Speakers
Learn about the fascinating transformation of mammals from shrew-sized dinosaur snacks to world ecological domination with a cast of paleontological experts. Our 2023 speakers will explore everything from the mini-mammals that scurried away from the pounding feet of Jurassic dinosaurs, to the amazing post-asteroid mammalian fauna at Corral Bluffs, Colorado, to the rapid diversification and expansion of mammals in a recovering world open to biological innovation. Attendees are even invited to ponder what might have happened if the Mesozoic hadn’t abruptly ended with an asteroid strike.
Explore the world of prehistoric mammals — from brontotheres to bats and mammoths to marsupials — with 12 expert speakers!
Saturday, March 25, 2023
Emmett Evanoff, University of Northern Colorado
Mountain Building and Volcanism, the Paleogene Period
John R. Foster, Utah Field House of Natural History
Mighty Mammals of the Morrison Formation: Hints of Mesozoic Ecological Diversity
Mark Clementz, University of Wyoming
What the Chemistry of Teeth Can Tell Us About the Life History of Living and Fossil Whales
Donald R. Prothero, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Family Trees: The Evolution of Hoofed Mammals
Tyler Lyson, Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Rise of the Mammals: An Exceptional Continental Record of Biotic Recovery After the Cretaceous-Paleogene Mass Extinction Event
Matthew C. Mihbachler, New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine
Thunder Beasts: Brontotheriidae and the Early Evolution of Mammalian Megaherbivores
Sunday, March 26, 2023
Sue Ware, Western Interior Paleontological Society
Be Gone Big Lizards, It’s our Turn Now: The Osteogenesis of the Mammalian Species
Matthew F. Jones, Arizona State University
Investigation into the Mysterious Origins and Rapid Diversification of Bats
David W. Krause, Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Stranger than Strange: Gondwanatherian Mammals from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar
Ed Welsh, Badlands National Park
Every Dog Has It’s Epoch: Early Dog Diversification in the Early Oligocene of South Dakota
Philip D. Gingerich, Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan
Plesiadapidae: Iconic Mammals in Paleocene Strata of Western-Interior North America
R. Gary Raham, Biostration & Western Interior Paleontological Society
The Fate of Intelligent Life on Earth Without a Chicxulub Impactor
Hosted by the Western Interior Paleontological Society
Symposium2023@westernpaleo.org
Registration help: Symposium.Help@westernpaleo.org