Bert Van Bocxlaer
UMR 8198 Evo-Eco-Paleo (EEP)
CNRS / Lille University
Cité scientifique, Bat. SN5, bureau 326
59655 Villeneuve d’Ascq – FRANCE
Multivariate Statistics, Ecology: from Theory to Experiment, Quantitative Paleontology, GeoBioSphere Interactions in Deep Time.
I am an integrative evolutionary biologist broadly interested in patterns and processes of organismal diversification, associated changes in morphological disparity, organism-environment interactions, and how diversity is structured in space and over time. What mechanisms are causing differentiation among populations, and ultimately reproductive isolation? How do speciation processes interact in space and time to give rise to evolutionary radiations? Do speciation mechanisms allow us to predict the susceptibility of the resulting taxa to extinction and thus the macroevolutionary fate of clades? How can we explain the remarkable differences in 'evolutionary success' we often observe in closely related branches of the tree of life? To answer these and related questions, people in my group integrate data on extant and fossil biota and apply microevolutionary and macroevolutionary approaches to contrasting predictions of evolutionary theory with empirical data. These data include genomic, morphological and ecological data and work on natural and experimental populations. Our main model system consists of African freshwater mollusks, notably the evolutionary radiations of these mollusks in the East African Rift System. We also work on the environmental context of trematode transmission by intermediate snail hosts, the ecology of bio-invasions in aquatic ecosystems, the reconstruction of late Cenozoic aquatic paleoenvironments and aquatic resource use by early humans.
56. Van Bocxlaer, B., A. Y. Dollion, C. M. Ortiz-Sepulveda, C. Calarnou, R. Habert, G. Pawindo, X. Vekemans. 2024. Adaptive shell-morphological differences and differential fitness in two morphospecies of Lanistes (Gastropoda: Ampullariidae) from the northern region of the Malawi Basin. Evolutionary Journal of the Linnean Society 3: kzae010 (doi: 10.1093/evolinnean/kzae010).
55. De-Kayne, R., R. Schley, J. M. I. Barth, L. C. Campillo, L. Chaparro-Pedraza, J. Joshi, W. Salzburger, B. Van Bocxlaer, D. D. Cotoras, C. Fruciano, A. J. Geneva, R. Gillespie, J. Heras, S. Koblmüller, B. Matthews, R. E. Onstein, O. Seehausen, P. Singh, E. I. Svensson, D. Salazar-Valenzuela, M. P. M. Vanhove, G. O. U. Wogan, R. Yamaguchi, A. D. Yoder, J. Cerca. 2024. Why do some lineages radiate while others do not? Perspectives for future research on adaptive radiations. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology 2024: a041448 (doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a041448).
54. Dugabe, M. C., C. Kalinda, C. Clewing, B. L. Hyangya, B. Van Bocxlaer, C. Albrecht. 2024. Environmental perturbations and anthropogenic disturbances determine mollusc biodiversity of Africa’s explosive Lake Kivu. Journal of Great Lakes Research 50: e102339 (doi: 10.1016/j.jglr.2024.102339).
53. Lopes-Lima, M., J. Geist, S. Egg, L. Beran, A. Bikashvili, B. Van Bocxlaer, A. E. Bogan, I. Bolotov, O. Chelpanovskaya, K. Douda, V. Fernandes, A. Gomes-dos-Santos, D. Gonçalves, M. E. Gürlek, N. Johnson, I. Karaouzas, Ü. kebapçi, A. Kondakov, R. Kuehn, J. Lajtner, L. Mumladze, K.-O. Nagel, E. Neubert, M. Österling, J. Pfeiffer, V. Prié, N. Riccardi, S. Jerzy, L. D. Schneider, S. Shumka, I. Sîrbu, G. Skujiene, C. Smith, R. Sousa, K. Stoeckl, J. Taskinen, A. Teixeira, M. Todorov, T. Trichkova, M. Urbańska, S. Välilä, S. Varandas, J. Verissimo, I. Vikhrev, G. Woschitz, K. Zając, T. Zając, D. Zanatta, A. Zieritz, S. Zogaris, E. Froufe. 2024. Integrative phylogenetic, phylogeographic and morphological characterisation of the Unio crassus species complex reveals cryptic diversity with important conservation implications. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 195: e108046 (doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2024.108046).
