The Royal Museum for Central Africa or RMCA (Dutch: Koninklijk Museum voor Midden-Afrika or KMMA; French: Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale or MRAC; German: Königliches Museum für Zentralafrika or KMZA), also officially known as the AfricaMuseum, is an ethnography and natural history museum situated in Tervuren in Flemish Brabant, Belgium, just outside Brussels. It was built to showcase King Leopold II's Congo Free State in the International Exposition of 1897.The museum focuses on the Congo, a former Belgian colony. The sphere of interest, however, especially in biological research, extends to the whole Congo River basin, Middle Africa, East Africa, and West Africa, attempting to integrate "Africa" as a whole. Intended originally as a colonial museum, from 1960 onwards it has focused more on ethnography and anthropology. Like most museums, it houses a research department in addition to its public exhibit department. Not all research pertains to Africa (e.g. research on the archaeozoology of Sagalassos, Turkey). Some researchers have strong ties with the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.In November 2013, the museum closed for extensive renovation work, including the construction of new exhibition space, and re-opened in December 2018 under its new name.g.
The Karagwe-Ankole Belt (KAB) in the Great Lakes region of Central Africa comprises metasedimentary stratigraphic units, metamorphic complexes and magmatic intrusions mainly of Mesoproterozoic age, but also hosts Paleoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic rocks. The Mesoproterozoic units are relatively well known in Rwanda, and, to a lesser extent, in Burundi, where they have been mapped at the 1/100.0000 scale. Instead, in the Kivu and Maniema regions of eastern DRC, they are known locally but in disconnected areas and detailed geological maps are not available.Based on recent investigations in Kivu and Burundi, together with new insights from the revised geological map of Rwanda, this paper reexamines the geological evolution of the Kivu region by proposing new lithostratigraphic correlations between the Eastern and Western sides of Lake Kivu. East of the lake (in Rwanda & Burundi), the Mesoproterozoic formations are assembled in the Akanyaru Supergroup, and West of the lake (North and South Kivu, DRC), in the Kivu Supergroup. The Neoproterozoic Itombwe Supergroup, well defined in Kivu, is also present in Rwanda, showing that its extension is not limited to the Itombwe ‘syncline’, and it was deposited over a wider region.The present paper also revises the geochronological framework based on recently published and new 40Ar/39Ar and U-Pb ages. Altogether, we propose an updated chronology for the stratigraphic, magmatic, metamorphic and tectonic evolution of the Karagwe-Ankole basin from Rodinia amalgamation and breakup to Pan-African reactivations.
Schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease, affects people of all genders and ages. However, few studies have examined how communities in endemic areas perceive gender roles as factors influencing infection and control. This study explored the perceptions of farming (Kyaterekera) and fishing (Ndaiga) communities along Lake Albert in Uganda's Kagadi District regarding gender roles and their role in schistosomiasis infection. Using an ethnographic design, we conducted 10 key informant interviews and 18 focus group discussions with 150 participants. Data were analysed thematically. Participants from both settings recognised that gender roles influence infection risk differently for men and women. Societal expectations and gender stereotypes were seen as contributing factors. Farming men often perceived bilharzia as a lake-side issue. Drug side effects were a shared concern, but women in fishing communities preferred using herbs and prayers, while men favoured hospital visits. Gender roles and perceptions of schistosomiasis risk vary by gender and location. Common themes include societal expectations, stereotypes and concerns about treatment. Gender-specific interventions, such as gender-sensitive campaigns and inclusive decision-making, could help effectively control the disease.
Reconstructing ancient human occupation of the Equatorial Forest of the Inner Congo Basin (ICB) situated in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is particularly challenging due to the fragmentary Stone Age archaeological record which is essentially composed of surface finds along the northern shores of Lake Tumba and riverbanks to the east. In order to assess the impact of availability of knappable stone on the nature of the lithic component of material culture in possibly ancient and recent times in the ICB, we provide for the first time a petrographic analysis of silicified sandstone samples from artefacts and non-flaked stone from the Lake Tumba area. They are compared to samples from silicified sandstones of the Serie des Gre`s Polymorphes of which outcrops can be found 200-250 km to the south and west. The rocks from Lake Tumba clearly belong to these silicified sandstones, however, specific characteristics also point to local provenance which corroborates the few historical records on very rare sources of stone inside the ICB. We analysed lithic artefacts collected in 2017 on the northwestern lakeshore for size and presence and extent of cortex revealing miniaturisation as an adequate technological strategy for surmounting raw material constraints in either scenario of long-distance or local yet unpredictable stone supply. The general small size and the presence of bifacially flaked and transverse arrowheads evokes typological parallels with the Holocene Tshitolian in southwestern Central Africa. Miniaturisation is an efficient strategy for maximising exploitation of scarce sources of stone and might be a timeless asset in areas poor in raw materials for cutting and piercing equipment as is the case in the ICB.
No less than 66 species have been assigned to the genus Paralorryia, at least momentarily (subjective synonyms set apart). Based on its type species, Lorryia cumbrensis, and on the study of its phanerotaxy, the genus Paralorryia was synonymized with Calotydeus by André (2025). Besides cumbrensis, only 6 other species are assigned to Calotydeus. All other species are scattered across five genera: Brachytydeus (51 species), Neohomeotydeus (2 species), Nudilorryia (1 species), Ueckermannia (1 species) and Pretydeus (Pretydeinae) (1 species). 3 species are inquirendae and 1 is a nomen nudum. Nomenclatural changes are: Calotydeus andreae (new combination), Calotydeus costaricensis (n. comb.), Calotydeus nikitensis (n. comb.), Calotydeus spineus (n. comb.), Brachytydeus aegyptocitri (n. comb.) and Brachytydeus fodderi (n. comb.).
Human brain evolution, explored through the study of fossil endocasts, reveals key insights into changes through time of the cerebral morphology. The genus Pan, being the closest extant relative to humans, provides a crucial comparative basis to identify features that are unique to the human lineage, thereby enriching the understanding of adaptations that have contributed to the human evolutionary history. However, to date, there is no atlas characterising brain imprints in chimpanzee endocasts and documenting variation in their patterns. Utilising micro-focus X-ray Computed Tomography, 21 Pan paniscus and Pan troglodytes dry crania were scanned, and virtual endocasts were automatically reconstructed. Following the automated detection of cortical imprints and manual labelling, advanced statistical methods were applied to generate a density map that documents the distribution of sulcal imprints. Sulci that are critically discussed in palaeoneurology, such as the lunate sulcus, were reliably detected and identified on 21 endocasts, in addition to other sulci of the frontal-, parietal-, temporal-, and occipital lobes, while accessory sulci such as the fronto-marginal sulcus and pre-lunate sulcus showed lower detection rates. This study provides the first comprehensive description of sulcal imprints on extant Pan endocasts and presents invaluable comparative resources for studying brain evolution from the hominin fossil record.
