Search Constraints
Search Results
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Journal article
Genetic swamping of the critically endangered Scottish wildcat was recent and accelerated by disease
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Journal article
Skull morphology of bottlenose dolphins worldwide and patterns of adaptation between coastal and offshore environments
The morphological differentiation between coastal and offshore ecotypes of bottlenose dolphins (genus ) has been researched since the 1960s, particularly in (Montagu, 1821), although most morphological studies have focused on localized populations. Therefore, it is unclear how patterns observed in these individual populations integrate within the global morphological variation. Here...Oxford‐Smith, N ; Ruta, M ; Gao, A ; Viaud‐Martinez, K A ; Sabin, R …
ecotype , dolphin , offshore , adaptation , biogeography , Tursiops truncatus, coastal , and skull morphology
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Journal article
Albinism in the common shrew Sorex araneus
Albinism is a hypopigmentation disorder which occurs as a consequence of mutations in genes involved in melanin biosynthesis. It is recorded in many mammalian species but is generally considered to be rare in natural populations. Here, we describe a fully albino individual of the common shrew found in south-western Poland....Wójcik, Jan M ; Kowalczyk, Rafał ; Rybiałek, Jerzy ; Herman, Jeremy
Fur colouration , Albino , Shrews, Pelage , and Soricidae
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Journal article
Hwiccewyrm trispiculum gen. et sp. nov., a new leptopleuronine procolophonid from the Late Triassic of southwest England
The fissure fill localities of southwest England and South Wales are well‐known for preserving rich assemblages of predominantly small‐bodied Late Triassic to Early Jurassic tetrapods, but many aspects of these assemblages remain contentious. The age of the Late Triassic fissures is disputed, with some lines of argument suggesting a latest...Butler, Richard J ; Meade, Luke E ; Cleary, Terri J ; McWhirter, Kai T ; Brown, Emily E …
Procolophonidae , phylogeny , Parareptilia , fissure fills , and Triassic
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Journal article
A new species of Lygistorrhina (Lygistorrhina) Skuse, 1890 (Diptera: Keroplatidae, Lygistorrhininae) with a key to the subgenus
A new species of Lygistorrhina (Lygistorrhina) Skuse, 1890, Lygistorrhina woodi sp. nov., is described. The specimen was dissected from an alcohol-preserved flower of Ceropegia aristolochioides ssp. deflersiana Bruyns (Apocynaceae, Asclepiadoideae, Ceropegieae) stored in the Kew herbarium. This is the first occurrence of the lygistorrhine gnats in a hot, semi-arid climate....Blagoderov, Vladimir ; Ollerton, Jeff ; Whittington, Andrew
Fungus gnats , Taxonomy , Apocynaceae, Biodiversity, Ceropegia, New taxa , Diptera, and Afrotropical region
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Journal article
Fair Isle Knitwear
Fair Isle knitwear with its brightly-coloured geometric patterns, is known across the world today. The style has had various fashion flashpoints over the last two centuries, not least in the 1920s when the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VIII, was photographed looking very dapper wearing Fair Isle sweaters. It...Wyld, Helen ; Laurenson, Sarah
research , craft, textiles, Fair Isle knitwear , knitting, and National Museums Scotland collections
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Journal article
The Power of Glass: Craft Scotland Conference, 2022
In 2022, the UN marked the International Year of Glass, celebrating the essential role glass has, and will continue to have, in society. One element of this celebration was the importance of glass within art and its history, which the Craft Scotland 2022 Conference: The Power of Glass looked to... -
Journal article
Two Sculptures, One Master? A Technical Study of Two Rare Examples of Polychrome Sculptures Associated with “the Master of Saint Catherine of Gualino”, Italy, Fourteenth Century
Between the 1960s and 1990s art historian Giovanni Previtali identified a group of polychrome wood trecento sculptures from the Umbrian-Abruzzo region of Italy as the work of one hand. He named his artist the Maestro della Santa Caterina Gualino after one of the pieces considered to epitomize the style he... -
Journal article
Exhibition Review: Tales in Gaelic (Temporary exhibition - Sgeul/Story: Folk Tales from the Scottish Highlands, National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh)
Bruce Blacklaw finds folklore and beauty in this celebration of the Gaelic languageBlacklaw, Bruce
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Journal article
The mitochondrial DNA diversity of captive ruffed lemurs (Varecia spp.): implications for conservation
Ruffed lemurs ( and ) are categorized as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and genetic studies are needed for assessing the conservation value of captive populations. Using 280 mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) D-loop sequences, we studied the genetic diversity and structure of captive ruffed lemurs in Madagascar, Europe and...Vega, Rodrigo ; Hopper, Jane ; Kitchener, Andrew C ; Catinaud, Jérôme ; Roullet, Delphine …