52. Horsák, M., D. Ortiz, J. Nekola, B. Van Bocxlaer. 2024. Intercontinental dispersal and niche fidelity drive 50 million years of global diversification in Vertigo land snails. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33: e13820 (doi: 10.1111/geb.13820).
51. Boës, X., B. Van Bocxlaer, S. Prat, C. Feibel, J. Lewis, V. Arrighi, N. Taylor, S. Harmand. 2024. Aridity, availability of drinking water and freshwater foods, and hominin and archaeological sites during the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene in the western region of the Turkana Basin (Kenya): A review. Journal of Human Evolution 186: e103466 (doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103466).
50. Servais, T., B. Cascales-Miñana, D. A. T. Harper, B. Lefebvre, B. Van Bocxlaer, W. Wang. 2023. Cambrian explosion and Ordovician biodiversification or Cambrian biodiversification and Ordovician explosion? Evolving Earth 1: e100018 (doi: 10.1016/j.eve.2023.100018).
49. Pinto, F., V. Carlsson, M. Meunier, B. Van Bocxlaer, H. Elbez, M. Cueille, P. Boulet, T. Danelian. 2023. Morphometrics and machine learning discrimination of the middle Eocene radiolarian species Podocyrtis chalara, Podocyrtis goetheana and their morphological intermediates. Marine Micropaleontology 185: e102293 (doi: 10.1016/j.marmicro.2023.102293).
48. Cohen, A. S., J. Manobianco, D. L. Dettman, B. A. Black, C. Beck, C. S. Feibel, J. C. Joordens, B. Van Bocxlaer, H. Vonhof. 2023. Seasonality and lake water temperature inferred from the geochemistry and sclerochronology of quaternary freshwater bivalves from the Turkana Basin, Ethiopia and Kenya. Quaternary Science Reviews 317: e108284 (doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108284).
47. Ortiz-Sepulveda, C. M., M. Genete, C. Blassiau, C. Godé, C. Albrecht, X. Vekemans, B. Van Bocxlaer. 2023. Target enrichment of long open reading frames and ultraconserved elements to link microevolution and macroevolution in non-model organisms. Molecular Ecology Resources 23: 659-679. (doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.13735)
46. Hammoud, C., A. Kayenbergh, J. Tumusiime, D. Verschuren, C. Albrecht, T. Huyse, B. Van Bocxlaer. 2022. Trematode infection affects shell shape and size in Bulinus tropicus. International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 18: 300-311.
45. Hammoud, C., S. Mulero, B. Van Bocxlaer, J. Boissier, D. Verschuren, C. Albrecht, T. Huyse. 2022. Simultaneous genotyping of snails and infecting trematode parasites using high-throughput amplicon sequencing. Molecular Ecology Resources 22: 567-586. (doi: 10.1111/1755-0998.13492)
44. Koudenoukpo, Z. C., O. H. Odountan, P. A. Agboho, T. Dalu, B. Van Bocxlaer, L. Janssens de Bistoven, A. Chikou, T. Backeljau. 2021. Using self-organizing maps and machine learning models to assess mollusc community structure in relation to physicochemical variables in a West African river-estuary system. Ecological Indicators 126: e107706. (doi: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107706)
43. Mahulu, A., B. Stelbrink, B. Van Bocxlaer, F. Riedel, C. Albrecht. 2021. Going with the flow? Diversification of gastropods reflects drainage evolution in Africa. Journal of Biogeography 48: 1579-1593.
42. Van Bocxlaer, B., C. Clewing, A. Duputié, C. Roux, C. Albrecht. 2020. Population collapse in viviparid gastropods of the Lake Victoria ecoregion started before the Last Glacial Maximum. Molecular Ecology 30: 364-378.
