4th International Palaeontological Congress
Welcome to our coverage of the 4th International Palaeontological Congress (IPC4) from Mendoza, Argentina. The International Palaeontological Congress is a global meeting devoted to Palaeontology throughout the world. It convenes every four years under the aegis of the International Palaeontological Association. Following tree previous editions in Sydney (2002), Beijing (2006) and London (2010), it now comes to the American continent for the first time.
This conference is one of the most important events on any palaeontologist’s calendar and so draws in delegates from all corners of the globe. Over the next few days we’re going to have a fantastic opportunity to hear about the latest research in the field with more of a focus on the Southern Hemisphere.
Day one
Podcast: Download (Duration: 39:40 — 54.5MB)
Hosted by the Centro Cientifico Technologico CONICET Mendoza and partner organisations, IPC4 is this year held at the Sheraton Hotel in the shadow of the Andes mountains.
Day two
It’s our second day of IPC4 and we’ve been raiding the poster sessions for more impromptu interviews.
Like the other delegates, Laura had to be present beside her research to answer questions throughout the whole poster session.
She then had to chair a session on mass extinctions in which she even gave her own talk.
It was a pretty hectic day, but she’s got the certificates to prove her achievements.
Today’s Plenary Lecture was ‘Ordovician origins – exceptional preservation and the history of marine life’ by Prof. Derek Briggs. In this talk we were treated to a tour of Paleozoic lagerstätte with a particular focus on arthropods. Dave got rather excited.
Day three
Dr Alex Liu discussing his work on Haootia quadriformis, one of the earliest animals that may also display preservation of muscle tissue.
Andrzej Pisera with a poster comparing modern and Jurassic examples of the sponge genus Laocoetis.
Please don’t forget to follow the Brazillian Palaeocast Colecionadores De Ossos!
The Gala Dinner was held at this picturesque vineyard out in the Argentinian countryside. Pictures and videos get blurry from hereon.
At the event we were treated to amazing food, local wine and entertainment!
After the display, the dancers pulled up some of the delegates to try a few moves. Here’s our Joe taking the lead.
It was then our turn on the dance floor. This is really the best of all the videos. Sorry.
Day Four
Carolina Acosta Hospitaleche presenting her work on giant penguin bones from Antarctica.
Glenn Brock from Macquarie University, Australia talked us through his presentation on small shelly fossils (SSFs). Please let us know if you like this interview format.
All that’s left to say is a big thank you to the organisers of the event. Hopefully we’ll be reporting from the International Palaeontological Congress again in four years!
