forests could increase soil biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2026 OA
Article Reference Spiroplasma Display an Intricate Continuum of Infection Heterogeneity and Persistence in Myrmica Ants
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.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2026 OA