41. Nutz, A., M. Schuster, D. Barboni, G. Gassier, B. Van Bocxlaer, C. Robin, T. Ragou, J.-F. Ghienne, J.-L. Rubino. Accepted. Plio-Pleistocene sedimentation in West Turkana (Turkana Depression, Kenya, East African Rift System): paleolake fluctuations, paleolandscapes and controlling factors. Earth-Science Reviews 211: e103415 (32 pp.; doi: 10.1016/j.earscirev.20200103415).
40. Wilke, T., T. Hauffe, E. Jovanovska, A. Cvetkoska, T. Donders, K. Ekschmitt, A. Francke, J. H. Lacey, Z. Levkov, C. R. Marshall, T. A. Neubauer, D. Silvestro, B. Stelbrink, H. Vogel, C. Albrecht, J. Holtvoeth, S. Krastel, N. Leicher, M. J. Leng, K. Lindhorst, A. Masi, N. Ognjanova-Rumenova, K. Panagiotopoulos, J. M. Reed, L. Sadori, S. Tofilovska, B. Van Bocxlaer, F. Wagner-Cremer, F. P. Wesselingh, V. Wolters, G. Zanchetta, X. Zhang, B. Wagner. 2020. Deep drilling reveals massive shifts in evolutionary dynamics after formation of ancient ecosystem. Science Advances 6: eabb2943 (9 pp.; doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abb2943).
39. Russell, J. M., P. Barker, A. Cohen, S. Ivory, I. Kimirei, C. Lane, M. Leng, N. Maganza, M. McGlue, E. Msaky, A. Noren, L. Park Boush, W. Salzburger, C. Scholz, R. Tiedemann, S. Nuru, C. Albrecht, R. Ali, R. Arrowsmith, D. Asanga, Y. Asmerom, C. Bakundukize, T. Bauersachs, C. Beck, M. Berke, E. Beverley, M. Blaauw, E. Brown, C. Campisano, B. Carrapa, I. Castañeda, S. Dee, A. Deino, C. Ebinger, G. S. Ellis, V. Foerster, K. Fontijn, G. Gehrels, A. Indermaur, E. Jovanovska, A. Junginger, S. Kaboth, J. Kallmeyer, J. King, B. Konecky, D. Mark, P. McIntyre, E. Michel, D. Mkuu, L. Morgan, C. Mtetela, N. Muderwha, J. Muirhead, C. Mumbi, M. Muschick, D. Nahimana, V. Ngowi, P. Njiko, S. Nkenyeli, H. Nkotagu, G. Ntakimazi, D. Oppo, L. Purkamo, J. Rick, H. Roberts, F. Ronco, C. Sangweni, Y. Shaghude, J. Shigela, D. Shillington, C. S. Sophia, M. Sier, M. Soreghan, T. Spanbauer, C. Spencer-Jones, R. Staff, J. Stone, J. A. Todd, M. Trauth, B. Van Bocxlaer, F. Viehberg, H. Vogel, H. Vonhof, C. Wolff, Q. Wu, C. Yost, C. Zeeden. 2020. ICDP workshop on the Lake Tanganyika Scientific Drilling Project: a late Miocene-present record of climate, rifting, and ecosystem evolution from the world’s oldest tropical lake. Scientific Drilling 27: 53-60.
38. Clewing, C., B. Van Bocxlaer, C. Albrecht. 2020. First report of extraordinary corkscrew gastropods of the genus Bulinus in Lake Malawi. Journal of Great Lakes Research 46: 1168-1175.
37. Koudenoukpo, Z. C., O. H. Odountan, B. Van Bocxlaer, R. Sablon, A. Chikou, T. Backeljau. 2020. Checklist of the fresh and brackish water snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of Bénin and adjacent West African ecoregions. Zookeys 942: 21-64.
36. Ortiz-Sepulveda, C. M., B. Stelbrink, X. Vekemans, C. Albrecht, F. Riedel, J. A. Todd, B. Van Bocxlaer. 2020. Diversification dynamics of freshwater bivalves (Unionidae: Parreysiinae: Coelaturini) indicate historic hydrographic connections throughout the East African Rift System. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 148: e106816 (14 pages; doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106816).
