News

A team of Belgian and Thai biologists has described a new species of gecko. The Black Tokay (Gekko dam) lives in the border region between Thailand and Malaysia.

The Institute of Natural Sciences opens its doors for the  Brussels Museums' Nocturnes. We are expecting you on Thursday 9 April from 6pm onwards!  Visit our wondrous exhibits and discover an array of exciting activities curated exclusively for this evening.

The Council of Ministers has approved funding for the national scientific exploration programme for natural hydrogen. The exploration project aims to determine whether hydrogen is present in the Belgian subsoil. Natural hydrogen offers significant potential for making energy-intensive and chemical industrial processes more sustainable.

The last Neanderthals, including the individuals found in Belgian caves, descended from a single group that had survived a bitterly cold period by retreating to southwestern France.

On February 19, 2026, Sylvain Gozingan brilliantly defended his doctoral thesis entitled “Developing a multi-scale modelling framework for coastal hydrodynamics and larval connectivity in the Gulf of Guinea, West Africa.” His work leads to important conclusions for the sustainable management of shrimp stocks in Benin.

Haolong dongi is a new species of iguanodontian from China, whose skin has been preserved at the cellular level and which bears spikes never seen before in dinosaurs.

Our new publication devoted to the treasures and main specimens on display in our galleries has just been released. An essential gift for nature lovers!

Can you love someone you’ve never met? Screening of the documentary De dag dat het zonlicht niet meer scheen in the presence of filmmakers and palaeontologists on February 14th.

Palaeontologists from our institute have redrawn the evolutionary tree of horses and their close relatives. Based on an in-depth comparative study, they conclude that the first horses appeared at least 5 million years later than previously thought, approximately 50 million years ago.