1st European Symposium on the evolution of Crocodylomorpha

Held by: Eduardo Puértolas Pascual

Since the beginning of the 21st Century, topics related to the evolution of Crocodylomorpha are receiving more and more attention. Echoing the scientific relevance that this group of archosaurs has been acquiring during the last two decades, the very first Symposium on the evolution of crocodylomorphs was held with significant success in 2008, during the III Latin American Congress of Vertebrate Paleontology (Neuquén, Argentina) followed, three years later, by a second edition. Following in these footsteps, and given the new advances made about this topic in Europe, we think that the EAVP meeting can be a good opportunity to host the "1st European Symposium on the evolution of Crocodylomorpha".

During the last years, the knowledge of several clades of Crocodylomorpha has increased remarkably due to the fact that dozens of new specimens have been discovered and others, already known, have been re-studied. In Europe, we have a good record of this group, as is demonstrated by: i) several studies on basal eusuchians (such as Hylaeochampsidae or Allodaposuchidae); ii) the review of the clades Goniopholididae and Atoposauridae; iii) new discoveries in the evolution of Thalattosuchia; iv) the presence of notosuchians and other non-neosuchian taxa; v) the study of the Paleogene crocodylians; and a long et cetera. Outside Europe, knowledge in other groups of crocodylomorphs has also grown remarkably (i.e., notosuchians). For this reason, we encourage the participation of researchers from other continents: regardless of the clade, age or continent, any contribution related to Crocodylomorpha is welcome.

Quaternary small vertebrates: state of the art and new insights

Held by: Juan Manuel López-García and Hugues-Alexandre Blain

This symposium will gather together the greatest number of specialists in small vertebrates, including all groups (ichthyofauna, herpetofauna, avifauna, and small mammals) of the Quaternary period (from the Early Pleistocene to the Holocene), so as to discuss the ‘state of the art’ and new insights in such studies. The presentations may include all the disciplines related with small vertebrate studies, such as Palaeontology, Taphonomy, Biochronology, Biostratigraphy, Palaeoecology, Palaeogeography, Evolutionary trends (including studies of ancient DNA) and Palaeoenvironmental and Palaeoclimatic reconstructions, including isotopic studies.

Sauropod dinosaurs: new insights into their biology, ecology, and evolution

Held by: Verónica Díez Díaz and Femke Holwerda

With this symposium, we would like to address the latest research by sauropod workers – not only from Europe – that we have seen debated in the last few years. Portugal is one of the best countries to host a sauropod symposium, as its fossil record of these dinosaurs is impressive (e.g. body fossils of basal eusauropods, macronarians, diplodocoids, and ichnofossils).

The suggested titles for presentations combine research output between a more ‘classical’ approach (e.g. osteological and systematic research) and more innovative ones (e.g. biomechanics and bone histology). We aim for this workshop to be an important meeting point for the exchange of scientific knowledge and for presentations of ‘state of the art’ research on sauropod dinosaurs.