Biodiversity, diversity, Lemuridae, genetic, primates, conservation, and Madagascar
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Journal article
Revealing observatory networks through object stories: Observatory audiences
Like the contributions to the other papers in this collection (‘Object itineraries’ and ‘Instrumental networks’), those in this final section explore instrumental networks and object itineraries in order to tell new histories of observatory sites and their associated networks. (For a discussion of the genesis and thinking behind the collection... -
Journal article
Revealing observatory networks through object stories: Introduction
This paper introduces a group of three articles that bring together object stories relating to observatory history and networks. The three articles (‘Instrumental networks’, ‘Object itineraries’ and ‘Observatory audiences’) each bring together three object stories by different authors that contribute to the article theme. Here the genesis of the collection...Higgitt, Rebekah
object stories, observatory sites, astronomy, networks, collections, object biography, scientific instruments, object itineraries, Time, observatory sciences, and observatories
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Journal article
Palaeogenomic Evidence for the Long-Term Reproductive Isolation Between Wild and Domestic Cats
Domestic cats were derived from the Near Eastern wildcat (Felis lybica), after which they dispersed with people into Europe. As they did so, it is possible that they interbred with the indigenous population of European wildcats (Felis silvestris). Gene flow between incoming domestic animals and closely related indigenous wild species...Jamieson, Alexandra ; Carmagnini, Alberto ; Howard-McCombe, Jo ; Doherty, Sean ; Hirons, Alexandra …
domestication, palaeogenomics, and cats
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Hunter, Fraser
armour, arm guard , bronze, Roman Scotland, amellar , and Newstead
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Journal article
'Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age metalwork' In: Jones, A.M. and Quinnell, H. Revisiting Battlegore: a Bronze Age barrow and its landscape context
Six copper-alloy artefacts were found in the 1860s during draining works on land to the west of the barrow cemetery, one specifically from a plot named Lake’s Meadow. Gray (1908a; 1931) documents their finding and provides illustrations. They are all described and illustrated by Pearce (1983, 540, pl. 94) and...Knight, Matthew G
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Journal article
Dr Allen David Cumming Simpson, 13 December 1947-3 December 2022
Allen Simpson was born in Edinburgh, went to school there, attended the University of Edinburgh, worked there, married and raised a family, and finally died there. He worked at what eventually became National Museums Scotland between 1970 to 1998, as an Assistant Keeper, and subsequently, Curator and Principal Curator in...Morrison-Low, Alison
curatorial research, Scottish weights and measures, Science & Technology, obituary, National Museums Scotland, Department of Technology, and Royal Museum of Scotland
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Journal article
The Scottish transport and industry collections knowledge network (STICK)
The Scottish Transport and Industry Collections Knowledge Network (STICK) brings together a range of organisations and individuals who share a common interest in transport and industrial collections and promoting their care and enjoyment. While a multi-disciplinary steering group drives it forward, STICK is its members and their passion and knowledge....Swinbank, Ellie ; National Museums Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF, United Kingdom
Industry, Transport, Training, Network, and Collections
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Journal article
Early Eocene fossils elucidate the evolutionary history of the Charadriiformes (shorebirds and allies)
We report charadriiform and charadriiform-like birds from the early Eocene London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex, UK). A partial skeleton of a small modern-type charadriiform is described as a new species, n. gen. n. sp., and most closely resembles taxa of the Charadrii (plovers, stilts, oystercatchers, and other “wader-like” shorebirds). Affinities...Mayr, Gerald ; Kitchener, Andrew C
charadriiform bird, Walton-on-the-Naze, fossil record, early Paleogene , and Eocene London Clay
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Magazine article
Bringing Hugh Miller's The Old Red Sandstone to a new generation of readers
The 2023 edition of The Old Red Sandstone is the first truly new one for a century. It is in two main parts: a facsimile reprint of Miller’s original first edition of 1841, with explanatory notes added, and a book-length ‘Critical Study’ of Miller’s work by the authors Ralph O’Connor...Taylor, Michael A
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Journal article
Can modern technology uncover the secrets of evolution?