35. Stelbrink, B., R. Richter, F. Köhler, F. Riedel, E. E. Strong, B. Van Bocxlaer, C. Albrecht, T. Hauffe, T. J. Page, D. C. Aldridge, A. E. Bogan, L.-N. Du, M. R. Manuel-Santos, R. M. Marwoto, A. A. Shirokaya, T. von Rintelen. 2020. Global diversification dynamics since the Jurassic: Low dispersal and habitat-dependent evolution explain hotspots of diversity and shell disparity in river snails (Viviparidae). Systematic Biology 69: 944-961.
34. Van Bocxlaer, B. 2020. Paleoecological insights from fossil freshwater mollusks of the Kanapoi Formation (Omo-Turkana Basin, Kenya). Journal of Human Evolution 140:e102341 (9 pages; doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.05.008).
33. Van Bocxlaer, B., C. M. Ortiz-Sepulveda, P. R. Gurdebeke, X. Vekemans. 2020. Adaptive divergence in shell morphology in an ongoing gastropod radiation from Lake Malawi. BMC Evolutionary Biology 20:e5 (15 pages; doi: 10.1186/s12862-019-1570-5).
32. Ortiz-Sepulveda, C. M., B. Van Bocxlaer, A. D. Meneses, F. Fernández. 2019. Molecular and morphological recognition of species boundaries in the neglected ant genus Brachymyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): towards a taxonomic revision. Organisms Diversity & Evolution 19 (3): 447-542.
31. Sun, J., H. Mu, J. C. H. Ip, R. Li, T. Xu, A. Accorsi, A. Sánchez Alvarado, E. Ross, Y. Lan, Y. Sun, A. Castro-Vazquez, I. A. Vega, H. Heras, S. Ituarte, B. Van Bocxlaer, K. A. Hayes, R. H. Cowie, Z. Zhao, Y. Zhang, P.-Y. Qian, J.-W. Qiu. 2019. Signatures of divergence, invasiveness and terrestralization revealed by four apple snail genomes. Molecular Biology and Evolution 36 (7): 1507-1520.
30. Dieleman, J., B. Van Bocxlaer, W. D. Nyingi, A. Lyaruu, and D. Verschuren. 2019. Recurrent changes in cichlid dentition linked to climate-driven lake-level fluctuations. Ecosphere 10: e02664 (17 pages; doi: 10.1002/ecs2.2664).
29. Van Bocxlaer, B., and E. E. Strong. 2019. Viviparidae Gray, 1847 in Lydeard, C., and K. S. Cummings. Eds. Atlas of the Global Distribution of the Freshwater Mollusks of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD.
28. Ip, J. C. H., H. Mu, Q. Chen, J. Sun, H. Heras, K. H. Chu, B. Van Bocxlaer, M. Gamanee, X. Huang, J.-W. Qiu. 2018. AmpuBase: A transcriptomic database of eight species of apple snails (Gastropoda: Ampullariidae). BMC Genomics 19: e179 (9 pages; doi: 10.1186/s12864-018-4553-9).
27. Van Bocxlaer, B., E. E. Strong, R. Richter, B. Stelbrink, and T. von Rintelen. 2018. Anatomical and genetic data reveal that Rivularia Heude, 1890 belongs to Viviparinae (Gastropoda: Viviparidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 182: 1-23.
26. Van Bocxlaer, B. 2017. Hierarchical structure of ecological and non-ecological processes of differentiation shaped ongoing gastropod radiation in the Malawi Basin. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 284: e20171494 (9 pages; doi: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1494).
25. Ceríaco, L. M. P., E. E. Gutiérrez, … , B. Van Bocxlaer, et al. 2016. Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences. Zootaxa 4196: 435-445.
