Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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Aanvraag van NEMO LINK Ltd voor een machtiging voor een geofysisch en geotechnisch zeebodemonderzoek: Milieueffectenbeoordeling (MEB) en advies van het Bestuur
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Grey seals Halichoerus grypus choking on common sole Solea solea
- Between 2007 and 2015, we recorded three cases of asphyxiation of grey seals Halichoerus grypus caused by a fish lodged in the respiratory tract. In all cases, the fish involved was a common sole Solea solea, which had found its way to the trachea of the unfortunate seal, as such completely blocking it. That this fish species was involved, is not surprising: it has a very agile body, with a spectacular ability to bend longitudinally into a circular shape, as well as laterally into the form of a cigar - the way it was found in the gluttonous grey seals. The common sole currently occurs abundantly in coastal waters of the southern North Sea, and it constitutes an important part of the diet of grey seals in this area. Asphyxiation due to fish has been described in odontocetes, including in harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena, bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus, and very recently in long-finned pilot whale Globicephala melas. To our knowledge however, this cause of death has not been described before in grey seals. Furthermore, the significance of this cause of mortality in a single population has not been documented, with in particular aspects of prey abundance, seal behaviour and the limited number of stranded adult grey seals that are being investigated to be considered. Keywords: grey seal; Halichoerus grypus; common sole; Solea solea; asphyxiation; respiratory tract
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A suspected scavenging event by red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) on a live, stranded harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)
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The Taxonomic status of Sehirus aeneus Walker, 1867 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera; Cydnidae: Sehirinae)
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Life and after-life of the Roman ornamental stones within the civitas Tungrorum (Germania inferior).
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Roman ornamental stones in North-Western Europe. Natural resources, manufacturing, supply, life & after-life?
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Découverte d’un atelier de potiers à Arlon/Orolaunum (province de Luxembourg, Belgique).
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Verslag Sint-Maria-Oudenhove (analyses de céramiques gallo-romaines)
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Rapport technique (expertise) : analyse macro-, méso-, microscopique et diffractométriques de briques médiévales issues du site de Veurnes
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Ancient and modern DNA reveal dynamics of domestication and cross-continental dispersal of the dromedary
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Myrmecophilous Laboulbeniales (Ascomycota) in Belgium
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Spider Stowaways: molecular Data Support the Synonymization of Selenops galapagoensis with Selenops mexicanus (Araneae: Selenopidae) and Indicate Human-Mediated Introduction to the Galapagos Islands
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The arachnid fauna of an urban garden in the hamlet of Essenbeek (Halle, Province of Vlaams-Brabant)
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Zeezoogdieren in Belgïe in 2014 [Marine mammals in Belgium in 2014]
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New Remains of the Multituberculate Mammal Barbatodon from the Upper Cretaceous of the Hațeg Basin (Romania)
- The so-called "Hațeg Island" (Transylvania, Romania) is well known for its rich and peculiar Late Cretaceous vertebrate assemblages, including dwarf dinosaurs, first reported at the end of the 19th century. Besides dinosaurs, other important members of the "Hațeg Island" terrestrial ecosystems were the multituberculate mammals. Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) multituberculates are extremely rare in Europe, being known exclusively from the "Hațeg Island". Two genera are reported from this area: Kogaionon, with the single species K. ungureanui, and Barbatodon, with two species: B. transylvanicus and B. oardaensis. Both genera belong to the European endemic family Kogaionidae. We report herein new remains of B. transylvanicus from the Maastrichtian locality of Pui (Hunedoara District) in the Hațeg Basin, including the most complete dentaries found to date with complete cheek teeth rows. Intraspecific variability of this species in dentary shape, tooth morphology, and size difference is highlighted.
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Maculergithus, a new subgenus in Gergithus Schumacher, 1915 with two new species from northern Vietnam (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Issidae)
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Incised Pleistocene valleys in the Western Belgium coatsal plain: Age, origins and implications for the evolution of the Southern North Sea basin
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Drapetis bruscellensis (Diptera: Hybotidae) a new species for science from the outskirts of Brussels, a not so cryptic species supported by COI barcoding
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Late Stone Age human remains from Ishango (Democratic Republic of Congo): New insights on Late Pleistocene modern human diversity in Africa
- Although questions of modern human origins and dispersal are subject to intense research within and outside Africa, the processes of modern human diversification during the Late Pleistocene are most often discussed within the context of recent human genetic data. This situation is due largely to the dearth of human fossil remains dating to the final Pleistocene in Africa and their almost total absence from West and Central Africa, thus limiting our perception of modern human diversification within Africa before the Holocene. Here, we present a morphometric comparative analysis of the earliest Late Pleistocene modern human remains from the Central African site of Ishango in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The early Late Stone Age layer (eLSA) of this site, dated to the Last Glacial Maximum (25–20 Ky), contains more than one hundred fragmentary human remains. The exceptional associated archaeological context suggests these remains derived from a community of hunter-fisher-gatherers exhibiting complex social and cognitive behaviors including substantial reliance on aquatic resources, development of fishing technology, possible mathematical notations and repetitive use of space, likely on a seasonal basis. Comparisons with large samples of Late Pleistocene and early Holocene modern human fossils from Africa and Eurasia show that the Ishango human remains exhibit distinctive characteristics and a higher phenotypic diversity in contrast to recent African populations. In many aspects, as is true for the inner ear conformation, these eLSA human remains have more affinities with Middle to early Late Pleistocene fossils worldwide than with extant local African populations. In addition, cross-sectional geometric properties of the long bones are consistent with archaeological evidence suggesting reduced terrestrial mobility resulting from greater investment in and use of aquatic resources. Our results on the Ishango human remains provide insights into past African modern human diversity and adaptation that are consistent with genetic theories about the deep sub-structure of Late Pleistocene African populations and their complex evolutionary history of isolation and diversification.
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Species limits, interspecific hybridization and phylogeny in the cryptic land snail complex Pyramidula: The power of RADseq data