A mysterious group of fossils called the Elgin Reptiles has been puzzling scientists for centuries. Existing only as cavities hidden within rocks, these fossils could help scientists unravel the mysteries of evolution. Thanks to modern technologies, Dr Davide Foffa, a research associate at National Museums Scotland, and his colleagues have...Foffa, Davide
Palaeoecology, lagerpetids, Vertebrate Palaeontology, μCT scanning , Elgin Reptiles, Scleromochlus , and Palaeobiology
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Journal article
Assessing the identity of rare historical museum specimens of the extinct blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus) using an ancient DNA approach
The blue antelope or bluebuck ( ) is an extinct species of antelope that lived in South Africa until ca. 1799–1800. Disappearing only 34 years after it was described, it was the first large African mammal species to have become extinct in recent times. Therefore, current scientific knowledge of the... -
Journal article
On the “screamer-like” birds from the British London Clay: An archaic anseriform-galliform mosaic and a non-galloanserine “barb-necked” species of Perplexicervix
We revisit recently described putative anseriform birds from the early Eocene London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex, UK). Phylogenetically relevant skeletal elements of Danielsavis nazensis Houde et al., 2023 are reported that were omitted from the original description, including the pterygoids and palatines. We detail that anseriform affinities of D. nazensis...Mayr, Gerald ; Carrió, Vicen ; Kitchener, Andrew C
Aves, new family, Walton-on-the-Naze, new species, and fossil birds
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Journal article
Stable isotope ecology and interspecific dietary overlap among dolphins in the Northeast Atlantic
Dolphins are mobile apex marine predators. Over the past three decades, warm-water adapted dolphin species (short-beaked common and striped) have expanded their ranges northward and become increasingly abundant in British waters. Meanwhile, cold-water adapted dolphins (white-beaked and Atlantic white-sided) abundance trends are decreasing, with evidence of the distribution of white-beaked...Plint, Tessa ; ten Doeschate, Mariel T I ; Brownlow, Andrew C ; Davison, Nicholas J ; Hantke, Georg …
stable isotope, Northeast Atlantic, Scotland, dolphin, dietary overlap, and niche
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Journal article
Emergence and ecological transition of the Mesozoic marine reptiles: Evidence from the Early Triassic Chaohu and the Middle Triassic Xingyi Faunas
Two major evolutionary events in the early history of Mesozoic marine reptiles have been recorded in the Triassic of China. The first event evidenced by the Early Triassic Chaohu Fauna was the emergence of new marine communities and their subsequent radiation in the Spathian Subage of the late Olenekian (Early...Jiang, Da-yong ; Zhou, Min ; Motani, Ryosuke ; Tintori, Andrea ; Fraser, Nicholas C …
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Journal article
Middle and Upper Ordovician linguliformean and craniiformean brachiopods from the Brabant Massif, Belgium: Infaunal giants, encrusting forms and durophagy
Linguliformean and craniiformean brachiopods from the Middle and Upper Ordovician of the Brabant Massif (Belgium) are described for the first time and their palaeoecological and palaeobiogeographical implications are discussed. The restricted and generally poorly preserved material was collected from the Abbaye de Villers (Dapingian–Darriwilian) Formation and from the Katian Huet...Candela, Yves ; Mottequin, Bernard
Linguliformean and craniiformean brachiopods , palaeobiogeographical , Middle and Upper Ordovician, Brabant Massif , and palaeoecological
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Newspaper article
Maths Week Scotland means there's plenty of educational fun to be had during school strikes
Maths is involved in a range of areas from navigation and forensic science to ceilidh dancing and football.Brien, Ailsa
Maths Week Scotland, National Museum of Scotland, and educational activities
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Journal article
Give ancient Egyptians the respect they deserve
‘Mummies’ should stay in the realms of fiction, says Margaret MaitlandMaitland, Margaret
terminology, Colonial histories of Egyptology, "noble ones", mummifield people, and comment
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Journal article
Objects of Power: Australian Aboriginal Breastplates and Scottish Pastoralists
Aboriginal breastplates also known as brass plates, king plates, queen plates and Aboriginal gorgets were given by European colonisers to Aboriginal people in Australia from c.1815. As a tool of colonisation they were frequently given out by Scottish pastoralists in Queensland and New South Wales in the mid to late...Clark, Alison
First AustraliansAboriginal HistoryColonial Histories and LegaciesScotland and Empire
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Journal article
Black gold in Roscommon
