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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
Inbook Reference Neandertaler aus Spy (Belgien)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Neanderthal behaviour, diet, and disease inferred from ancient DNA in dental calculus
Recent genomic data have revealed multiple interactions between Neanderthals and modern humans, but there is currently little genetic evidence regarding Neanderthal behaviour, diet, or disease. Here we describe the shotgun-sequencing of ancient DNA from five specimens of Neanderthal calcified dental plaque (calculus) and the characterization of regional differences in Neanderthal ecology. At Spy cave, Belgium, Neanderthal diet was heavily meat based and included woolly rhinoceros and wild sheep (mouflon), characteristic of a steppe environment. In contrast, no meat was detected in the diet of Neanderthals from El Sidrón cave, Spain, and dietary components of mushrooms, pine nuts, and moss reflected forest gathering. Differences in diet were also linked to an overall shift in the oral bacterial community (microbiota) and suggested that meat consumption contributed to substantial variation within Neanderthal microbiota. Evidence for self-medication was detected in an El Sidrón Neanderthal with a dental abscess and a chronic gastrointestinal pathogen (Enterocytozoon bieneusi). Metagenomic data from this individual also contained a nearly complete genome of the archaeal commensal Methanobrevibacter oralis (10.2× depth of coverage)-the oldest draft microbial genome generated to date, at around 48,000 years old. DNA preserved within dental calculus represents a notable source of information about the behaviour and health of ancient hominin specimens, as well as a unique system that is useful for the study of long-term microbial evolution.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference Nemastoma dentigerum (Arachnida, opiliones) found in Belgium
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Neotype of Pseudagrion approximans Selys, 1876 designated to resolve a nomenclatorial confusion in the genus Aciagion Selys, 1891 (Odonata: Coenagrionidae)
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Neue Lamiinae (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) aus Asien und zur Synonymie einiger Taxa
Located in Library / RBINS collections by external author(s)
Article Reference Neuvième contribution à la connaissance des Agrilini de Guyane (Coleoptera, Buprestidae)
Located in Library / RBINS collections by external author(s)
Article Reference New amphisbaenian lizards from the Early Paleogene of Europe and their implications for the early evolution of modern amphisbaenians
Three new amphisbaenian lizard taxa are described from the Early Paleogene of Western Europe. Two new basal forms, Polyodontobaena belgica gen. et sp. nov. from the Early Paleocene of Hainin (Belgium) and Camptognathosaurus parisiensis gen. et sp. nov. from the Late Paleocene of Rivecourt-Patit Pâtis and Cernay-lès-Reims (France), are characterised by a dentary lacking a strong angle at the symphysis and bearing 10 to 12 massively built and conical teeth. These two taxa form the new family Polyodontobaenidae. A third new amphisbaenian, Blanosaurus primeocaenus gen. et sp. nov., is also described from the Early Eocene of Dormaal (Belgium), Condé-en-Brie and Prémontré (France) and represents the oldest modern amphisbaenian lizard of Europe, tentatively assigned to Blanidae. It is characterised by a reduction of tooth number and by the presence of a strong angle at the symphysis. Palaeobiogeographic considerations suggest a first hypothesis that the Eocene forms would have evolved from the Paleocene species.The second hypothesis would be that as for the lizard Scincoideus haininensis, primitive amphisbaenians were present in Europe from the Paleocene,whereasbeginning in the Early Eocene only modern forms with typical reduced dentition (fewer than 10 teeth) are present. The origin of these modern forms is very likely related with the dispersal of the first modern mammals.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference New and poorly known species of Cancellariidae (Neogastropoda: Cancellarioidea) from the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Inproceedings Reference New bats (Chiroptera) from the Earliest Oligocene Boutersem-TGV locality in Belgium document the earliest occurence of Myotis
Early Oligocene mammals from Europe are not well known. In Belgium this interval (reference level MP 21) is represented by four coeval localities, Boutersem, Boutersem-TGV, Hoogbutsel and Hoeleden. Included in a vertebrate assemblage of 20+ mammalian genera, one bat, Quinetia misonnei, has been previously described from Hoogbutsel, based on four lower dentitions. Twenty new specimens of Quinetia were recently recovered from Boutersem-TGV including six upper molars, a humerus, and thirteen lower dentitions. These new specimens confirm that Quinetia is a plecotine vespertilionid and consequently represents the earliest known occurrence of this tribe. Additionally, twenty five other dental specimens document the presence of a larger vespertilionid from Boutersem-TGV. These specimens are assigned to Myotis based on the primitive 3.1.3.3 dental formula, the presence of a single-rooted p3, myotodont lower molars, a relatively high crowned lower canine with well-developed mesial and distolingual shelves, M1 and M2 lacking both paraconules and metalophs, protofossa of M1 and M2 open posteriorly, and M3 being relatively short. The Boutersem-TGV Myotis specimens represent the earliest known record of this extant genus. Only some isolated potential myotine teeth from Le Batut (MP 19) in France are older but these teeth differ from Myotis in having upper molars with a paraloph and a protofossa closed posteriorly, both features more typical of the enigmatic “Leuconoe”. Myotodont species, such as “L”. salodorensis from Oensingen (MP 25) in Switzerland and “L”. lavocati from Le Garouillas (MP 25-28) in France, both share features of upper teeth that distinguish them from Myotis. Younger still are three Myotis species from Herrlingen 8-9 (MP 29) in Germany. Compared to the Boutersem-TGV Myotis, M. minor is much smaller with a relatively smaller, shorter and more delicate p4, M. intermedius is somewhat smaller in molar dimensions but with a substantially smaller and shorter p4, while M. major has larger m1-2, similar sized m3, smaller p4, more robust M1 and a more constricted P4 lingual shelf. The origin of Myotis appears to be at least as old as the earliest Oligocene.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications