This is a draft schedule. Timings and events may change without notice untill a final version is published.
Monday 14th December
SPIERS Training Workshop (funded by the Software Sustainability Institute).
Russell Garwood, Mark Sutton and Imran Rahman
N.B. Pre-register to participate - see SPIERS Training Course for more details.
09.00–12.00 | Main Building, Cardiff University, Palaeontology Lab. 2.14 |
Thematic Symposium: “Palaeobiotic interactions”
Reardon Smith Lecture Theatre, National Museum Cardiff
Underlined author denotes designated speaker
13.00–13.15 | Welcome from Dr Richard Bevins (Keeper of Natural Sciences) followed by logistical information. |
13.15–13.55 | Competition and symbiosis on marine hard substrates in the fossil record Paul D. Taylor |
13.55–14.35 | Leaving no stone unturned: the feedback between biotic diversity and early diagenesis V. Paul Wright and Lesley Cherns |
14.35–15.15 | Fossil lichens Rosmarie Honegger, Dianne Edwards and Lindsey Axe |
15.15–15.45 | Tea/coffee break |
15.45–16.25 | Something ate my fossil: from anecdote to testing hypotheses Elizabeth M. Harper |
16.25–17.05 | Rooted in Earth history: the Devonian transition to a forested planet Christopher M. Berry, William E. Stein, Peter Giesen, John E. A. Marshall and Honghe Xu |
17.05–17.45 | Animal-animal and animal-microbial ecological interactions in ancient methane seep communities Crispin T. S. Little |
Reception
Main Hall, National Museum Cardiff
18:00–20:00 | Icebreaker reception |
Tuesday 15th December
Conference, Association AGM, and Annual Dinner
Underlined author denotes designated speaker
*Candidates for the President’s Prize are marked with an asterisk.
+Posters in Viriamu Jones (VJ) Gallery/Council Chamber, Main Building, Cardiff University
Session 1 (Shared Lecture Theatre, E1.21 Sir Martin Evans Building, Cardiff University)
08:45–09:00 | Opening of the Annual Meeting followed by logistical information. |
09:00–09:15 | The Anthropocene biosphere Mark Williams, Jan Zalasiewicz, Peter K. Haff, Christian Schwägerl, Anthony D. Barnosky and Erle C. Ellis |
09:15–09:30 | The grapes among the apes: implications of a new fossil record of the Vitaceae from the African Miocene *Neil F. Adams, Margaret E. Collinson, Selena Y. Smith, Marion K. Bamford, Félix Forest, Panagiota Malakasi, Federica Marone and Dan Sykes |
09:30–09:45 | Evidence for Sexual Dimorphism in the Plated Dinosaur Stegosaurus mjosi (Ornithischia, Stegosauria) from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Western USA *Evan T. Saitta |
09:45–10:00 | Tetrapodophis amplectus, a four-legged snake from the Early Cretaceous of Gondwana, and implications for the origins of snakes Nicholas R. Longrich, David M. Martill and Helmut Tischlinger |
10:00–10:15 | Ancient spiders and salt lakes Paul A. Selden and Matt R. Downen |
10:15–10:30 | "MISS" Conceptions and Misconceptions: Microbial, Abiotic and Problematic Sedimentary Surface Textures from the Archean to the Present Neil S. Davies, Alexander G. Liu and Martin Gibling |
VJ Gallery, Main Building, Cardiff University
10:30–11:00 | Tea/coffee break and posters+ |
Session 2 (Shared Lecture Theatre, E1.21 Sir Martin Evans Building, Cardiff University)
11:00–11:15 | How big is a genus? Julia D. Sigwart, Keith D. Bennett and Mark Sutton |
11:15–11:30 | A stable isotopic investigation of chemosymbiosis through geological time *Edine Pape, Fiona L. Gill, Crispin T. S. Little and Robert J. Newton |
11:30–11:45 | Silicified molluscs from the Vikinghøgda Formation, central Spitsbergen: systematic and palaeoecological significance. *William Foster, Silvia Danise and Richard Twitchett |
11:45–12:00 | The radiation of plankton during the Bajocian: a Mesozoic pelagic revolution *Nickolas J. Wiggan, James B. Riding and Nicholas J. Butterfield |