Exploring the significance of a terminal plate of an Early Bronze Age jet spacer-plate necklace from Gortnacrannagh.Ó Maoldúin, Ros ; Sheridan, J A ; Campbell, Eve ; Troalen, Lore G
networks, jet spacer-plate necklace, vocabulary of esteem, and Early Bronze Age Ireland
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Journal article
Return of the space hoppers: more measures on dH Comet G-BDIX
De Havilland Comet 4C “G-BDIX” arrived at the National Museum of Flight (NMoF) in Scotland in September 1981 and has been displayed outdoors and fully exposed to the environmental conditions ever since. In 2018, National Museums Scotland (NMS) set a development in motion at its NMoF site with the aim...Bürgel, Thilo ; National Museum of Flight, East Fortune Airfield, Haddington, East Lothian EH39 5LF, United Kingdom
Industrial heritage, Aeroplane, In situ, Aviation, and Outdoors
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Journal article
Towards a functional understanding of the cyclorrhaphan larval head (Diptera, Cyclorrhapha)
The larval stage is thought to play a significant role in radiations of Diptera (Insecta), but for the Cyclorrhapha (Diptera), a well-supported and diversified clade, evaluating larval roles is hindered by low taxon sampling, unresolved morphology and presumed similarity. This paper reviews investigations of the cyclorrhaphan larval head based on...Rotheray, Graham E
Mandible , Pseudocephalon, Biomechanics , Feeding , and Head skeleton
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Journal article
New species from the early Eocene London Clay suggest an undetected early Eocene diversity of the Leptosomiformes, an avian clade that includes a living fossil from Madagascar
We report the first records of the leptosomiform taxon from the early Eocene London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex, UK). Two species could be distinguished, one of which is described as , sp. nov. (the other is classified as sp.). We furthermore describe two small leptosomiform-like birds from Walton-on-the-Naze, , gen....Mayr, Gerald ; Kitchener, Andrew C
Waltonavis, gen. nov. , Ypresian , Walton-on-the-Naze, Lutavis, gen. nov. , fossil birds , Aves , and Plesiocathartes insolitipes, sp. nov.
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Journal article
Describing whisker morphology of the Carnivora
One of the largest ecological transitions in carnivoran evolution was the shift from terrestrial to aquatic lifestyles, which has driven morphological diversity in skulls and other skeletal structures. In this paper, we investigate the association between those lifestyles and whisker morphology. However, comparing whisker morphology over a range of species...Dougill, Gary ; Brassey, Charlotte A ; Starostin, Eugene L ; Andrews, Hayley ; Kitchener, Andrew C …
mechanoreception , curvature , touch , aquatic , and vibrissae
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Journal article
Narrow-beaked trogons from the early Eocene London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex, UK)
We describe multiple partial skeletons of a new trogon species from the early Eocene London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex, UK), which are among the oldest fossils of the Trogoniformes. , gen. et sp. nov. has a much narrower and more gracile beak than extant trogons, which denotes different ecological attributes...Mayr, Gerald ; De Pietri, Vanesa L ; Kitchener, Andrew C
Eotrogon stenorhynchus, gen. et sp. nov. , Phylogeny, Fossil birds , Paratrogon gallicus , Aves , and Evolution
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Journal article
New specimen and redescription of Anisodontosaurus greeri (Moenkopi Formation: Middle Triassic) and the spatiotemporal origins of Trilophosauridae
Anisodontosaurus greeri is an enigmatic small-bodied tetrapod with a heterodont dentition from the Holbrook Member of the Moenkopi Formation (Middle Triassic) of Arizona (U.S.A.). The evolutionary relationships of this taxon have long been debated and remain uncertain. Using micro-computed tomography (µCT) scans we redescribe the holotype of Anisodontosaurus greeri (UCMP...Foffa, Davide ; Nesbitt, Sterling J ; Kligman, Ben T ; Butler, Richard J ; Stocker, Michelle R
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Journal article
A Thomas Rathbone & Joseph Machin letter
I purchased a letter on a postal history website as it was from Thomas Rathbone, and which had been sent from his pottery at Portobello on the 17th June 1817 and addressed to the important Staffordshire potter Joseph Machin.Haggarty, George R
Joseph Machin, Thomas Rathbone, pottery history, Jack Dunlop, letter correspondence, and Messer's Leggat stoneware merchant
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Book review
Exhibition Review: A new power: photography in Britain 1800-1850 Weston Library, Oxford, 1 February - 7 May 2023
The two overlapping exhibitions running in adjacent galleries in the Weston Library, Oxford (put on by the Bodleian Library) illustrated the twin inventions announced in 1839 that subsequently became known as 'photography'Morrison-Low, Alison
photographic incunabula, Bodleian Library, library exhibition , exhibition review, and early photography
