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Article Reference Brassicaceae seed oil identified as illuminant in Nilotic shells from a first millennium AD Coptic church in Bawit, Egypt
Burned greasy deposits were found inside shells of the large Nile bivalve Chambardia rubens, excavated in an eight- to tenth- century AD church of the Coptic monastery of Bawit, Egypt, and supposedly used as oil lamps. The residues were subjected to a combination of chromatographic residue analysis techniques. The rather high concentrations of unsaturated fatty acids, as analysed by gas chromatography (GC) in the methylated extract, suggest the presence of a vegetal oil. Analysis of the stable carbon isotopes (δ13C values) of the methyl esters also favoured plants over animals as the lipid source. In the search for biomarkers by GC coupled to mass spectrometry on a silylated extract, a range of diacids together with high concentrations of 13,14-dihydroxydocosanoate and 11,12- dihydroxyeicosanoate were found. These compounds are oxidation products of erucic acid and gondoic acid, which are abundantly present in seeds of Brassicaceae plants. Liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry analysis showed low concentrations of unaltered triglycerides, but revealed sizeable amounts of triglycerides with at least one dihydroxylated acyl chain. The unusual preservation of dihydroxylated triglycerides and α,ω-dicarboxylic acids can be related to the dry preservation conditions. Analysis of the stereoisomers of the dihydroxylated fatty acids allows one to determine whether oxidation took place during burning of the fuel or afterwards. The results prove that the oil of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) or radish (Raphanus sativus L.) was used as illuminant in early Islamic Egypt, and that not only ceramic lamps but also mollusk shells were used as fuel containers.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Brawn before brains in placental mammals after the end-Cretaceous extinction
Mammals are the most encephalized vertebrates, with the largest brains relative to body size. Placental mammals have particularly enlarged brains, with expanded neocortices for sensory integration, the origins of which are unclear. We used computed tomography scans of newly discovered Paleocene fossils to show that contrary to the convention that mammal brains have steadily enlarged over time, early placentals initially decreased their relative brain sizes because body mass increased at a faster rate. Later in the Eocene, multiple crown lineages independently acquired highly encephalized brains through marked growth in sensory regions. We argue that the placental radiation initially emphasized increases in body size as extinction survivors filled vacant niches. Brains eventually became larger as ecosystems saturated and competition intensified.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022 OA
Article Reference Bridging the Atlantic: the correspondence of Thomas Bland and William Binney with Hippolyte Crosse, between 1863 and 1885
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Inproceedings Reference Bringing Collections to the Digital Era: 3 Examples of Integrated High Resolution Digitisations Projects
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Brockphasma spinifemoralis gen. et spec. nov.: a new phasmid genus and new species of Neohiraseini (Phasmida: Necrosciinae) from Vietnam
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Bronze Age subsistence along the southern coast of Yemen: the example of al-Uriyash
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Bronze and Iron Age landscapes in Sandy Flanders (NW-Belgium): a geoarchaeological approach
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Bruchidius imbricornis (Panzer, 1795), Bruchus occidentalis Lukjanovitch & Ter-Minassian, 1957 et Bruchus brachialis Fåhraeus, 1839 nouveaux pour la faune belge et données récentes de Bruchidius siliquastri Delobel, 2007 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Bruchi
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Article Reference Bryocamptus (Bryocamptus) gauthieri (Roy, 1924): a Mediterranean edaphic specialist (Crustacea: Copepoda: Harpacticoida)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Bryozoan assemblages of the Gulpen Formation (upper Campanian – upper Maastrichtian) in the Liège-Limburg area (Belgium, the Netherlands).
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2024