Losse artikelen - Lutra (pdf)

Boekbespreking: Handbuch Wolf. Verhalten, Biologie, Wanderrouten und Bestände

As part of a research project on medieval whaling activities in the Netherlands and Flanders, Belgium, Zooarchaeology by Mass-Spectrometry (ZooMS) was performed on 40 medieval archaeological “cetacean” specimens from those regions in order to find out what species the specimens represented. Interestingly, a specimen from the early medieval site of Leiderdorp-Plantage was identified as belonging to a member of the Elephantidae family.

Searching for a historical reference of otters (Lutra lutra) in the Netherlands.

Searchable digitised newspapers, consulted to detect information on 18th century sperm whale strandings, revealed several hitherto overlooked records for the British (16), Dutch (1), Danish (1) and Norwegian (1) sections of the North Sea coastline as well as further details on already documented records and verified the species assignment of earlier only insufficiently documented records. A revised list of records is provided.

The death and behaviour prior to death of a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) known by the name of “Zafar” created significant national and international public interest. The animal was first observed in the Netherlands on the 2nd of May 2020, closely following a boat from Brittany, France, all the way into the port of Amsterdam after passing the locks at IJmuiden. After a day of residency in the industrial port of Amsterdam, the animal was successfully lured back into the North Sea.

The frequencies of the various forms of M3 (simplex, transient and normal) in common (Microtus arvalis) voles were determined in different regions (all former islands) in the province of Zeeland, the Netherlands. A possible higher incidence of left-sidedness of simplex and transient M3 forms was also investigated. The frequency of simplex forms of M3 has not apparently been studied in any other part of the Netherlands, except for the north. Common vole specimens (1254 skulls) from owl pellets that were collected between 1995 and 2010 were studied.

Last month, on 3 November 2020, the Dutch government published a revised Red List of Mammals of the Netherlands in the Government Gazette. This is the second revision after the Red Lists of 1994 and 2006, so it can be called the Third Dutch Red List of mammals. Commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, the Dutch Mammal Society published a report, which formed the basis of the Red List published by the ministry (van Norren et al. 2020). The Red List is an indicator of the health of the populations of wild mammals.

de Rijk, J. 2020. Zoeken naar een historische referentie voor otters (Lutra lutra) in Nederland. Lutra 63 (1/2)

Bijlage 2. Vermeldingen van otters 1850-1910

Boekrecensie: Het Prentenboek. René Nauta & Aaldrik Pot 2019. Extra, Vledder, Nederland. 448 blz. ISBN 9789082453812.

Abstract: There is a general concern amongst ecologists about the apparent decline of small mustelids in The Netherlands over the past decades. However, little is known about their actual historic and present numbers. To better understand their ecology and the cause of the decline more research into these small predators is a necessity.