2023

22/12/2023

Common dolphin stranded on the beach of Oostende

This morning, a dead common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) washed ashore on the beach of Oostende, near the western breakwater. It is a female measuring 2.07 meters in length.

21/12/2023

Etienne Steurbaut receives the highest distinction in geology in Belgium

Etienne Steurbaut, former head of the paleontology department at our Institute, has received the highest distinction for geology that a scientist can receive in our country.

07/12/2023

Baboons among the ancient Egyptians: revered but suffering

Ancient Egyptians raised baboons in captivity before mummifying them, according to research by archaeozoologist Wim Van Neer from the Institute of Natural Sciences and colleagues.

05/12/2023

Quality Status of the North-East Atlantic

The Quality Status Report 2023 assesses the status of the Northeast Atlantic Ocean. Climate change and acidification have become drivers of change. Biodiversity and habitats remain at risk, but the chemical quality of the marine environment is improving again.

04/12/2023

Conservation priority of stony reef habitats in the Belgian North Sea

Gravel beds in the Belgian North Sea are home to a unique fauna that is vulnerable to bottom-disturbing activities, but are also heavily fished. This paradox underlines the need for more effective protection.

29/11/2023

Rediscovered in our collections: one of the oldest fossil insect assemblages from China

Paleontologists have rediscovered a rich collection of insects and other fossil arthropods from a Chinese coal mine. It includes numerous cockroach wings essentially of Moscovian age (about 310 million years ols). These fossils were thought to have been lost for decades.

26/11/2023

Living Loggerhead turtle on Bredene beach

November 25, 2023, a live Loggerhead turtle washed up on the beach of Bredene. This species has never before been identified with certainty in Belgium. The animal is closely monitored in SEA LIFE Blankenberge.

20/11/2023

More than 30 new sponge species discovered in Peru

A zoologist from the Institute of Natural Sciences, together with a Brazilian colleague, has documented the sponge diversity of Peru: 86 species, of which 31 were recently described by them, in all shapes and colors.

03/11/2023

Orca stranding on the Belgian coast

On October 29, a male orca was spotted off the coast of Coxyde. A few hours later, the severely weakened animal washed up in De Panne, where it died almost immediately.

30/10/2023

Dust played a major role in dinosaur demise

Fine dust from pulverized rock generated by the Chicxulub impact likely played a dominant role in global climate cooling and the disruption of photosynthesis following the event.

26/10/2023

Kamasutra: a new genus of insects from Australia with a particularly acrobatic mating behavior

One of our entomologists has described a new genus of insects from Australia with a particularly acrobatic mating behavior.  

20/10/2023

Sea change: new blueprint for Southern Ocean survival

More than 200 scientists from 19 countries published the first comprehensive assessment of trends in Southern Ocean ecosystems. They emphasize that climate change is the main driver of species and ecosystem change in the Southern Ocean and coastal Antarctica.

09/10/2023

Knokke Leatherback Turtle died as a result of acute trauma

Until a dead leatherback turtle was found on the beach in Knokke on 7 October 2023, we knew of only three strandings of this species in Belgium. The autopsy shows that an acute but unknown trauma caused the animal's sudden death.

06/10/2023

Citizen scientists describe 31-million-year-old driftwood with attached sea life from Schelle

Amateur palaeontologists have unearthed a large piece of driftwood that ended up in the sea some 31 million years ago and around which a lot of marine life fossilized. A rare find.

09/09/2023

Carcass of Fin whale in port of Antwerp

A dead fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) was found in the port of Antwerp.

09/09/2023

Invasive alien species: how to tackle one of the five main causes of the biodiversity crisis?

The Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) published a new report, provides an overview of the latest data, analysis and options regarding invasive alien species and their control.

01/09/2023

Predatory adaptations in the large Jurassic marine reptile Temnodontosaurus

Palaeontologists have found among Temnodontosaurs - Jurassic-era sea predators - that not all species were equally well adapted to catching large prey.

31/08/2023

A new species of leafhopper that looks like a Triceratops

Two entomologists have described a new species of leafhopper native to Australia that has a special head with three "horns".

02/08/2023

Newly described ancient whale could be the heaviest animal ever

Perucetus colossus, an ancient whale that swam off the coast of present-day Peru 39 million years ago, rivals the blue whale as the heaviest animal ever.