24. Wilke, T., B. Wagner, B. Van Bocxlaer, C. Albrecht, D. Ariztegui, D. Delicado, A. Francke, M. Harzhauser, T. Hauffe, J. Holtvoeth, J. Just, M. J. Leng, Z. Levkov, K. Penkman, L. Sadori, A. Skinner, B. Stelbrink, H. Vogel, F. Wesselingh, and T. Wonik. 2016. Scientific drilling projects in ancient lakes: Integrating geological and biological histories. Global and Planetary Change 143: 118-151.
23. Van Bocxlaer, B., and E. E. Strong. 2016. Anatomy, functional morphology, evolutionary ecology and systematics of the invasive gastropod Cipangopaludina japonica (Viviparidae: Bellamyinae). Contributions to Zoology 82: 235-263.
22. Creutz, M., B. Van Bocxlaer, M. Abderamane, and D. Verschuren. 2016. Recent environmental history of the desert oasis lakes at Ounianga Serir, Chad. Journal of Paleolimnology. 55: 167-183.
21. Hauffe, T., R. Schultheiß, B. Van Bocxlaer, K. Prömmel, and C. Albrecht. 2016. Environmental heterogeneity predicts species richness of freshwater mollusks in Sub-Saharan Africa. International Journal of Earth Sciences. 105: 1795-1810.
20. Van Bocxlaer, B., C. Clewing, J.-P. Mongindo, A. Kankonda, O. Wembe and C. Albrecht. 2015. Recurrent camouflaged invasions and dispersal of an Asian freshwater gastropod in tropical Africa. BMC Evolutionary Biology 15:e33 (18 pages; doi: 10.1186/s12862-015-0296-2).
19. Dieleman, J., B. Van Bocxlaer, C. Manntschke, D. W. Nyingi, D. Adriaens, and D. Verschuren. 2015. Tracing functional adaptation in African cichlid fishes through morphometric analysis of fossil teeth: Exploring the methods. Hydrobiologia 755: 73-88. (Editorially featured)
18. Van Bocxlaer, B. and C. Albrecht. 2015. Ecosystem change and establishment of an invasive snail alter gastropod communities in long-lived Lake Malawi. Hydrobiologia 744: 307-316. (cover article of the February 2015 issue)
17. Salzburger, W.*, B. Van Bocxlaer*, and A. Cohen. 2014. Evolution and ecological history in the African Great Lakes. Invited contribution. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 45: 519-545. (* equal contributors)
16. Van Bocxlaer, B., C. Albrecht, and J. R. Stauffer Jr. 2014. Growing human population and ecosystem change increase schistosomiasis around Lake Malawi. Trends in Parasitology 30: 217-220. (cover article of the May 2014 issue; editorially featured)
15. Schultheiß, R., B. Van Bocxlaer, F. Riedel, T. von Rintelen, and C. Albrecht. 2014. Disjunct distributions of freshwater snails testify to a central role of the Congo system in shaping biogeographic patterns in Africa. BMC Evolutionary Biology 14: 42 (12 pages; doi: 10.1186/1471-2148-14-42. (editor’s choice article; highly accessed)
14. Cohen, A., B. Van Bocxlaer, J. A. Todd, M. McGlue, E. Michel, H. H. Nkotagu, A. T. Grove, and D. Delvaux. 2013. Quaternary ostracodes and molluscs from the Lake Rukwa Basin and their evolutionary and paleobiogeographic implications. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 392: 79-97.
13. Van Bocxlaer, B., and G. Hunt. 2013. Morphological stasis in an ongoing gastropod radiation from Lake Malawi. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the U.S.A. 110: 13892-13897.
12. Gurdebeke, P., and B. Van Bocxlaer. 2013. Conchological differentiation in an ongoing radiation of Lanistes gastropods from ancient Lake Malawi: How adaptive is shell morphology? Geologica Belgica 16: 118-119.
11. Van Bocxlaer, B., W. Salenbien, N. Praet, and J. Verniers. 2012. Stratigraphy and paleoenvironments of the early to middle Holocene Chipalamawamba Beds (Malawi, Africa). Biogeosciences 9: 4497-4512.
