Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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Functional volumes, niche packing and species richness: biogeographic legacies in the Congo Basin
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The phylogeny of the African wood mice (Muridae, Hylomyscus) based on complete mitochondrial genomes and five nuclear genes reveals their evolutionary history and undescribed diversity
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Mainstreaming biodiversity conservation into development cooperation—highlights from an ALTER-NET-EKLIPSE workshop
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The DeepMIP contribution to PMIP4: methodologies for selection, compilation and analysis of latest Paleocene and early Eocene climate proxy data, incorporating version 0.1 of the DeepMIP database.
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State of the Science Workshop on Wildlife and Offshore Wind Energy 2020: Cumulative Impacts
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Benthos Workgroup Report for the State of the Science Workshop on Wildlife and Offshore Wind Energy 2020: Cumulative Impacts.
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The changing ecosystem of East Africa’s Mare Nostrum: Using ichthyology collections to identify the changes in the Lake Victoria region
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A geological collection and methodology for tracing provenance of Palaeolithic colouring materials.
- Although prehistoric sites frequently contain numerous fragments and traces of many different kinds of colouring matter, intensive study of this type of archaeological remains began only recently. Such studies, aimed at determining how raw materials formed and changed over time, and how they were transported by the groups of humans who used them, are extremely valuable as they reveal shared strategies, that is, cultural traditions and the spaces in which they developed. The scope of this paper focusses on the description of the main geological contexts in which ferruginous colouring materials form and are found. In the framework of a collective research program called Pigmentothèque (iron- and manganese-rich rocks and minerals library), geological surveys are conducted taking into consideration the geological settings in which colouring materials are present and using a common record and sampling methodology which is followed by petrophysical, mineralogical and chemical analyses based on a shared procedure and vocabulary. In order to go beyond descriptions based solely on colour and chemical composition, we describe the great variety of iron-rich materials that can be used to obtain colouring matter. This diversity in the formation and evolution of iron-rich materials must be taken into account when trying to understand past humans’ choices of raw materials, their provenance and the anthropogenic and natural modifications they have undergone. We also describe criteria for recognising cohesive remains of colouring matter during archaeological excavations, so these artefacts can take their place alongside other mineral resources in helping improve our understanding of past societies.
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Roundtable Species.BE
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Mollusca (Bivalvia, Gastropoda, Polyplacophora and Scaphopoda) around Iceland: Sampling effort in research surveys in 2013-2015
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Abc Taxa, Field guide to the brittle and basket stars (Echinodermata: ophiuroidea) of South Africa.
- Brittle and basket stars (ophiuroids) are one of five extant classes of the phylum Echinodermata and have a fossil record dating back almost 500 million years to the Early Ordovician. Today they remain diverse and widespread, with over 260 described genera and over 2 000 extant species globally, more than any other class of echinoderm. Ophiuroid species are found across all marine habitats from the intertidal shore to the abyss. In southern Africa, the ophiuroid fauna has been studied extensively by a number of authors and is relatively well-known. The last published review of the southern African Ophiuroidea however was by Clark and Courtman-Stock in 1976. It included 101 species reported from within the boundaries of South Africa. In the 40 years since that publication the number of species has risen to 136. This identification guide, which is the nineteenth volume of the series Abc Taxa includes a taxonomic key to all 136 species, and gives key references, distribution maps, diagnoses, scaled photographs (where possible), and a synthesis of known ecological and depth information for each. The guide is designed to be comprehensive, well-illustrated and easy to use for both naturalists and professional biologists. Taxonomic terms, morphological characteristics and technical expressions are defined and described in detail, with illustrations to clarify some aspects of the terminology. A checklist of all species in the region is also included, and indicates which species are endemic (33), for which we report significant range extensions (23), which have been recorded as new to the South African fauna (28) since the previous monograph of Clark and Courtman-Stock (1976) and which have undergone taxonomic revisions since that time (28). This contribution delivers a copiously illustrated overview of the volume and details how it has been diffused in South Africa and beyond.
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The holothurian subgenus Mertensiothuria (Aspidochirotida: Holothuriidae) revisited.
