Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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Updated status of Saitis barbipes (Simon, 1868) (Araneae, Salticidae) in Belgium
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Enhanced surveillance of monkeypox in Bas-Uélé, Democratic Republic of Congo: the limitations of symptom-based case definitions
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First observation of Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1894) (Diptera: Culicidae) in Tshuapa province (Boende), Democratic Republic of the Congo
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New records of Penthicodes lanternfly species from Thailand and Malaysia and nomenclatural notes on the genus (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Fulgoridae)
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Dispersal capacity underlies scale-dependent changes in species richness patterns under human disturbance
- Changes in the species richness of (meta-)communities emerge from changes in the relative species abundance distribution (SAD), the total density of individuals, and the amount of spatial aggregation of individuals from the same species. Yet, how human disturbance affects these underlying diversity components at different spatial scales and how this interacts with important species traits, like dispersal capacity, remain poorly understood. Using data of carabid beetle communities along a highly replicated urbanization gradient, we reveal that species richness in urban sites was reduced due to a decline in individual density as well as changes in the SAD at both small and large spatial scales. Changes in these components of species richness were linked to differential responses of groups of species that differ in dispersal capacity. The individual density effect on species richness was due to a drastic 90% reduction of low-dispersal individuals in more urban sites. Conversely, the decrease in species richness due to changes in the SAD at large (i.e., loss of species from the regional pool) and small (i.e., decreased evenness) spatial scales were driven by species with intermediate and high dispersal ability, respectively. These patterns coincide with the expected responses of these dispersal-type assemblages toward human disturbance, namely, (i) loss of low-dispersal species by local extinction processes, (ii) loss of higher-dispersal species from the regional species pool due to decreased habitat diversity, and (iii) dominance of a few highly dispersive species resulting in a decreased evenness. Our results demonstrate that dispersal capacity plays an essential role in determining scale-dependent changes in species richness patterns. Incorporating this information improves our mechanistic insight into how environmental change affects species diversity at different spatial scales, allowing us to better forecast how human disturbance will drive local and regional changes in biodiversity patterns.
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The ants of the Galápagos Islands (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): a historical overview, checklist, and identification key
- The Galápagos ant fauna has long been understudied, with the last taxonomic summary being published almost a century ago. Here, a comprehensive and updated overview of the known ant species of the Galápagos Islands is provided with updated species distributions. The list is based on an extensive review of literature, the identification of more than 382,000 specimens deposited in different entomological collections, and recent expeditions to the islands. The ant fauna is composed of five subfamilies (Dolichoderinae, Dorylinae, Formicinae, Myrmicinae, and Ponerinae), 22 genera, 50 species, and 25 subspecies, although three species (Crematogaster crinosa Mayr, 1862, Camponotus senex (Smith, 1858), and Solenopsis saevissima (Smith, 1855)) are considered dubious records. Finally, an illustrated identification key of the species found in the archipelago is presented.
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Borgloon aan zee.
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Hécatombe de bivalves sur les plages environnantes du Westhoek (côte belge) après le passage d’Odette, première tempête automnale de 2020
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Trophic markers and biometric measurements in span style="font-variant:small-caps;"Southern Ocean/span sea stars (1985–2017)
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Un atelier d’orfèvre autour de l’An Mil. Travail du cuivre et de l’argent à Oostvleteren (Flandre-Occidentale, Belgique) au Xe / XIe siècle.
- Le travail présenté ici comprend l’étude macroscopique des artefacts liés à l’activité métallurgique, tout comme la caractérisation de la structure et des compositions élémentaires des terres cuites utilisées et des restes métallique et les analyses pétrographiques.
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Contribution à l’analyse de la production céramique de la région de Gbèkè dans le centre de la Côte d'Ivoire.
- L’examen de la céramique des villages de Latteman Koffikro, Ndènou, Ouassou et Dibri-ndènou, s’inscrit dans un programme d’étude de l’histoire du peuplement de la région de Gbèkè (Bouaké-Sakassou), de l’époque précoloniale à nos jours. L’analyse des chaînes opératoires de façonnage et de finition a permis de mettre en évidence la présence d’une tradition céramique locale, mais aussi d’identifier les sources des matières premières. Cet article propose un aperçu méthodologique des pratiques utilisées pour étudier les données céramiques collectées en contexte archéologique au moyen d’observations macroscopiques, mésoscopiques et microscopiques (MOP et MEB) ainsi que d’analyses diffractométriques (DRX) et chimiques (EDS).
