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Butterflies specimens from the AMNH collections. (Photo: AMNH)
24/03/2023

Worldwide collections database maps 1 billion objects

post by
Reinout Verbeke

A new database maps the total collections from 73 of the world’s largest natural history museums and herbaria in 28 countries, revealing a total collection of more than 1.1 billion objects.

Arctocyon skull from the collections of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. The skull was excavated in the 1980s in the Reims region. (Photo: Thierry Smith)
31/03/2022

Mammals put brawn before brains to survive post-dinosaur world

post by
Reinout Verbeke

Prehistoric mammals bulked up, rather than develop bigger brains, to boost their survival chances once dinosaurs had become extinct, research suggests.

The tusks of the contemporary African bush elephant (background) are small feat next to the fossil tusk of the straight-tusked elephant (foreground). (Image : RBINS/T. Hubin)
08/02/2022

A fossilised tusk of a straight-tusked elephant from the North Sea. New in the Museum!

post by
Kelle Moreau

Early July 2020, a Dutch shrimp trawler in Belgian territorial waters hauled up nothing less than an elephant tusk in its nets.

1. Potamotrygon leopoldi (Karelj, Wikimedia Commons)
24/11/2021

170 species named after King Leopold III and Queen Astrid

post by
Reinout Verbeke

Two of our Institute’s taxonomists - biologists specialised in the discovery, description and classification of species - have found 170 species of animals named after King Leopold III and Queen Astrid in our collection and in databases.

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Collections
Mussels in the collections of the RBINS. (c) Thierry Backeljau, RBINS
21/09/2021

Belgian mussels developed stronger shells

post by
Siska Van Parys

Belgian mussels have developed stronger shells over the last hundred years. More calcareous shells protect them better from crabs’ claws and seagulls’ beaks. These predators have increased significantly in number during the last fifty years.

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