Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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THEY ALL SMELL THE SAME (THOUGH...) BUT THEIR CONTENT MAY BE DIFFERENT: LOOKING AT LATE MEDIEVAL HUMAN EXCREMENTS AND GARBAGE PITS IN THE COUNTY OF HAINAUT, SOUTHERN LOW COUNTRIES
- Human excrements and garbage pits of two archaeological sites in the County of Hainaut (Southern Low Countries, Belgium) have been studied by the interdisciplinary team “Archaeo sciences” of the RBINS. Stone walled latrines dating from the 14th century have been uncovered at the site of Chièvres, while several garbage pits dating from the 12th to the 16th century were excavated at the site of “rue des Bouchers-Saint Jacques” in the city of Tournai. We are presenting the 14th century composition of the waste contexts for the two sites and a diachronic composition’s evolution for the garbage pits of “rue des Bouchers-Saint Jacques”. Archaeobotanical (seeds and fruit, wood and wood charcoal, pollen, spores and NPPs) and archaeozoological studies show that, in the majority, they contain digested food residues, food scraps and also some scarce remains of other non-food residues. The most common taxa found are vegetables, condiments, wild and/or cultivated fruits, cereals, fish and mammal remains. But if we look more closely, some cesspits contain outstanding elements such as honey (the first mention in Wallonia for the medieval period), waste of cereal processing that may have been used for the sanitation of such structures. This paper aims at: 1 / highlighting late Medieval period human food intake of the Southern Low Countries 2 / comparing data between two 14th century waste contexts and finally, 3 / showing differences in pit fillings, indicating different structure maintenance and/or different social status.
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Un manuel de terrain pour standardiser les prélèvements des restes biologiques : une nécessité ou un luxe ? trois années d’expérience belge
- Sur un chantier de fouille, l’archéologue est très fréquemment confronté à des vestiges organiques, ou biorestes. Qu’ils soient visibles ou invisibles, rares ou abondants, ils sont souvent source de questionnements : que prélever ? Où, comment et en quelle quantité ? Quelles sont les conditions de stockage idéales ¬? Quelle est la marche à suivre pour tamiser les sédiments ? Confrontés à des prélèvements très disparates, souvent à vue, ou sans réelle question de recherche ainsi qu’à des méthodologies d’extraction très différentes, l’équipe d’archéosciences de l’Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique a décidé de rédiger un ouvrage visant à répondre aux questions des archéologues et à standardiser les processus d’échantillonnage afin de pouvoir disposer d’un matériel d’étude pertinent et cohérent. Nous mentionnerons les problématiques qui ont concouru à la genèse de ce manuel par quelques exemples de terrain, parcourrons rapidement ce qu'il propose et ce qu'il n'aborde pas et ferons un bilan de son impact auprès des archéologues quelques années après sa première parution fin 2016.
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Evaluations palynologique, xylologique et antracologique des puits gallo-romains de Warnach (Fauvillers)
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Analyses palynologiques de Chièvres - Eglise Saint-Martin Latrines du 14e siècle (Moyen Âge, Hainaut)
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Publishing data to support the fight against human vector-borne diseases
- Vector-borne diseases are responsible for more than 17% of human cases of infectious diseases. In most situations, effective control of debilitating and deadly vector-bone diseases (VBDs), such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, Zika and Chagas requires up to-date, robust and comprehensive information on the presence, diversity, ecology, bionomics and geographic spread of the organisms that carry and transmit the infectious agents. Huge gaps exist in the information related to these vectors, creating an essential need for campaigns to mobilise and share data. The publication of data papers is an effective tool for overcoming this challenge. These peer-reviewed articles provide scholarly credit for researchers whose vital work of assembling and publishing well-described, properly formatted datasets often fails to receive appropriate recognition. To address this, GigaScience’s sister journal GigaByte partnered with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) to publish a series of data papers, with support from the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), hosted by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Here we outline the initial results of this targeted approach to sharing data and describe its importance for controlling VBDs and improving public health.
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Where are we now with European forest multi-taxon biodiversity and where can we head to?
- The European biodiversity and forest strategies rely on forest sustainable management (SFM) to conserve forest biodiversity. However, current sustainability assessments hardly account for direct biodiversity indicators. We focused on forest multi-taxon biodiversity to: i) gather and map the existing information; ii) identify knowledge and research gaps; iii) discuss its research potential. We established a research network to fit data on species, standing trees, lying deadwood and sampling unit description from 34 local datasets across 3591 sampling units. A total of 8724 species were represented, with the share of common and rare species varying across taxonomic classes: some included many species with several rare ones (e.g., Insecta); others (e.g., Bryopsida) were repre sented by few common species. Tree-related structural attributes were sampled in a subset of sampling units (2889; 2356; 2309 and 1388 respectively for diameter, height, deadwood and microhabitats). Overall, multi taxon studies are biased towards mature forests and may underrepresent the species related to other developmental phases. European forest compositional categories were all represented, but beech forests were over represented as compared to thermophilous and boreal forests. Most sampling units (94%) were referred to a habitat type of conservation concern. Existing information may support European conservation and SFM strategies in: (i) methodological harmonization and coordinated monitoring; (ii) definition and testing of SFM indicators and thresholds; (iii) data-driven assessment of the effects of environmental and management drivers on multi-taxon forest biological and functional diversity, (iv) multi-scale forest monitoring integrating in-situ and remotely sensed information.
