Dear colleagues,

regarding the current uncertainties around Covid-19, we would like to 
inform you that the GeoUtrecht 2020 organisation team is carefully 
evaluating the situation on a regular basis.
They are continuing with their preparations for GeoUtrecht 2020, either 
as face to face event or as web conference, so please do not hesitate to 
submit your abstracts at this point: 
https://www.geoutrecht2020.org/call-for-abstracts.html. They have 
decided to extend the abstract submission deadline until Tuesday, 16th 
of June 2020.
We look forward to your contributions for session 2.2.1 'Mammalian 
adaptation and evolution throughout the Cenozoic' (see below).

Best wishes,

Anneke van Heteren and Wilma Wessels
-- 
Dr. Anneke H. van Heteren
Leitung der Sektion Mammalogie - Head of the Mammalogy Section
Zoologische Staatssammlung München
Münchhausenstraße 21
81247 München
Germany
[log in to unmask]
Tel: +49 (0)89 8107-125
Fax: +49 (0)89 8107-300

Session 2.2.1 'Mammalian adaptation and evolution throughout the 
Cenozoic'

Cenozoic mammals are the textbook illustration of an adaptive radiation. 
Adaptive radiations have taken a key position in macroevolutionary 
theory and were originally introduced after the qualitative observation 
that great taxonomic diversity and ecomorphological disparity of mammals 
emerged suddenly in the earliest Cenozoic. This has been construed as a 
product of the ecological release of mammals following the extinction of 
many species, including all non-avian dinosaurs, during the 
Cretaceous/Palaeogene (K/Pg) mass extinction event. The radiation of 
mammals after this event was, as such, a significant event in the 
evolution of terrestrial and marine ecological 
communities.Paleogeographic changes and climatic changes affected the 
distribution, evolution and ecology of mammalian species and communities 
throughout the Cenozoic. Climatic change altered the abundance, genetic 
diversity, morphology, and geographic ranges of individual species. 
Within communities, these responses combined to initiate migration, 
biological evolution, and extinction, altering longstanding patterns of 
community stability and diversity and inducing functional innovation and 
biotic turnoversKnowledge of the mechanisms at the heart of biological 
change generates meaningful understanding of the intricacies of the 
mammalian response. This session, therefore, is looking for 
contributions concerning vertebrate palaeontology, notably on Cenozoic 
mammals. The talks in this session may range from insectivores and 
rodents to mammoths, sabretooth cats, and cetaceans. This session will 
be in honour of Prof. Jelle Reumer, who recently retired. The last 15 
years, he worked as a professor at Utrecht University, where he upheld 
vertebrate palaeontology in teaching and research, as well as through 
collaborations with other researchers and laymen.Prof. Jelle Reumer will 
give the keynote lecture for this session.

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