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Magazine article
Donald Ross and the highland Clearances
Andrew J. Ross provides the background to his new book on the life of his relative Donald Ross, a critic of the highland clearances who raised money and provided supplies for sufferers of the potato famine, but ultimately became a victim of his own success and emigrated to Canada following...Ross, Andrew J
venerable societies, emigration, highland clearances, biography, and Donald Ross (1813-1882)
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Journal article
World Catalogue of the family Lonchaeidae (Diptera, Cyclorrhapha, Acalyptratae)
A catalogue of world species of Lonchaeidae is provided. Ten valid genera and 611 valid species in two subfamilies are listed. For each valid species the list includes author, year of publication, full publication name, page number of original description and, where known, type locality and type depository. All validly...MacGowan, Iain
ACALYPTRATAE , BIOGEOGRAPHIC REALM, NOMENCLATURE , TYPE LOCALITY , NEW COMBINATION DISTRIBUTION , NEW SYNONYM , CYCLORRHAPHA , DIPTERA , and TYPE DEPOSITION
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Journal article
Artefacts of Arran pitchstones from Slewcairn Early Neolithic funerary monument, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
Between 1973 and 1980, the late Lionel Masters excavated an Early Neolithic long cairn at Slewcairn, close to the Solway Firth in south-west Scotland (NGR NX 9239 6142; Canmore ID 65491). The monumement is situated on the slope of Meikle Hard Hill, 6 km from the coast and 15 km...Ballin, Torben ; Sheridan, J A
pitchstone, assemblage report, long cairn, and Early Neolithic Scotland
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Journal article
Neolithic culinary traditions revealed by cereal, milk and meat lipids in pottery from Scottish crannogs
Cereal cultivation in Britain dates back to ca. 4000 BCE, probably introduced by migrant farmers from continental Europe. Widespread evidence for livestock appears in the archaeozoological record, also reflected by ubiquitous dairy lipids in pottery organic residues. However, despite archaeobotanical evidence for domesticated plants (such as cereals), organic residue evidence...Hammann, Simon ; Bishop, Rosie R ; Copper, Mike ; Garrow, Duncan ; Greenwood, Caitlin …
Lipids , Plant domestication, Archaeology, and Mass spectrometry
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Journal article
Evolutionary trends in trimerellid brachiopods
Non-articulated trimerellides, one minor group among the largest brachiopods, are commonly found in massive monospecific accumulations in Ordovician and Silurian rocks. In this paper, all species of the family Trimerellidae are listed for the first time, and some of them are discussed. They appeared in the Sandbian and became extinct...Chen, Di ; Huang, Bing ; Candela, Yves
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Journal article
Understanding gold in Prehistoric Scotland
Gold, along with copper was the first metal to be used in Scotland, with the earliest dated example of its use here being the tiny, conical sheet gold rivet caps on the superb Langdale tuff 'wrist-guard' - a piece of fancy archery kit - from Culduthel, Inverness. The man's skeleton...Sheridan, J A
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Journal article
A global catalog of whole-genome diversity from 233 primate species
The rich diversity of morphology and behavior displayed across primate species provides an informative context in which to study the impact of genomic diversity on fundamental biological processes. Analysis of that diversity provides insight into long-standing questions in evolutionary and conservation biology and is urgent given severe threats these species...Kuderna, Lukas F K ; Gao, Hong ; Janiak, Mareike C ; Kuhlwilm, Martin ; Orkin, Joseph D …
evolutionary and conservation biology, primates, and genomic diversity study
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Journal article
The landscape of tolerated genetic variation in humans and primates
Personalized genome sequencing has revealed millions of genetic differences between individuals, but our understanding of their clinical relevance remains largely incomplete. To systematically decipher the effects of human genetic variants, we obtained whole-genome sequencing data for 809 individuals from 233 primate species and identified 4.3 million common protein-altering variants with...Gao, Hong ; Hamp, Tobias ; Ede, Jeffrey ; Schraiber, Joshua G ; McRae, Jeremy …
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Journal article
Der Galloway-Hort
Goldberg, Martin
Viking-age hoards, Anglo-Saxon, research project, conservation, and Galloway Hoard
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Journal article
A Late Bronze Age Gold Lock-ring from Chirnside
In 2019 a decorated gold penannular ring was found during metal-detecting at Chirnside in the Scottish Borders. This type of ring, typically refereed to as a 'lock-ring', dates to the Late Bronze Age (c/1150-800 BC).Knight, Matthew G