Announcement of SVP symposium, October 2006
The start of the radiation of Neoceti - unraveling the early history of
Neoceti, including the transition from Archaeoceti and the origin of
modern lineages.
This symposium will be presented as part of 66th Annual Meeting of the
Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, October 18-21, 2006; at Marriott
Ottawa/The Crowne Plaza Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. We expect it
will be held on the morning of Wednesday 18th (to be confirmed and
posted on SVP website).
Conveners: R Ewan Fordyce, Mark D Uhen.
Background. Cetacean research has advanced enormously in the last 2
decades, marked by many contributions on origins and initial radiation
of Archaeoceti, and on the Neogene history of Neoceti - "modern" whales
and dolphins. Research is moving towards "closing the gap" between these
bottom-up and top-down approaches, identifying and interpreting issues
involved with the origin and initial radiation of the Neoceti in latest
Eocene and Oligocene times. We expect the proposed symposium to interest
vertebrate paleontologists, marine mammalogists and molecular
phylogeneticists.
The symposium will consider at least 3 broad aspects:
a) Contributions based around fossils of early Neoceti, desirably in the
range late/latest Eocene to Oligocene/Miocene boundary (Priabonian to
basal Aquitanian). We seek topics of broader importance, rather than
routine reports of, for example, new records of species in well-known
groups.
b) Contributions on later archaeocetes that deal with transition from
Archaeoceti to Neoceti. More-basal groups such as protocetids and
pakicetids might be considered if they explicitly address key issues
within the Neoceti, but later basilosaurids and dorudontids are likely
to be more revealing.
c) Molecular studies, studies on younger fossils, and anatomical studies
on extant mammals that explicitly elucidate the early history of
Neoceti. This aspect would embrace "evo-devo" issues.
We have discussed the symposium with some colleagues active in cetacean
research, including some of those who will receive this mailing, and
have many expressions of interest. Potential contributions include
presentations on: significant new taxa including early records of
crown-taxa; evolution of functional systems (teeth, filter-feeding,
ears, vertebrae); regional faunas; reassessments of phylogeny; and
patterns of diversity over time. We particularly encourage appropriate
contributions from marine mammal biologists.
Please forward this to colleagues who may be interested.
If you anticipate contributing, and have not yet contacted the
conveners, please email both of us:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] AND [EMAIL PROTECTED]
outlining your proposed contribution. If you have already discussed a
contribution, and find that it changes direction, please keep us up to
date. Proposals for posters and platform contributions will be
considered formally at the usual time of abstract submission, as
outlined on http://www.vertpaleo.org/meetings/index.html.
--
Mark D. Uhen Phone: 248-645-3253
Curator of Paleontology and Zoology Fax : 248-645-3050
Cranbrook Institute of Science Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
39221 Woodward Avenue
PO Box 801
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48303-0801
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