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Taphonomy of marine vertebrates of the Pisco Formation (Miocene, Peru): Insights into the origin of an outstanding Fossil-Lagerstätte
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Collagen stable isotopes provide insights into the end of the mammoth steppe in the central East European plains during the Epigravettian
- Higher δ15N values in bone collagen of mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) compared with coeval large herbivores is a classic trait of the mammoth steppe. An exception applies to the Epigravettian site of Mezhyrich (ca. 18–17.4 ka cal BP) in the central East European plains, where mammoth bones have δ15N values equivalent to or in a lower range than those of horse specimens (Equus sp.). We expanded our preliminary dataset to a larger sampling size of mammoth, other large herbivores, and carnivores from contemporaneous and nearby sites of Buzhanka 2, Eliseevichi, and Yudinovo. The unusual low mammoth δ15N values were confirmed at Buzhanka 2 and for some specimens from Eliseevichi, while most individuals from Yudinovo displayed the expected high δ15N values, meaning similar to those of the large canids. The possibility of a contrast in migration pattern is not supported since the δ34S values, a marker of mobility, do not correlate with the δ15N values of mammoth bone collagen. No clear chronological tendency could be revealed, at least not at the scale of radiocarbon dating. The low range in δ15N values is likely to reflect a change in the specific niche of the mammoth in the southern part of its distribution.
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De wolharige mammoet in België
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Relation between mitochondrial DNA hyperdiversity, mutation rate and mitochondrial genome evolution in Melarhaphe neritoides (Gastropoda: Littorinidae) and other Caenogastropoda
- Mitochondrial DNA hyperdiversity is primarily caused by high mutation rates (µ) and has potential implications for mitogenome architecture and evolution. In the hyperdiverse mtDNA of Melarhaphe neritoides (Gastropoda: Littorinidae), high mutational pressure generates unusually large amounts of synonymous variation, which is expected to (1) promote changes in synonymous codon usage, (2) reflect selection at synonymous sites, (3) increase mtDNA recombination and gene rearrangement, and (4) be correlated with high mtDNA substitution rates. The mitogenome of M. neritoides was sequenced, compared to closely related littorinids and put in the phylogenetic context of Caenogastropoda, to assess the influence of mtDNA hyperdiversity and high µ on gene content and gene order. Most mitogenome features are in line with the trend in Mollusca, except for the atypical secondary structure of the methionine transfer RNA lacking the TΨC-loop. Therefore, mtDNA hyperdiversity and high µ in M. neritoides do not seem to affect its mitogenome architecture. Synonymous sites are under positive selection, which adds to the growing evidence of non-neutral evolution at synonymous sites. Under such non-neutrality, substitution rate involves neutral and non-neutral substitutions, and high µ is not necessarily associated with high substitution rate, thus explaining that, unlike high µ, a high substitution rate is associated with gene order rearrangement.
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A scientific name for Pacific oysters
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Bushmeat for sale in Brussels
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Identifying Invasive Alien Species by DNA-barcoding: possibilities, gaps and pitfalls
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Identifying mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) from foreign deployment sites of the Belgian armed forces
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DNA-barcoding: an efficient tool for rapid identification of native and exotic mosquito species (Diptera: Culicidae) intercepted in Belgium
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The Devonian–Carboniferous boundary in Belgium and surrounding areas
- The Devonian–Carboniferous boundary is associated with a major extinction event of the Phanerozoic. It was also a time marked by a rapid but short-lasting change in deposition called Hangenberg Event. In the Namur–Dinant Basin the uppermost Devonian (‘Strunian’) deposits recorded a third-order transgression that produced a progressive switch from coastal siliciclastic to proximal mixed deposits with an increase of the carbonate production on the ramp. Hence, the Comblain-au-Pont and lower Hastière formations are considered as the transgressive system tract, whereas the middle member of the Hastière Formation is interpreted as the highstand system tract, capped by an erosion surface corresponding to the third-order sequence boundary. Superimposed on these third-order sequences are well-marked orbitally forced precession cycles (wet–dry climate alternations) of c. 18.6 ka, appearing as irregular c. 30–80-cm-thick couplets of limestone and calcareous shale beds. The Hangenberg Black Shale Event is locally present as dark shales that likely spread over the shelf, marking the maximum flooding surface of the sequence. Before and after this event, carbonate facies rich in benthic macrofauna and microfauna continued to develop. The Hangenberg Sandstone Event, appearing as a sandstone bed in pelagic sections, is variously recorded at the base of the Hastière Formation, either as a sandy siltstone bed in proximal sections or as a horizon with limestone clasts and reworked fossils in more distal settings. The Hangenberg Sandstone Event beds occur sharply in the stratigraphic record and do not correspond to the long sea level fall of a third-order sequence boundary, but most probably to a short out-of-sequence event. The revision of the stratigraphic distribution of major fossil groups pleads for a continuous biostratigraphic succession with no obvious hiatus. The variable development of some micropalaeontological zones at the end of the Devonian is the result of complex ecobiostratigraphic interactions with the environment rather than the reflection of true hiatuses. It is marked by extinctions of Devonian taxa, concomitantly with the end of the reworking produced by the Hangenberg Sandstone Event, most probably immediately below the entry of the conodont Protognathodus kockeli. It is also coincident with the boundary between the foraminiferal zones DFZ7–MFZ1, rugose coral zones RC0–RC1 and between the palynozones LE–VI. After the short-lasting regressive phase of the Hangenberg Sandstone Event, normal depositional settings returned with the deposition of the Hastière Formation. Hence, the end of the Hangenberg Sandstone Event is proposed as the most natural proxy to pinpoint the Devonian– Carboniferous boundary.
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A new basal ornithopod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China
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CHEMICAL PRESERVATION OF TAIL FEATHERS FROM ANCHIORNIS HUXLEYI, A THEROPOD DINOSAUR FROM THE TIAOJISHAN FORMATION (UPPER JURASSIC, CHINA)
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A new phylogeny of cerapodan dinosaurs
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A new titanosaur (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of Velaux-La-Bastide Neuve (southern France)
