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Recent Happenings

Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Annual Meeting

The 79th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) was held this past October in Brisbane, Australia. Each year SVP brings together vertebrate paleontologists from around the world and features leading-edge research in the field.

Several members of the DIG Field School Team, Wilson Lab, and UW Paleobiology community presented on their research at this year’s meeting. See below for a few highlights of the event, and great work everyone involved!

Graduate student Alex Brannick presenting on her research investigating the ecological diversity of metatherians (marsupial relatives) in the Late Cretaceous.
Graduate student Luke Weaver presenting on the paleobiology of multituberculates (extinct order of mammals) using incredibly preserved specimens from Montana.
Graduate student Jordan Claytor presenting on Paleocene mammal recovery following the end Cretaceous mass extinction event.
Graduate student Brody Hovatter presenting on early Paleocene mammal diversification and biogeography.
Past and current members of the UW Paleobiology community at the end of the meeting celebratory dinner (missing several notable people!).

Photo credits: Megan Whitney and Jordan Claytor

New paper featuring Dr. Greg Wilson documenting exceptional record of mammals after the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction

A study co-authored by UW Professor, Burke Museum Vertebrate Paleontology Curator, and DIG Director Dr. Greg Wilson describing an exceptional record of mammals and other vertebrates following the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction event was recently published in Science. The record of early Paleocene mammals is dominated by fragmentary skeletal elements, primarily teeth and jaws. This paper reports exceptionally preserved mammal skulls and skeletons—as well as other vertebrates and plants—from the Denver Basin in Colorado, providing a unique and important glimpse into the timing and pattern of recovery following the K-Pg mass extinction. You can read the full paper here, as well as a write-up by the Burke Museum here.

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