Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
-
Quadriacanthus (Monogenea, Dactylogyridae) from Catfishes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Description of a New Species from Heterobranchus longifilis (Teleostei, Clariidae)
-
Ancient Plasmodium genomes shed light on the history of human malaria
- Malaria-causing protozoa of the genus Plasmodium have exerted one of the strongest selective pressures on the human genome, and resistance alleles provide biomolecular footprints that outline the historical reach of these species1. Nevertheless, debate persists over when and how malaria parasites emerged as human pathogens and spread around the globe1,2. To address these questions, we generated high-coverage ancient mitochondrial and nuclear genome-wide data from P. falciparum, P. vivax and P. malariae from 16 countries spanning around 5,500 years of human history. We identified P. vivax and P. falciparum across geographically disparate regions of Eurasia from as early as the fourth and first millennia bce, respectively; for P. vivax, this evidence pre-dates textual references by several millennia3. Genomic analysis supports distinct disease histories for P. falciparum and P. vivax in the Americas: similarities between now-eliminated European and peri-contact South American strains indicate that European colonizers were the source of American P. vivax, whereas the trans-Atlantic slave trade probably introduced P. falciparum into the Americas. Our data underscore the role of cross-cultural contacts in the dissemination of malaria, laying the biomolecular foundation for future palaeo-epidemiological research into the impact of Plasmodium parasites on human history. Finally, our unexpected discovery of P. falciparum in the high-altitude Himalayas provides a rare case study in which individual mobility can be inferred from infection status, adding to our knowledge of cross-cultural connectivity in the region nearly three millennia ago.
-
Studie van de menselijke resten die werden opgegraven in het oude Minderbroedersklooster onder de Beurs van Brussel (Br.)
-
Comparaison des approches histologiques et microtomographiques pour l’étude de la diagenèse osseuse
-
Bone of contention: Intra-element variability in remodelling of human femora based on histomorphometric and isotope analyses
- The volume of human carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope data produced in archaeological research has increased markedly in recent years. However, knowledge of bone remodelling, its impact on isotope variation, and the temporal resolution of isotope data remains poorly understood. Varied remodelling rates mean different elements (e.g., femur and rib) produce different temporal signals but little research has examined intra-element variability. This study investigates human bone remodelling using osteon population density and the relationship with carbon and nitrogen isotope data at a high resolution, focusing on variation through femoral cross-sections, from periosteal to endosteal surfaces. Results demonstrate considerable differences in isotope values between cross-sectional segments of a single fragment, by up to 1.3‰ for carbon and 1.8‰ for nitrogen, illustrating the need for standardised sampling strategies. Remodelling also varies between bone sections, occurring predominantly within the endosteal portion, followed by the midcortical and periosteal. Therefore, the endosteal portion likely reflects a shorter period of life closer to the time of death, consistent with expectations. By contrast, the periosteal surface provides a longer average, though there were exceptions to this. Results revealed a weak negative correlation between osteon population density and δ15N or δ13C, confirming that remodelling has an effect on isotope values but is not the principal driver. However, a consistent elevation of δ15N and δ13C (0.5‰ average) was found between the endosteal and periosteal regions, which requires further investigation. These findings suggest that, with further research, there is potential for single bone fragments to reconstruct in-life dietary change and mobility, thus reducing destructive sampling.
-
Capturing the fusion of two ancestries and kinship structures in Merovingian Flanders
- The extent and impact of Early Medieval population movements on the establishment of trade and cultural networks across the North Sea have been the subject of debate for centuries. Analyzing ancient genomes from the Flemish coast, we find two distinct ancestry groups merging in a Late Merovingian community: the major group with a dense network of distant relationships among individuals and genetic affinity to populations around the North Sea coast and the minor group representing likely continental Gaulish ancestry of unrelated individuals from various inland sources. We also find evidence of local continuity suggesting that similarly to Britain, the Early Medieval population movements had a long-term impact and were integral to the formation of the Flemish population. The Merovingian period (5th to 8th cc AD) was a time of demographic, socioeconomic, cultural, and political realignment in Western Europe. Here, we report the whole-genome shotgun sequence data of 30 human skeletal remains from a coastal Late Merovingian site of Koksijde (675 to 750 AD), alongside 18 remains from two Early to Late Medieval sites in present-day Flanders, Belgium. We find two distinct ancestries, one shared with Early Medieval England and the Netherlands, while the other, minor component, reflecting likely continental Gaulish ancestry. Kinship analyses identified no large pedigrees characteristic to elite burials revealing instead a high modularity of distant relationships among individuals of the main ancestry group. In contrast, individuals with >90% Gaulish ancestry had no kinship links among sampled individuals. Evidence for population structure and major differences in the extent of Gaulish ancestry in the main group, including in a mother?daughter pair, suggests ongoing admixture in the community at the time of their burial. The isotopic and genetic evidence combined supports a model by which the burials, representing an established coastal nonelite community, had incorporated migrants from inland populations. The main group of burials at Koksijde shows an abundance of >5 cM long shared allelic intervals with the High Medieval site nearby, implying long-term continuity and suggesting that similarly to Britain, the Early Medieval ancestry shifts left a significant and long-lasting impact on the genetic makeup of the Flemish population. We find substantial allele frequency differences between the two ancestry groups in pigmentation and diet-associated variants, including those linked with lactase persistence, likely reflecting ancestry change rather than local adaptation.