12:00–12:15 | When fossils and living taxa agree on patterns of morphological evolution: a case study with Afrotheria *Mark N. Puttick and Gavin H. Thomas |
12:15–12:30 | The Strawberry Bank Lagerstätte reveals insights into Early Jurassic life Michael J. Benton, Matt Williams, Andrew Ross and Matt Friedman |
VJ Gallery, Main Building, Cardiff University
12:30–13:30 | Lunch and posters+ |
Session 3a (Large Shandon Lecture Theatre, -1.64 Main Building, Cardiff University; in parallel with Session 3b)
13:30–13:45 | Conodont-based, high-resolution, quantitative biochronology of the end-Permian mass extinction in South China *Morgane Brosse, Hugo Bucher and Nicolas Goudemand |
13:45–14:00 | Phylogenetic relationships of Heterostraci, agnthans on the gnathostome stem *Emma L. Randle and Robert S. Sansom |
14:00–14:15 | The 100 million year journey to teleost supremacy *John Clarke, Lauren Sallan and Matt Friedman |
14:15–14:30 | The ecomorphological diversifications of Mesozoic marine reptiles *Thomas L. Stubbs and Michael J. Benton |
14:30–14:45 | Phylogeny and macroevolution of crocodylomorphs. *Max T. Stockdale, Michael J. Benton, Mario Bronzati, Marco B. de Andrade and Gavin H. Thomas |
14:45–15:00 | Evolutionary rates reveal mechanisms of axial body plan evolution in Sauropterygia *Laura C. Soul and Roger B. J. Benson |
Session 3b (Large Chemistry Lecture Theatre, 1.123 Main Building, Cardiff University; in parallel with Session 3a)
13:30–13:45 | Experimental taphonomy and the role of decay and preservation in determining the anatomy and diversity of Cambrian vertebrates Mark A. Purnell, Sarah E. Gabbott, Duncan J. E. Murdock and Peiyun Cong |
13:45–14:00 | Unlocking the Preservation Pathways of Cambrian Neural Tissue Xiaoya Ma, Gregory D. Edgecombe, Xianggang Hou, Tomasz Goral and Nicholas J. Strausfeld |
14:00–14:15 | The role of framboidal pyrite and sulfur cycling in Ediacaran taphonomy Alexander G. Liu |
14:15–14:30 | Clay-microbe interactions and implications for exceptional preservation Sean H. McMahon and Derek E. G. Briggs |
14:30–14:45 | Phosphatisation of soft-tissues: an integrated palaeontological and geochemical analysis of the Christian Malford Lagerstätte (Callovian, Middle Jurassic) Phil R. Wilby, Mark A. Woods, Keith L. Duff, Greg D. Price, Mike J. Norry, John D. Hudson, Kevin N. Page, Roy G. Clements and Malcolm B. Hart |
14:45–15:00 | How do marine microfossils get trapped in amber? Leyla J. Seyfullah, Dennis Grabow and Alexander R. Schmidt |
VJ Gallery, Main Building, Cardiff University
15:00–15:30 | Tea/coffee break and posters+ |
Session 4 (Shared Lecture Theatre, E11.21 Sir Martin Evans Building, Cardiff University)
15:30–15:45 | A Cambrian greening of the terrestrial landscape Paul K. Strother |
15:45–16:00 | Cryptogamic ground covers as modern analogues of early terrestrial ecosystems Ria L. Mitchell and Paul Kenrick |
16:00–16:15 | Variations in wildfire activity driven by atmospheric oxygen changes across the Toarcian OAE *Sarah J. Baker, Claire M. Belcher, Stephen P. Hesselbo and Tim M. Lenton |
16:15–16:30 | Hot and fiery or just hot? A global record of early Paleogene wildfire. *Brittany E Robson, Margaret E. Collinson, Walter Riegel, Volker Wilde, Andrew C. Scott, Erica M. Crouch, Elizabeth M. Kennedy, J. Ian Raine, Christian Dupuis, Carlos Jaramillo and Richard D. Pancost |
16:30–16:45 | Break |
16.45–17.15 | Annual General Meeting (AGM) |
17:15–18:15 | Annual Address: Computer modelling and simulation of extinct organisms: its utility and limitations for reconstructing the evolution of locomotor behaviour John R. Hutchinson |
City Hall
19:00–20.00 | Reception |
20.00–23.00 | Annual Dinner |
Wednesday 16th December
Conference & Poster session
Session 5 (VJ Gallery/Council Chamber, Main Building, Cardiff University)
