Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
- Étude interdisciplinaire du paysage médiéval de la vallée de la Senne à Bruxelles : le site de petite rue des Bouchers
- Facing complexity: archaeobotany and Dark Earth. Towards an integration of botanical and geoarchaeological data
- A remarkable new species of Paraphamartania Engel from Portugal (Diptera, Asilidae)
- Use of digital photogrammetry for the study of unstable slopes in urban areas: Case study of the El Biar landslide, Algiers
- Recent developments in remote sensing techniques provide powerful tools for geomorphological studies. The geometric and kinematic characterization of landslides are key factors in understanding the mechanisms of movement. The purpose of this publication is to show the potential of digital photogrammetry in the spatiotemporal study of landslides in urban areas. The case study focuses on the landslide of El Biar in Algiers. Comparison of digital elevation models generated following an established methodology shows the morphological evolution of the site. Orthophotos are used to measure surface displacements. The analysis of horizontal displacements between 1995 and 2007 shows that the landslide of El Biar can be divided into two zones: a peripheral zone moving at an average speed of about 5 cm per year and a central zone moving at an average speed of about 10 cm per year. Comparing the results with those obtained by traditional survey methods shows a remarkable consistency, thus validating the techniques used. This study demonstrates that digital photogrammetry, when combined with geological and geotechnical data, can improve the characterization and understanding of landslides mechanisms, and thus help defining mitigation solutions.
- Chromosome evolution in pseudoxyrhophiine snakes from Madagascar: a wide range of karyotypic variability
- Light-bellied Brent Goose Branta bernicla hrota.
- The Drana marshes: a question of survival for the European population of Anser erythropus.
- Pomatias elegans (Müller, 1774) (Gastropoda, Pomatiidae) in Vlaanderen
- Recruitment in a feral population of Egyptian Goose Alopochen aegyptiacus.
- Nieuwe waarnemingen en het voorkomen van Unio crassus riparius C. Pfeiffer, 1821 en Pseudanodonta elongata (Hollandre, 1836) (Bivalvia, Unionoidea, Unionidae) in België
- Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in wild waterfowl, Evros Delta, Greece.
- Age-at-death estimation of pathological individuals: A complementary approach using teeth cementum annulations
- Rediscovery of the forgotten de Ryckholt Collection (gastropods, bivalves, worms; Late Cretaceous, Belgium)
- A significant part of the collection of mid- and Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian, Campanian and Maastrichtian) gastropods, bivalves and worms described and/or illustrated by de Ryckholt in his seminal work Mélanges paléontologiques between 1854 and 1862, has recently been retraced in the historical collections at Liège University. Of the original collection, more than 206 specimens, including 196 nominal types (lectotypes and genotypes), all considered lost, are now available. The genotypes of the gastropod genera Tudicula de Ryckholt, 1862a and Prosopostoma de Ryckholt, 1862a are photographically illustrated for the first time. Prosopostoma bucculans, from the Cenomanian Bernissart Formation (formerly ‘Tourtia de Tournai’), is here chosen as the type species of the genus Prosopostoma, a possible stromboid. We also reassess the stratigraphic age of the type localities under the revised stratigraphic framework of Belgium and a detailed account on the research history of this material, in order to provide a thorough scientific background for future study of this formidable collection.
- ECOCHEM validatierapport - validatie van de analysekarakteristieken parameter FEOFYTINE A MATRIX WATER
- The fern Stauropteris oldhamia Binney: New data on branch development and adaptive significance of the hypodermal aerenchyma
- Well-preserved specimens of Stauropteris oldhamia are described. The material was collected in the early 1920s from the Lower Westphalian (Early Pennsylvanian) Saurue seam from Belgium. The fossil plants occur as permineralized axes fragments within a coal ball. This study confirms most of the interpretations made by previous researchers. The observation of immature axis however suggests a less regular organization than previously interpreted beyond the three first branching orders. We also highlight the presence of profusely and dichotomously branched aphlebiae, the lack of laminate organs as well as the presence of hypodermal aerenchyma in all plant parts. We interpret these features as part of a very specialized assimilatory apparatus indicating an adaptation to a humid swamp environment.