10. Van Bocxlaer, B., R. Schultheiß, P.-D. Plisnier, and C. Albrecht. 2012. Does the decline of gastropods in deep water herald ecosystem change in Lakes Malawi and Tanganyika? Freshwater Biology 57: 1733-1744. (cover article of the August 2012 issue)
9. Van Bocxlaer, B. 2011. Palaeobiology and evolution of the late Cenozoic freshwater molluscs of the Turkana Basin: Unionidae Rafinesque, 1820, partim Coelatura (Bivalvia: Unionoidea). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 9: 523-550.
8. Van Bocxlaer, B., D. Verschuren, G. Schettler, and S. Kröpelin. 2011. Modern and early Holocene mollusc fauna of the Ounianga lakes (northern Chad): implications for the palaeohydrology of the central Sahara. Journal of Quaternary Science 26: 433-447.
7. Van Bocxlaer, B., and R. Schultheiß. 2010. Comparison of various morphometric techniques for shapes with few homologous landmarks based on machine-learning approaches to biological discrimination. Paleobiology 36: 497-515.
6. Schultheiß, R., B. Van Bocxlaer, T. Wilke, and C. Albrecht. 2009. Old fossils-young species: evolutionary history of an endemic gastropod assemblage in Lake Malawi. Proceedings of the Royal Society B - Biological Sciences 276: 2837-2846.
5. Van Bocxlaer, B., and D. Van Damme. 2009. Palaeobiology and evolution of the Late Cenozoic freshwater molluscs of the Turkana Basin: Iridinidae Swainson, 1840 and Etheriidae Deshayes, 1830 (Bivalvia: Etheroidea). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 7: 129-161.
4. Van Damme, D., and B. Van Bocxlaer. 2009. Freshwater molluscs of the Nile Basin, past and present. Pp 585-630 in H. J. Dumont, H. J., ed. The Nile: Origin, environment, limnology and human use. Monographiae Biologicae. Springer Verlag, Dordrecht.
3. Eggermont, H., D. Verschuren, M. Fagot, B. Rumes, B. Van Bocxlaer, and S. Kröpelin. 2008. Aquatic community response in a groundwater-fed desert oasis to Holocene desiccation of the Sahara. Quaternary Science Reviews 27: 2411-2425.
2. Van Bocxlaer, B., D. Van Damme, and C. S. Feibel. 2008. Gradual versus punctuated equilibrium evolution in the Turkana Basin molluscs: Evolutionary events or Biological Invasions? Evolution 62: 511-520. (cover article of the March 2008 issue; press release in Nature 452: 785; included in Faculty of 1000)
1. Van Bocxlaer, B. 2005. Changes in the malacofauna of Lake Malawi since mid-Holocene times. Geologica Belgica 8: 124.
2021: Habilitation to Direct Research, UMR 8198 – Evolution-Ecology-Paleontology.
Title: Patterns and processes of diversification in freshwater mollusks of the East African Rift System.
2017 - present: Research Scientist of the French National Centre for Scientific Research, UMR 8198 – Evolution-Ecology-Paleontology
2016: Postdoctoral researcher of the Flanders Research Foundation , Department of Biology of Ghent University
2014-2016: Postdoctoral researcher of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation , Department of Animal Ecology and Systematics of the Justus Liebig University, Giessen / Leibniz Institute for Research in Evolution and Biodiversity at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin
2012-2014: Peter Buck Postdoctoral researcher, Departments of Invertebrate Zoology and Paleobiology of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (DC, USA).
2011-2012: Postdoctoral researcher of the Belgian American Educational Foundation , Department of Paleobiology of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (DC, USA).
2007-2011: PhD Candidate in Sciences, Geology (Paleobiology) of the Flanders Research Foundation, Department of Geology of Ghent University (Belgium)
Title: Paleobiology and evolution of the late Cenozoic freshwater molluscs of the East African Rift.
2005-2007: Research assistant funded by the Ghent University Research Council, Department of Geology of Ghent University (Belgium)
Bachelor in Biology, Master in Zoology, Master in Advanced Studies in Marine and Lacustrine Sciences, Holder of Postgraduate Certificate of Education.