08:45–09:45 | POSTER SESSION+ with tea/coffee & Welsh cakes Sponsored by The Paleontological Institute & Frontiers in Earth Science |
Session 6a (Large Shandon Lecture Theatre, -1.64 Main Building, Cardiff University; in parallel with Session 6b)
09:45–10:00 | The Mesoproterozoic Ruyang Group, China – a hotspot of early eukaryote biodiversity *Heda Agi?, Ma?gorzata Moczyd?owska and Leiming Yin |
10:00–10:15 | New windows into the ecology and taphonomy of Ediacaran acanthomorphs *Peter W. Adamson and Nicholas J. Butterfield |
10:15–10:30 | A record of small carbonaceous fossils (SCFs) from the Ediacaran–Cambrian of Baltica: expanding the Burgess Shale-type taphonomic window. *Ben J. Slater, Thomas H. P. Harvey, Romain Guilbaud and Nicholas J. Butterfield |
10:30–10:45 | Ontogeny, preservation, and systematics of Palaeoscolecida (stem-Priapulida?) – is the diversity of the group drastically overestimated? *Emmanuel L. O. Martin, Rudy Lerosey-Aubril and Peter Van Roy |
10:45–11:00 | Annelid fossil data reconciles morphological and molecular phylogenies *Luke Parry, Gregory D. Edgecombe and Jakob Vinther |
11:00–11:15 | The curious case of Rollinschaeta myoplena: reconstruction of extensively phosphatized myoanatomy in extinct taxa *Paul Wilson, Luke Parry, Dan Sykes, Gregory Edgecombe and Jakob Vinther |
Session 6b (Large Chemistry Lecture Theatre, 1.123 Main Building, Cardiff University; in parallel with Session 6a)
09:45–10:00 | Morphology of the jaw adductor complex across the cynodont-mammaliaform transition Stephan Lautenschlager, Pamela Gill, Michael Fagan and Emily J. Rayfield |
10:00–10:15 | On the difficulty of reconstructing hybodont dentitions based on isolated teeth Gilles Cuny and Stanislas Rigal |
10:15–10:30 | Near-stasis in the long-term diversification of Mesozoic tetrapods Roger B. J. Benson, Richard J. Butler, John Alroy, Philip D. Mannion, Matthew T. Carrano and Graeme T. Lloyd |
10:30–10:45 | Dinosaur biogeographic structure and Mesozoic continental fragmentation: a network-based approach Alexander M. Dunhill, Jordan Bestwick, Holly Narey and James Sciberras |
10:45–11:00 | Remarkably preserved brain tissue ultrastructure in an Early Cretaceous iguanodontian dinosaur David B. Norman, Martin D. Brasier, Alexander G. Liu, Laura Cotton, Jamie Hiscocks, Russell Garwood and David Wacey |
11:00–11:15 | Camouflage patterns in an ornithischian dinosaur Jakob Vinther, Robert Nicholls, Stephan Lautenschlager, Gerald Mayr, Emily Rayfield and Innes Cuthill |
VJ Gallery, Main Building, Cardiff University
11:15–11:45 | Tea/coffee break and posters+ |
Session 7a (Large Shandon Lecture Theatre, -1.64 Main Building, Cardiff University; in parallel with Session 7b)
11:45–12:00 | An outstanding upper Katian (Upper Ordovician) fossil assemblage from Portugal (Buçaco, Central Iberian Zone): biostratigraphical and palaeobiogeographical significance *Jorge Colmenar, Sofia Pereira, Artur A. Sá and Carlos M. da Silva |
12:00–12:15 | Biostratigraphical review and palaeobiogeographical remarks on the trilobite genus Lichas Dalman, 1827 *Sofia Pereira, Artur A Sá, M. Pires and Carlos M da Silva |
12:15–12:30 | Chitinozoan biozonation in the Arenig Series (Floian–lower Darriwilian stages) of Wales *Chloé E. A. Amberg, Thijs R. A. Vandenbroucke, Stewart G. Molyneux, Jean-François Ghienne and Philippe Razin |
12:30–12:45 | *Jeffrey R. Thompson, Elizabeth Petsios and David J. Bottjer |
12:45–13:00 | Reconstructing Miocene neotropical paleoenvironments: a case study from the paleosols and ichnofossils of Cerdas, Bolivia *Angeline M. Catena, Daniel I. Hembree, Beverly Z. Saylor and Darin A. Croft |
Session 7b (Large Chemistry Lecture Theatre, 1.123 Main Building, Cardiff University; in parallel with Session 7a)
11:45–12:00 | On the origin of animals and biologically mediated flow Nicholas J. Butterfield |