27/07/2023

Jaw analyses show what cave bears and brown bears ate

In their new study, researchers Anneke van Heteren and Mietje Germonpré show that the two contemporaries fed differently.

10/07/2023

The Belgica documents climate change in Greenland fjords

The research team on board will study how accelerated glacier melting will affect carbon dynamics, biodiversity and the food web in Greenland's fjords.

03/07/2023

New fly species described from the Jardin Massart in Brussels

Entomologists have described three new fly species. They were collected - in collaboration with citizen scientists - at the Jardin Massart on the outskirts of Brussels.

28/06/2023

First RV Belgica Mission to the Far North

A team of scientists has embarked in Reykjavik to study the possibilities of reducing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by encouraging the alteration of silicates in the ocean.

19/06/2023

Edgar Kesteloot: father of nature conservation in Belgium

Edgar Kesteloot, a former colleague at the Institute of Natural Sciences, will forever remain one of the founding fathers of nature conservation in Belgium.

16/06/2023

North Sea aerial surveillance in 2022

In 2022, the aerial surveillance team of the RBINS realised 244 flight hours over the North Sea. 19 cases of operational marine pollution from ships were observed, two involving oil and 17 other harmful substances.

05/06/2023

Bones from 31,000 years ago indicate ancient exploitation of duck wings

A study conducted on 31,000-year-old bird remains suggests that hunter-gatherers of the time had a particular interest for duck wings.

22/05/2023

30 years of Belgian North Sea aerial surveillance

Although the Belgian part of the North Sea only represents 0.5 % of the North Sea surface, it is situated in one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world and combines a large number of human activities on a limited space.

17/05/2023

A fossil provides oldest evidence of plant self-defence in wood

Paleobotanists have found fossils in Ireland showing that plants had adapted to drought very early on.

11/05/2023

Marine mammals in Belgium in 2022

In its new report 'Marine mammals in Belgium in 2022' (available in Dutch and French), the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences compiles the results of monitoring and scientific research on marine mammals in Belgium in 2022.

10/05/2023

Effect of bottom trawling on carbon emissions from seabed overestimated

In 2021, an article in Nature made world headlines because it equated the carbon released from seabed disturbance due to bottom trawling to the amount of CO2 generated by the global aviation industry.

25/04/2023

Two victims of Bois du Cazier mine fire identified

August 8 1956, 262 miners lost their lives in the Bois du Cazier mine fire in Marcinelle (Charleroi).

28/03/2023

HOME research project recommends repatriation of historical human remains from former Belgian colonies

A multidisciplinary research team coordinated by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) is calling to change the law to facilitate the repatriation of human remains where requested and to put human remains out of commerce.

24/03/2023

Worldwide collections database maps 1 billion objects

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.

23/03/2023

Monograph provides overview of fossil cartilaginous fishes in our collection

Two experts have published a richly illustrated reference work of fossil chondrichthyans, cartilaginous fishes including sharks, in the collections of the Institute of Natural Sciences.

22/03/2023

Environmental impact of offshore wind farms: getting ready for expansion in the Belgian North Sea

In their latest annual report, the scientists that monitor the environmental impact of offshore wind farms in the Belgian part of the North Sea focus on the continued development of the programme and on the upgrade in anticipation of the wind energy capacity expansion in our waters.

08/03/2023

New treaty protects biodiversity on high seas

From 20 February to 4 March, the very last BBNJ negotiations, aimed at adopting an international treaty for the protection of biodiversity on the high seas, took place in New York. The agreement was reached after 17 years of intense discussions and negotiations at the United Nations.

01/03/2023

Ice Age Survivors

Large-scale genomic analysis documents the migrations of Ice Age hunter-gatherers over a period of 30,000 years – they took shelter in Western Europe but died out on the Italian peninsula.

13/02/2023

Scientists find a new family of snakes

An international team of researchers led by the University of Helsinki has revised the phylogeny of the Elapoidea, an important group of snakes. By doing so, they discovered a new family of snakes.

06/02/2023

Bright Festival : du 16 au 19 février

18/01/2023

Egyptian tomb with ten crocodile mummies discovered

Spanish archaeologists made an unusual discovery in southern Egypt: a still undisturbed tomb containing ten mummified crocodiles. Archaeologists from our Institute had the opportunity to study the mummies.