Session language: English
Topic:
The Eocene was a period of drastic changes both in regard to climatic shifts as well as to rates of diversification and also extinction in many groups of organisms. At this time, there were no high Alps, nor a wide North Atlantic and today’s Europe consisted of many islands.
Europe and North America were still connected by land bridges located high in the North. Volcanism was common, some associated with the opening of the Atlantic ocean, some along fracture zones, such as the Rhine rift valley.
The aim of this session is to cover a broad range of topics concerned with the terrestrial Eocene in the broadest sense, ranging e.g. from palaeontological research on vertebrates, invertebrates and plants to geological and actuopaleontological studies. The focus will lie on different topics of biotic evolution during the terrestrial Eocene.
Presentations on current research concerning the fauna and flora of the UNESCO fossil site “Grube Messel” near Darmstadt are welcome, and we cordially invite all colleagues working on other Eocene localities to submit contributions.
