Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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Association of body size and behavior of freshwater ostracods (Crustacea, Ostracoda) with aquatic macrophytes
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Siedlungen der späten Bronze- und fru¨hen Eisenzeit in Südwestbulgarien.Vorbericht zu den deutsch-bulgarischen Forschungen 2012 im Struma- und Mestatal
- After long-term surveys 2012 a German-Bulgarian team started excavations in the valleys of the rivers Struma and Mesta in south-western Bulgaria. The goal of our research is get a better understanding of the execution of power by the population of these mountain valleys as well as to reveal the processes of transfer and exchange of objects and technologies between the Aegean and the Danube regions. For this reason the excavations were conducted on the Late Bronze/Early Iron Age hillfort Kresna in the Mesta valley near Sandanski and on the Early Iron Age settlement Bresto near Raslog located close to the upper course of the Mesta river. Similar to the hillforts in the valley of Struma near Blagoevgrad, possible large-sized grain storages were exposed in Kresna. Bresto stands out for its massive fortified walls dated to the Early Iron Age as well as for the thousands secondary burnt daub fragments often supplied with plastic decorations. The comparison of various parts of the valleys of the rivers Struma and Mesta demonstrates the difference of interest for foreign objects and the acquisition of technologies on the micro-region level.
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Pietrele an der Unteren Donau. Bericht über die Ausgrabungen und geomorphologischen Untersuchungen im Sommer 2011
- The excavation campaign in 2011 focussed mainly on investigating the flatland settlement at the foot of the tell ‘‘Magura Gorgana’’. Three trenches respectively were explored in the area northeast and west of the settlement mound. Trenches H, L and P lie ca. 80 northeast of the centre of the tell, and trenches N1, N2 and N3 are located west of that midpoint. They yielded the hitherto oldest excavated material, which has already been radiocarbon dated. Excavations in the outer settlement of Pietrele have brought forth surprising and new perspectives. The oldest settlement attested until now can be dated to the end of the 6th millennium BC, and thus perhaps even to the Middle Neolithic. While a duration of 300 years (4250 to 4550 cal BC) has been confirmed for habitation of the tell, yet without reaching the native soil, find contexts from the end of the 6th and the first half of the 5th and end of the 5th millennium BC have come to light in the flatland settlement. Neolithic and Copper Age settlement remains are present in the immediate vicinity, which is not surprising for a site that was inhabited for a longer time. Hence, in Pietrele the possibility presents itself to research the horizontal stratigraphy of the flatland settlement, link it with the vertical stratigraphy of the tell settlement, and with that to control and render precise the chronological system for the Neolithic. At this point it can already be stated that the boundaries of the flat extended settlement were not reached by geophysical prospection in 2005, neither to the north nor to the west of the tell. Furthermore, geomorphological investigations have already gone far beyond the immediate area of the tell. More than 130 core drillings allow the conclusion that in the course of millennia flowing and standing bodies of water discharged into the Danube meadows. These meadows were covered by a large lake during the time of the tell’s habitation. Initial results of geochemical analyses confirm the existence of this expansive palaeolake before 4600 BC. The basic characteristics of the lake sediments include several massive phases of dark deposits, each a few decimetres in thickness, which are designated as ‘‘dark layers’’ (DL). They mark drastic events in the development of the lake. The lowermost layer, DL I, can be dated by the AMS-14C dating method to the 5th millennium BC, that is, the time of the tell’s habitation. Still to clarify is whether the introduction of organic material through settlement activities and land use had an adverse effect upon the quality of the water.
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Pietrele an der Unteren Donau. Bericht über die Ausgrabungen und geomorphologischen Untersuchungen im Sommer 2011
- The excavation campaign in 2011 focussed mainly on investigating the flatland settlement at the foot of the tell ‘‘Magura Gorgana’’. Three trenches respectively were explored in the area northeast and west of the settlement mound. Trenches H, L and P lie ca. 80 northeast of the centre of the tell, and trenches N1, N2 and N3 are located west of that midpoint. They yielded the hitherto oldest excavated material, which has already been radiocarbon dated. Excavations in the outer settlement of Pietrele have brought forth surprising and new perspectives. The oldest settlement attested until now can be dated to the end of the 6th millennium BC, and thus perhaps even to the Middle Neolithic. While a duration of 300 years (4250 to 4550 cal BC) has been confirmed for habitation of the tell, yet without reaching the native soil, find contexts from the end of the 6th and the first half of the 5th and end of the 5th millennium BC have come to light in the flatland settlement. Neolithic and Copper Age settlement remains are present in the immediate vicinity, which is not surprising for a site that was inhabited for a longer time. Hence, in Pietrele the possibility presents itself to research the horizontal stratigraphy of the flatland settlement, link it with the vertical stratigraphy of the tell settlement, and with that to control and render precise the chronological system for the Neolithic. At this point it can already be stated that the boundaries of the flat extended settlement were not reached by geophysical prospection in 2005, neither to the north nor to the west of the tell. Furthermore, geomorphological investigations have already gone far beyond the immediate area of the tell. More than 130 core drillings allow the conclusion that in the course of millennia flowing and standing bodies of water discharged into the Danube meadows. These meadows were covered by a large lake during the time of the tell’s habitation. Initial results of geochemical analyses confirm the existence of this expansive palaeolake before 4600 BC. The basic characteristics of the lake sediments include several massive phases of dark deposits, each a few decimetres in thickness, which are designated as ‘‘dark layers’’ (DL). They mark drastic events in the development of the lake. The lowermost layer, DL I, can be dated by the AMS-14C dating method to the 5th millennium BC, that is, the time of the tell’s habitation. Still to clarify is whether the introduction of organic material through settlement activities and land use had an adverse effect upon the quality of the water.