12:00–12:15 | How easy was the Ediacaran transition to large body size? Rangeomorph growth, development and complexity. Jennifer Hoyal Cuthill |
12:15–12:30 | Depositional and preservational environments of the Ediacara Member, Rawnsley Quartzite (South Australia): assessing the timing of ‘ferruginization’ Lidya G. Tarhan, Noah J. Planavsky, Mary L. Droser and James G. Gehling |
12:30–12:45 | TRiPS, SQS, ACE and Chaos; evaluating the accuracy and precision of species richness estimators in paleobiology. Jostein Starrfelt |
12:45–13:00 | Differential speciation and extinction rates across space and through time: implications for the generation of latitudinal diversity gradients Erin E. Saupe, Huijie Qiao, Corinne E. Myers, Jorge M. Soberón, A. Townsend Petersen, Stephen J. Hunter, Joy S. Singarayer and Paul J. Valdes |
VJ Gallery, Main Building, Cardiff University
13:00–14:00 | Lunch and posters+ |
Session 8a (Large Shandon Lecture Theatre, -1.64 Main Building, Cardiff University; in parallel with Session 8b)
14:00–14:15 | A new use for old pollen: reconstructing past solar irradiance using pollen chemistry Phillip E. Jardine, Wesley T. Fraser, Barry H. Lomax and William D. Gosling |
14:15–14:30 | Estimation of taxonomic richness variation through geological times: a simulation approach *Corentin Gibert and Gilles Escarguel |
14:30–14:45 | What limits the morphological disparity of clades? *Jack W. Oyston, Martin Hughes, Peter J. Wagner, Sylvain Gerber and Matthew A. Wills |
14:45–15:00 | Ontogenetic stages in the basal Gondwanan eusauropod Patagosaurus *Femke M. Holwerda, Oliver W. M. Rauhut and Diego Pol |
15:00–15:15 | The monophyly of Euparkeriidae and its implications for the rise of crown Archosauria *Roland B. Sookias |
15:15–15:30 | Earliest members of a ‘living fossil’ lineage indicate a late origin of modern ray-finned fish diversity *Sam Giles, Guang-Hui Xu and Matt Friedman |
Session 8b (Large Chemistry Lecture Theatre, 1.123 Main Building, Cardiff University; in parallel with Session 8a)
14:00–14:15 | The eldonids: cryptic éminences grises of the Palaeozoic oceans Breandán Anraoi MacGabhann and John Murray |
14:15–14:30 | The morphology and affinity of the Cambrian "muscle worm" Allison C. Daley, Emily M. C. Tilby, John P. Paterson, Diego C. Garcia-Bellido, Gregory D. Edgecombe and James B. Jago |
14:30–14:45 | Recent advances in lobopodian palaeobiology and evolution Javier Ortega-Hernández |
14:45–15:00 | The Ordovician explosion in the designs of trilobite eyes Brigitte Schoenemann and Euan N. K. Clarkson |
15:00–15:15 | Are solemyoids and ctenodontids related? John C. W. Cope |
15:15–15:30 | Evactinostella crucialis - another weird and wonderful bryozoan Eckart Håkansson, Marcus Key and Andrej Ernst |
VJ Gallery, Main Building, Cardiff University
15:30–16.00 | Tea/coffee break (take down posters) |
Session 9 (Large Shandon Lecture Theatre, -1.64 Main Building, Cardiff University)
16:00–16:15 | Conservation paleobiology of Chesapeake Bay oysters Rowan Lockwood and Kristopher M. Kusnerik |
16:15–16:30 | Kalania pusilla, an exceptionally preserved non-calcified alga with oldest documented gametophores from the lower Silurian (Aeronian, Llandovery) of Estonia Oive Tinn, Viirika Mastik, Leho Ainsaar and Tonu Meidla |
16:30–16:45 | Five new Tournaisian tetrapods: their sedimentology and palaeoenvironments Carys E. Bennett, Jennifer A. Clack, Timothy Kearsey, Sarah J. Davies, David Millward, Tim R. Smithson, Marcello Ruta, Ben Otoo, John E. A. Marshall, Emma Reeves and Andrew Ross |
16:45–17:00 | Latitudinal diversity gradients in Mesozoic non-marine turtles David B. Nicholson, Paul M. Barrett and Patricia A. Holroyd |
17:00–17:15 | Presentation by Lyon 2016 organising committee |
17:15–17:30 | Presentation of President’s awards to oral and poster presenters: followed by closing remarks |