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13th Symposium on Mesozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems and Biota (MTE13)


You are cordially invited to the "13th Symposium on Mesozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems and Biota (MTE13)" to be held at the University of Bonn, Germany, from July 21-23, 2018.

MTE 13 follows the highly successful 12th Symposium on Mesozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems and Biota held in Shenyang, China in 2015. This is the second MTE that takes place in Germany, after MTE 3 at the University of Tübingen in 1984.

The Symposium provides an international platform for the most recent progress of research on Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems and organisms. It will bring together researchers from the fields of paleobotany, micropaleontology, invertebrate and vertebrate paleontology, evolutionary processes, paleoclimatology, paleo-ecosystems and related disciplines for an interdisciplinary exchange of ideas and new findings. The Mesozoic is a crucial time period in earth history, since the breakup of Pangaea marks the beginning of the modern world. Germany has a long tradition on Mesozoic terrestrial research, beginning in the early 19th century with the description of iconic fossils such as the pterosaur Scaphognathus (1831), the ichnotaxon Chirotherium (1835), the prosauropod Plateosaurus (1837), and the earliest bird, Archaeopteryx (1861). Exciting discoveries continue till today, such as the theropod Juravenator (2006) from the Solnhofen limestone or the dwarfed sauropod Europasaurus (2006) from the Harz Mountains, which will both be seen with their localities during the pre-symposium field trip.

The Symposium will comprise three days (July 21-23) of scientific program with platform and poster presentations. Session topics will be Paleozoology, Paleobotany, Paleoecology/Paleoclimate, and Taphonomy/Exceptional Preservation. The sessions will be compiled by the scientific committee after abstract submission. A pre-symposium field trip (July 16-20; max. 28 participants) will visit classical and new Mesozoic localities and fossillagerstätten, as well as major museums in Germany. After return from the field trip, on Friday night an icebreaker party in the botanical garden of the university will provide the opportunity for an informal get together and for registration. On Saturday morning (July 21) the Symposium will start, with scientific sessions and invited plenary speakers on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. On Monday night, the Symposium will end with a river boat cruise and conference dinner on the beautiful River Rhine.

The official language of the Symposium is English.




Scientific Committee

Angela Buscalioni, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
Richard Cifelli
, University of Oklahoma, USA
David Dilcher, Indiana University, USA
Susan Evans, University College London, United Kingdom
David Ferguson, Universität Wien, Austria
Jörg Fröbisch, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Germany
Pascal Godefroit, Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles, Belgium
James Kirkland, Utah Geological Survey, USA
Jürgen Kriwet, Universität Wien, Austria
Conrad Labandeira, Smithsonian Institution, USA
Zhe-Xi Luo, University of Chicago, USA
Oliver Rauhut, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany
Jes Rust, Universität Bonn, Germany
Martin Sander, Universität Bonn, Germany
Rainer Schoch, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Germany
Robert Spicer, The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
Sun Ge, Shenyang Normal University, China
Romain Vullo, Université de Rennes 1, France


Plenary Lectures

Angela Buscalioni
(Universidad Autónoma de Madrid): Main Achievements of the Research Program at the Las Hoyas Fossillagerstätte (Lower Cretaceous, Spain)

Conrad Labandeira (Smithsonian Institution): The global transition from a Mesozoic-aspect to a post-Mesozoic-aspect world: Major patterns of ecological and evolutionary change in plant–insect interactions

Zhe-Xi Luo (University of Chicago): Origins of Mammals and Evolution of Mesozoic Mammaliaform Biotas



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