News
Mass Extinction Conference - 30.05.2024
30/05/2024
Today more than 42,100 species are threatened with extinction (IUCN) and more than 150,300 species are on the IUCN Red List including 41% of amphibians, 37% of sharks and rays, 36% of reef building corals, 34% of conifers, 27% of mammals, 16% of selected insects, and 13% of birds.
Taxonomy Recognition Day - 23.05.2024
23/05/2024
The Institute of Natural Sciences and the CETAF are celebrating on 23rd May 2024 the Taxonomy Recognition Day, which covers the diversity in nature, preservation of nature and knowledge sharing on nature !
New and richly illustrated book about the Bernissart Iguanodons
22/04/2024
Paleontologist Pascal Godefroit tells the complete story of the Iguanodons of Bernissart in a hefty and beautifully illustrated book: from the discovery in the mining village to the latest insights into their cause of death.
Nocturnes 2024
08/04/2024
Scheldt Delta officially recognized as UNESCO Geopark
29/03/2024
The region of the Belgian-Dutch Scheldt Delta has been officially recognized as a UNESCO Global Geopark. The world heritage organization thereby acknowledges that the area is exceptional in terms of its geological, cultural-historical, and landscape features.
Amateur paleontologists donate rich collection of fossil shark and ray teeth to our Institute
28/03/2024
Citizen scientists have donated tens of thousands of fossil shark and ray teeth to the Institute. They were excavated at the clay quarry of Egem in West Flanders, and bear witness to the rich diversity in the shallow tropical sea around 50 million years ago in our regions.
A third victim from Bois du Cazier identified thanks to DNA analysis
27/03/2024
On August 8, 1956, 262 miners died in the fire at the Bois du Cazier mine in Marcinelle (Charleroi). In 2023, a multidisciplinary team of researchers formally identified two of the 14 victims who couldn't be identified at the time. In March 2024 the team announced the identity of a third victim.
Belgian geologists test mining robots
21/03/2024
Fossilized tooth reveals prehistoric shark attack on seal
05/03/2024
Palaeontologists have uncovered a fossilized tooth from a white shark embedded in the heel bone of a seal, shedding light on a dramatic event that unfolded 4.5 million years ago.
A large-scale paleontological excavation in Lebanon documents terrestrial ecosystem of the Cretaceous
06/02/2024
An international team of paleontologists has uncovered a remarkably rich and diverse array of fossils from the Early Cretaceous, in Jezzine, South Lebanon. “It is rare getting a glimpse on the diversity of such an early terrestrial ecosystem for this continental area”, says paleontologist Ninon Robin, Institute of Natural Sciences.