- New insights into Mediterranean Gallo-Roman farming: a closer look at archaeological wells in Southern France
- Archaeological wells have recently become a major source of palaeoenvironmental and palaeoeconomic information, thus, providing the background for past day-to-day material life. At the site of La Lesse–Espagnac (Hérault), combined evidence from archaeobotany, morphometry and palynology, from two wells, offers a coherent picture of the diversity of the local Gallo-Roman farming economy, whose development was fuelled by the proximity of a major urban centre (Colonia Urbs Julia Septimanorum Baeterra—present day Béziers). The ever present vine growing and wine making were complemented by other food crops such as fruit trees, vegetables, condiments and cereals. The dense network of farming establishments and the scale of their production could only aggravate the extent of anthropogenic impact on the local natural woodlands and would explain the very minor role of typical thermophilous trees in the pollen diagram. The overmultiplication of these farming establishments may explain why some of them apparently ran out of momentum and eventually failed.
- Large canids at the Gravettian Předmostí site, the Czech Republic: The mandible
- Efforts to identify Paleolithic dogs or incipient dogs have been based mainly on examination of complete or nearly complete crania. Complete skulls are, however, very rare in the archaeological record. Because canid mandible are far more frequently found in Pleistocene assemblages, the objective of this study is to investigate whether it is possible to differentiate these jaws by metric and osteomorphological methods in two morphotypes: Paleolithic dogs and Pleistocene wolves. This paper is mainly based on the very rich canid assemblage from the Gravettian Předmostí site in the Czech Republic, but also includes a few mandible from several other European Paleolithic sites. This study provides additional evidence of the existence at Předmostí of the two canid morphotypes. The metric data indicate that the mandible of the Paleolithic dogs are shorter than those from Pleistocene wolves in all tested measurements of length, and the carnassial crown length is shorter in Paleolithic dogs compared with the length of this tooth in Pleistocene wolves. Furthermore, in eight of nine indexes, the Paleolithic dogs differ significantly from the Pleistocene wolves. The mandible of Paleolithic dogs differ also in non-metric features from the Pleistocene wolves: they present a high frequency of crowded premolars and backwards-oriented apex of the coronoid. This paper furthermore confirms that Paleolithic dogs occur at two late Upper Paleolithic sites (Eliseevichi, Verholenskaya) where previous studies had indicated their presence. In addition, we document the presence of Paleolithic dogs at another Gravettian site, Kostenki-8.
- Ceci n'est pas untextbackslashldots fossé de l'âge du Bronze moyen
- Biostratigraphic significance of brachiopods near the Devonian–Carboniferous boundary
- The biostratigraphic significance of selected uppermost Famennian (Upper Devonian) and lower Tournaisian (Mississippian) brachiopod genera, belonging to the orders Rhynchonellida (e.g. Araratella), Spiriferida (e.g. Sphenospira, Prospira), Spiriferinida (Syringothyris) and Productida (except Chonetidina), is discussed. Owing to the difficulties of identifying productidine and strophalosiidine genera, in contrast to rhynchonellides and spiriferides, the biostratigraphic potential of the former has generally been overlooked. Brachiopods flourished in neritic environments that were unfavourable for conodonts and ammonoids. In the absence of the latter traditional marker fossils, they are potentially important for locating the Devonian–Carboniferous boundary in shallow water depositional settings in conjunction with rugose corals and foraminifers. On a worldwide scale, further work is required to reach a better assessment of the aftermath of the Hangenberg biological Crisis on brachiopods, notably in revising the faunas from the classical areas of the Famennian and Tournaisian stages in Western Europe.
- Early modern human settlement of Europe north of the Alps occurred 43,500 years ago in a cold steppe-type environment