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Molecular phytogeny of the snorkel snail Rhiostoma housei, a species complex from Thailand (Caenogastropoda: Cyclophoridae)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023 OA
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Systematics and biogeography of the Western Ghats-Sri Lankan land-snail genus Corilla
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023 OA
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Faunistics, shell morphology, and reproductive anatomy of the genus Bensonies Baker, 1938 In Nepal (Gastropoda: Pulmonata: Ariophantidae)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023 OA
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What's In a name? Reflections on defining and naming genera using molluscs as examples
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023 OA
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Water condition of the Senne river in late medieval Brussels (Belgium)
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Within the historic center of Brussels, excavations on a surface of almost 6000 m2 revealed the well preserved remains of a medieval port on the Senne river. This watercourse is inextricably linked with the origin and development of the city. Continuous occupancy at this location is documented from the 10th century onwards. The banks of the river were gradually built in the 12th century and in the 14th-15th century the river was canalised and provided with a boat dock. The Senne river played an important role in the local social and economic development of Brussels. A large amount of archaeological artefacts, including numerous animal remains, have been collected by hand and from sediment samples taken from the east bank and the riverbed. Preliminary results show how the Senne river acted as a waste bin for urban rubbish. This poster will mainly focus on the animal materials from the residues of the sieved sediment samples. These yielded many shells of local freshwater molluscs, which are informative for the river conditions. In addition, the protective cases of the larvae of caddisflies (Trichoptera) have been found. Caddisflies are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. The larvae of many species use silk to make protective cases, which are often strengthened with gravel, sand, twigs, plant fragments or other debris. While the cases of many of these species are not identifiable up to genus or species level, the presence of Brachycentrus subnubilus Curtis, 1834 has been established with certainty in the late medieval riverbed of the Senne. The importance of this find is discussed.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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The Devonian and Carboniferous of southern Belgium (14th-16th July 2023)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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Archeobotanische resten van verversactiviteiten en textielbewerking uit laatmiddeleeuwse waterlopen, recente vondsten uit Brussel en Mechelen (Br. & Antw.)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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Paleogenetic analysis of cat mummies from ancient Egypt
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Situated at the crossroads of Africa, Asia and Europe, Egypt is considered one of the two potential cradles of cat domestication (Felis catus). Here, cats most likely developed their relationship with humans with a dual role. In fact, on the one hand Egyptian iconography depicts cats as skilled hunters, and on the other hand as companion animals, quietly sitting under the chairs of noble people and as guardians of the deceased (Yoyotte & Vernus, 2005). Egyptian cats were object of a cult dedicated to the goddess Bastet, and from the 1st millennium BC until the 4th century AD were mummified as votive offerings. Previous ancient DNA (aDNA) investigation (Ottoni 2017) showed that cats in ancient Egypt possessed two maternal lineages commonly found in modern domestic cats. Haplotype-C, which spread all over the Old World since Classical Antiquity from Northern Africa, and haplotype-A, which was associated with an earlier cat dispersal from the Levant during the Neolithic. DNA from cat mummies represents a key tool to unravel the role of Egypt as a possible independent centre of domestication, despite the fact that the retrieval of aDNA from mummified tissues has greatly been challenged by DNA preservation. Here, we show the preliminary results of aDNA analyses conducted on more than 50 Egyptian cat mummies from Beni Hassan and Gourna (Luxor), dated to the Greco-Roman period. By comparing different methods (e.g. single and double stranded genomic library construction), we provide an extensive case for screening DNA preservation in arid regions, and within different tissues, such as hair, claws, and petrous bones. We also explore the potential to gain novel insights on the dispersal of domestic cats from Egypt in Classical Antiquity through mitochondrial and genome-wide data.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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How ‘Shaun the sheep’ looked like in the past? Evolution and archaeological diversity of sheep morphotypes in Southwest Asia
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Sheep husbandry has played a leading role in the economy of human societies over the last 10 millennia. While archaeological research focused on the study of early husbandry practices, little is known about the emergence and morphological evolution of sheep breeds. To what extent ancient sheep bones could help to understand this change and identifying the factors behind it? To answer these questions, we used 3D geometric morphometrics methods on 260 astragalus of modern and archaeological sheep from Southwest Asia and East Africa. Ancient sheep bones have been recovered from forty-two archaeological sites covering seven millennia of economic and cultural transformations, between the 8th and the 1st millennium BC. We have explored morphometric diversity of sheep bones, first according to biotic and abiotic factors on well-documented modern osteological collections and second, according to environmental, chronological and socio-economical contexts on modern and ancient bones. Our first results indicate significant differences in the variation of astragalus shape between modern and archaeological sheep in correlation with ecological and chronocultural factors.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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Using ancient DNA to identify Bos primigenius in ancient cattle remains from Belgium
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Aurochs (Bos primigenius) are the wild ancestors of the domesticated taurine cattle (Bos taurus). During the Holocene, populations of aurochs gradually declined until their extinction at the turn of the 17th century. DNA data suggest that domestic cattle in Europe descended from Near East aurochs that were domesticated and brought to Europe by the first farmers during the Neolithic period. Hybridization occurred more recently in Europe between domestic cattle and local wild aurochs. Most aurochs can be distinguished from domestic cattle osteometrically, but large-sized domestic cattle may be misidentified as aurochs. Based on mitochondrial DNA, most European aurochs differ from domestic cattle (haplogroup “P” versus “T”). With the aim to provide new data on the former distribution of aurochs in Europe, we used mitochondrial DNA to identify large bovid bones attributed to aurochs and dating from Epipaleolithic to medieval times. DNA was extracted from the bones of 11 specimens from Belgium in an ancient DNA lab. Shotgun DNA sequencing provided raw reads comprising 0.02-10% of endogenous DNA. For three samples, reads covered 74-98% of the bovid mitochondrial genome and enabled the identification of one aurochs from the Bronze Age (haplogroup “P”) and two cows from Roman and medieval times (haplogroup “T”). Among the other samples (covering 2-18% of the mitogenome), three Roman specimens could be assigned to the haplogroup “T” based on a few diagnostic positions. This study provides the first mitogenomic data for a Belgian aurochs and contributes to the identification of exceptionally large Roman bovid remains.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023