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Microorganization of ovaries and oogenesis of Haplotaxis sp. (Clitellata: Haplotaxidae)
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A strikingly coloured new giant millipede from Vietnam has copycat in Borneo (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida, Harpagophoridae)
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A taste of time. Foodways and cultural practices in Late Achaemenid-Early Hellenistic Düzen Tepe (SW Anatolia)
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L’identità nel frammento: riconoscimento del taxon attraverso l’impronta peptidica nel sito antico e medio olocenico di Takarkori (Libia)
- Faunal remains in archaeological contexts are often very fragmented. This significantly affects taxonomic identification and thus the understanding of the exploitation of animal resources. The biomolecular method ZooMS (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry) allows identifying even very small fragments at the genus level, sometimes at the species one, using the “collagen fingerprints". We present the preliminary results of the first application of ZooMS on Takarkori rock shelter (Libya), a key site to reconstruct Early to Middle Holocene (10.200-4600 ka) socio-cultural dynamics in the Sahara. The analysis shows the successful application of the method on archaeological sequences from sheltered sites in hyper-arid environments. It also aims at opening the discussion on the need to develop effective biomolecular research to distinguish wild and domestic species, crucial to understand subsistence strategies.
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Biological site suitability for exposed self-regulating cultivation of blue mussel (Mytilus edulis): a Belgian case study
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Prediction of the distribution of shrimp species found in southern Benin through the lake Nokoué-Ocean complex
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Ten millennia of hepatitis B virus evolution
- Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections represent a worldwide human health concern. To study the history of this pathogen, Kocher et al. identified 137 human remains with detectable levels of virus dating between 400 and 10,000 years ago. Sequencing and analyses of these ancient viruses suggested a common ancestor between 12,000 and 20,000 years ago. There is no evidence indicating that HBV was present in the earliest humans as they spread out of Africa; however, HBV was likely present in human populations before farming. Furthermore, the virus was present in the Americas by about 9000 years ago, representing a lineage sister to the viral strains found in Eurasia that diverged about 20,000 years ago. —LMZ Genomic data from more than 100 individuals elucidates hepatitis B virus evolution in ancient Eurasians and Native American genomes. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been infecting humans for millennia and remains a global health problem, but its past diversity and dispersal routes are largely unknown. We generated HBV genomic data from 137 Eurasians and Native Americans dated between 10,500 and 400 years ago. We date the most recent common ancestor of all HBV lineages to between 20,000 and 12,000 years ago, with the virus present in European and South American hunter-gatherers during the early Holocene. After the European Neolithic transition, Mesolithic HBV strains were replaced by a lineage likely disseminated by early farmers that prevailed throughout western Eurasia for 4000 years, declining around the end of the 2nd millennium BCE. The only remnant of this prehistoric HBV diversity is the rare genotype G, which appears to have reemerged during the HIV pandemic.
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Limited historical admixture between European wildcats and domestic cats
- Summary Domestic cats were derived from the Near Eastern wildcat (Felis lybica), after which they dispersed with people into Europe. As they did so, it is possible that they interbred with the indigenous population of European wildcats (Felis silvestris). Gene flow between incoming domestic animals and closely related indigenous wild species has been previously demonstrated in other taxa, including pigs, sheep, goats, bees, chickens, and cattle. In the case of cats, a lack of nuclear, genome-wide data, particularly from Near Eastern wildcats, has made it difficult to either detect or quantify this possibility. To address these issues, we generated 75 ancient mitochondrial genomes, 14 ancient nuclear genomes, and 31 modern nuclear genomes from European and Near Eastern wildcats. Our results demonstrate that despite cohabitating for at least 2,000 years on the European mainland and in Britain, most modern domestic cats possessed less than 10% of their ancestry from European wildcats, and ancient European wildcats possessed little to no ancestry from domestic cats. The antiquity and strength of this reproductive isolation between introduced domestic cats and local wildcats was likely the result of behavioral and ecological differences. Intriguingly, this long-lasting reproductive isolation is currently being eroded in parts of the species’ distribution as a result of anthropogenic activities.
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Host lifestyle and parasite interspecific facilitation mediate co- infection in a species-poor host–parasite system