-
Archeo-antropologische detailstudie van de menselijke resten van de opgraving “Brugge-Eekhoutpoort (2023)” (rapport 2024-04)
-
Archeo-antropologische detailstudie van de menselijke resten van de opgraving “Sint-Michielskaai, Antwerpen (2021-2022)” (deel 1) (rapport 2024-06)
-
ARCHEO-ANTROPOLOGISCHE STUDIE VAN DE MENSELIJKE RESTEN OPGEGRAVEN AAN DE COLLEGIALE KERK VAN SINT-PIETER-EN-SINT-GUIDO IN ANDERLECHT (AN001-04)
-
ARCHEO-ANTROPOLOGISCHE STUDIE VAN DE MENSELIJKE RESTEN OPGEGRAVEN AAN DE MARKTEN – RUE DU VIEUX MARCHÉ AUX GRAINS 5 (BR162-02)
-
“Memor”: Créer un inventaire des restes humaines archéologiques en Flandres, Belgique.
-
A possible case of pes planus in the convent of Friars Minor in Brussels, Belgium (13-18th centuries CE).
-
The key to bringing DNA collections to the next level
- DNA collections are a valuable type of Natural Science collection, enabling the validation of past research, serving as a source for new genomic studies and supporting ex situ conservation. The DiSSCo Flanders DNA collection working group, aiming to advance and "unlock" their DNA collections, identified the need for: 1) actively sharing best practices regarding the management of DNA collections; and 2) providing guidance on how to bring theory into practice. By combining best practice examples from within the working group with available literature and brainstorming ideas, the working group co-created two outputs, referred to as: the "Challenges" and the "Key". The Challenges are a list of obstacles to DNA collection management, which shape the structure of the linked Key and can also be used to spark discussion amongst stakeholders. The Key is a tool that guides users through the maturation process of their DNA collection in a standardised way. It stimulates holistic growth, breaks down the needed work into manageable steps and helps to decide priorities during the process. Furthermore, the Key facilitates communication with both internal stakeholders and external DNA collection managers. The Key distinguishes itself from other self-assessment tools in several ways: it includes (re)investigation of the collection’s purpose and context; it is specialised for DNA collections; it delivers concrete goals linked to relevant information and shared experience; and it is inclusive, targeting all Natural Science DNA collections, regardless of their context or size.
-
Mobility of Scandinavian goods in the Middle Ages and modern period: identification of Norwegian whetstones in northern France and Belgium.
-
First Record of three alien termite species (Insecta: Isoptera) in Belgium
-
Karst profond dans le Viséen du sondage de recherche géologique de Fouron-le-Comte
- In: Verheyden, S. & Bernard, Ch., eds. Actes des Journées de SpéléologieScientifique Han-sur-Lesse 1997 à 2000.
-
Upper Carboniferous lithostratigraphic units (Belgium)
- In Bultynck&Dejonghe, eds. Guide to a revised lithostratigraphic scale of Belgium
-
Permian – Triassic – Jurassic lithostratigraphic units in the Campine basin and the Roer Valley Graben (NE Belgium).
- In Bultynck&Dejonghe, eds. Guide to a revised lithostratigraphic scale of Belgium
-
Evidence for a pre-PETM dispersal of the earliest European crocodyloids
- Crocodyloid remains from the late Paleocene of Mont de Berru (France) hosted in the collections of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris, France) and in the Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique (Brussels, Belgium) are described for the first time. This material, although fragmentary, can be clearly referred on a morphological basis to Asiatosuchus depressifrons (Blainville, 1855), a species previously reported from several Eocene Belgian localities thanks to abundant material including a nearly complete skeleton. The Paleocene material shares with A. depressifrons the number of alveoli involved in the dentary symphysis, the exclusion of the splenials from the symphysis, and the presence of a distinct depression on the jugal. The fossil remains from Berru represent the oldest European crocodyloid. Along with the alligatoroid Diplocynodon remensis Martin, Smith, de Lapparent de Broin, Escuillié and Delfino, 2014, previously reported from the same locality, the crocodyloid A. depressifrons indicates that these genera reached Europe before the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. Although more complete remains from outside Europe are needed to refine phylogenetic hypotheses, according to the currently established fossil record the forerunners of diplocynodontids likely dispersed from North America, whereas those related to Asiatosuchus likely dispersed from Asia.
-
Assembling ancestors: the manipulation of Neolithic and Gallo-Roman skeletal remains at Pommerœul, Belgium