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New exceptionally well-preserved specimens of “Zangerlia”neimongolensis from Bayan Mandahu, Inner Mongolia, andtheir taxonomic significance
- Two exceptionally well-preserved specimens of “Zangerlia” neimongolensis provide addi-tional information on the structure of the skull, shell and limbs of this taxon. Thesespecimens show that the carapace is more similar to that of Hanbogdemys than was previ-ously recognized. A PAUP analysis results in a single most parsimonious cladogram in whichthe type species of Zangerlia, Zangerlia testudinimorpha is separated from other speciesthat have been included in that genus while “Z.” neimongolensis, “Zangerlia” ukaachelysand “Zangerlia” dzamynchondi and Jiangxichelys are grouped together. Both specimens areexceptional in being preserved in a life-like position: one is preserved with the skull ina retracted position; the other with the head and left forelimb both protracted and in araised position. These positions suggest that they were entombed while still alive. Thusthese specimens provide additional examples of rapid burial of vertebrates in the BayanMandahu locality, most likely from either by sand storms that dumped massive amountsof sand over a short period of time or by collapse of individuals in burrows.
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Perinatal Specimens of Saurolophus angustirostris (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae), from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia
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Preface. Emerging trends in aquatic ecology
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Age and origin of Australian Bennelongia (Crustacea, Ostracoda)
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An annotated checklist of the Recent non-marine ostracods (Ostracoda: Crustacea) from Italy
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Redescription of six species of Ilyodromus Sars, 1894 (Crustacea, Ostracoda, Cyprididae)
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From Naples 1963 to Rome 2013 - A brief review of how the International Research Group on Ostracoda (IRGO) developed as a social communication system
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On Argentocypris sara gen. nov., sp. nov. (Crustacea, Ostracoda) from Patagonian wetlands of Argentina (South America)
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New insight in lymnaeid snails (Mollusca, Gastropoda) as intermediate hosts of Fasciola hepatica (Trematoda, Digenea) in Belgium and Luxembourg
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The ecological role of ponds in a changing world
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Effect of land use on pollution status and risk if fish endocrine disruption in small farm land ponds
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Crustacea in phytothelmata: a global overview
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The distribution of sexual reproduction of the geographic parthenogen Eucypris virens (Crustacea: Ostracoda) matches environmental gradients in a temporary lake
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Hurdles in investigating UVB damage in the putative ancient asexual Darwinula stevensoni (Ostracoda, Crustacea)
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Inter and intra island introgression in a wolf spider radiation from the Galapagos and its implications for parallel evolution
- Parallel radiations within island systems are often assumed to follow a simple scenario in which single colonization events are followed by in situ adaptive divergence. However, subsequent gene exchange after the initial colonization and during the divergence process might have important evolutionary impacts on species radiations. Gene exchange among ecologically similar species from different islands may lead to introgression of adaptive genetic variation and influence the parallel divergence process. In this study, we estimate levels of gene exchange within a wolf spider radiation of the genus Hogna Simon, 1885, from the Galápagos, wherein habitat specialization into ‘high elevation’ and ‘coastal dry’ species apparently evolved repeatedly on two islands. By using a multilocus approach we show that low levels of inter-island and relatively higher levels of intra island introgression shaped genetic variation in this species complex. Using these estimates, we demonstrate by means of a coalescence simulation that under these inter- and intra-island migration rates parallel evolution most likely evolves by introgression of adaptive alleles among islands, rather than through independent mutations despite the close genetic relationship of species within islands. As species phylogenies within radiations are frequently used to infer the divergence pattern, even relatively low levels of interspecific gene flow should not be neglected when interpreting parallel trait evolution.
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New excavations in the Mesvin terrace (Belgium): implications for the appearance of Middle Palaeolithic