- Mertensiothuria is one of the 20 subgenera currently recognized under Holothuria. The diagnosis of the subgenus is amended with new information on the ossicles found in the longitudinal muscles. The number of species of Mertensiothuria considered to be valid at present is six. These species are redescribed on the basis of new material, type and non-type museum material and on re-evaluation of literature. Two of them, Holothuria hilla and Holothuria aphanes, are transferred from the subgenus Thymiosycia to Mertensiothuria. Four species formerly referred to Mertensiothuria are removed; provisionally they are not referred to any of the known subgenera of Holothuria. Full annotated descriptions or (where the type material was not available) references to the literature are given for each species. An identification key is given to the species belonging to the subgenus Mertensiothuria.
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The genus Labidodemas (Holothuriidae:Aspidochirotida) revisited with description of three new species and with re-positioning of Holothuria (Irenothuria) macculochi Deichman, 1958
- Prior to the present revision the taxon Labidodemas comprised Labidodemas americanum, L. pertinax, L. rugosum and L. semperianum. An up-to-date re- evaluation of the group proved that at least four additional species need to be assigned to it. Three of these are new to science: one has recently been discovered in the shallow waters of KwaZulu-Natal, Republic of South Africa; one originates from Low Island, Australia, and was erroneously identified as L. semperianum, and one stems from South-West Sulawesi, again erroneously identified as L. semperianum. In addition, Holothuria maccullochi, classified in the monotypic subgenus Irenothuria, and Holothuria proceraspina are assigned to Labidodemas; the former as a valid species and the latter as a synonym of L. semperianum. Annotated taxonomic descriptions, distribution maps and an identification key are given. The new observation that L. americanum possesses Cuvierian tubules suggests that its rank remains at generic level rather than at family level as was recently proposed.
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Multidisciplinary approach to animal traces in the Belgian Final Palaeolithic and Mesolithic - Case study from the Meuse valley
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Investigating the exploitation of birds during the Upper Palaeolithic with the assemblages from the Trou des Nutons and Trou du Frontal caves (Belgium)
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"By God, I’ve lost my leg!" : la découverte de restes humains aux abords de l’ambulance des Alliés à Waterloo et le projet Waterloo Uncovered
- 2024, mis en ligne le 22 décembre 2023, consulté le 19 décembre 2024. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/bmsap/13003 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/bmsap.13003
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Secondary sex estimation using morphological traits from the cranium and mandible: application to two Merovingian populations from Belgium
- It is generally accepted that the coxal bone is the most reliable bone for estimating the sex of adult subjects. When the coxal bone is not usable, researchers generally turn to methods based on the skull (cranium and mandible). However, these methods are less reliable, because they are largely based on an estimate of the robusticity, which can be influenced by characteristics independent of the sex of the subject. In the context of primary sex estimation, skull-based methods should therefore be avoided. However, by using morphological traits of the cranium and the mandible as part of a secondary sex estimation, we were able to estimate the sex of a relatively large number of individuals with a minimum reliability of 95%. Our study thus illustrates the value of using morphological characteristics of the skull for a secondary sex estimation conducted with a reliable statistical method.
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Viroinval/Treignes : campagnes de fouilles 2022 et 2023 à la grotte Genvier
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Bierset Fontaine Zone d’habitat Néolithique – Époque contemporaine
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Le crâne attribué au saint roi mérovingien Dagobert II. Étude historique et anthropologique.
- When History and legend meet forensic anthropology, it can lead to complex research. We owe it to chance, which allowed us to study a skull, part of the Treasury of the Sainte-Waudru collegiate Church in Mons (Belgium). Various documents have been studied and we have maintained contacts with the historians of the City of Stenay (France) and with the Circle of Saint-Dagobert, venerating since 679, Dagobert II, the king murdered on this date and became the protector of this locality. The strangeness of the lesion observed on this skull allowed us to study various weapons from this period in order to search and find very useful matches. Modern datation techniques (radiocarbon) however, have reversed the course of this story and excluded the belonging of this skull to one of the last Merovingian kings.
