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II International Meeting

Continuities and Discontinuities of the Fossil Record

March 2027

Golegã, Portugal

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The history of life on Earth has been shaped by a dynamic balance between continuities and discontinuities. Over billions of years, biological evolution has been driven both by the persistence of lineages that survived successive environmental changes and by extinction events that profoundly reshaped ecosystems, creating opportunities for the emergence of new forms of life.
Continuities are reflected in the survival of organismal groups whose origins date back millions of years, whereas discontinuities are represented by mass extinction events that redefined the planet's biodiversity. One of the most emblematic examples is the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs approximately 66 million years ago. This event marked a major discontinuity in the fossil record, promoting the diversification of mammals and, much later, the emergence of our own species.
Today, we are witnessing profound environmental changes, including climate change, accelerating biodiversity loss and the extinction of numerous species. Are these transformations simply part of the natural geological and biological evolution of our planet? Or are they primarily the result of human activities? Or do they reflect the combined influence of both?
The 2nd International Meeting Continuities and Discontinuities of the Fossil Record aims to provide an interdisciplinary forum for discussing these questions, exploring the major processes that have shaped the history of life and examining how the fossil record can help us understand present-day environmental change and anticipate future challenges. A central theme of the meeting will also be whether the evidence suggests that we may be entering a new major discontinuity in the history of life.

II International Meeting Continuities and Discontinuities of the Fossil Record II International Meeting Continuities and Discontinuities of the Fossil Record

Meeting image:
The image of the meeting features a Ginkgo biloba leaf, one of the world's most remarkable symbols of biological continuity. The oldest fossils assigned to the ginkgophytes date back approximately 270 million years, predating the first dinosaurs and long preceding the appearance of humans. Having survived dramatic climatic, geological and biological changes, Ginkgo biloba stands as an exceptional testament to the continuity of life through geological time.

Sessions

  • Continuity and Discontinuity of the Fossil Record
    1. Gaps in the fossil record
    2. Preservation bias
    3. Taphonomy
    4. Correlation of fossil records
  • Origin, Diversification and Extinction of Life
    1. Biological evolution
    2. Adaptive radiations
    3. Mass extinctions
    4. Ecosystem evolution
  • Past Environments, Climate and Ecosystems
    1. Palaeoclimates
    2. Palaeoenvironments
    3. Palaeogeography
    4. Ecosystem reconstruction
    5. Environmental change through geological time
  • Ichnology, Taphonomy and the Formation of the Fossil Record
    1. Trace fossils
    2. Bioturbation
    3. Fossil footprints and trackways
    4. Taphonomic processes
    5. Formation and preservation of the fossil record
  • Palaeoanthropology, Archaeology and Human Evolution
    1. Human evolution
    2. Geoarchaeology
    3. Archaeozoology
    4. Human–environment interactions
    5. Archaeological heritage
  • New Technologies Applied to Fossil Record Research
    1. Artificial intelligence
    2. 3D scanning and printing
    3. Photogrammetry
    4. Computed tomography (CT)
    5. Geometric morphometrics
    6. GIS and spatial analysis
  • Palaeontological Heritage, Museology and Science Communication
    1. Fossil conservation and preparation
    2. Scientific collections
    3. Museums
    4. Geoconservation
    5. Science education and outreach
    6. Geotourism
  • Current Environmental Change: Lessons from the Fossil Record for the Future
    1. Contemporary climate change
    2. Biodiversity crisis
    3. Nature conservation
    4. Modern extinctions
    5. Fossil record-based predictive models
    6. Ecosystem management and conservation

Committee Composition

Organising Committee

  • Silvério Domingues Figueiredo (CPGP)
  • Patrícia Bôto (CPGP)
  • Fernanda Sousa (CPGP)
  • Diogo Rosa (CMG)
  • Tatiana Iria (CMG)
  • Opeyemi Lateef Adewumi (CPGP)
  • Vanessa Antunes (CPGP)
  • Alice Duraud (SPdP)

Scientific Committee

  • Álvaro Crosta - Instituto de Geociências da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), São Paulo, Brazil.
  • Anthony Martin - Emory University, Department of Environmental Sciences (ENVS) Atlanta, United States of America.
  • Carla Gomes - Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctiral Fellow - Universidade de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain.
  • Carlos Neto de Carvalho - Geoparque Naturtejo, Castelo Branco, Portugal.
  • Dario Estraviz-Lopez - Sociedade Portuguesa de Paleontologia/Museu da Lourinhã, Portugal.
  • David H. Grinspoon - NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration, United States of America.
  • Eric Buffetaut - CNRS (UMR 8538), Laboratoire de Géologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Paris, France.
  • Fernando Coimbra - Centro Português de Geo-História e Pré-His tória, Lisboa, Portugal; Centro de Geociências da Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal; Instituto Politécnico de Tomar, Portugal.
  • Ignacio Díaz Martínez - Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra y Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Spain.
  • Ismar Carvalho - Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
  • Luís Azevedo Rodrigues - Centro Ciência Viva de Lagos, Portugal.
  • Luís Raposo - ICOM - International Council of Museums, Portugal.
  • Luiz Oosterbeek - Instituto Politécnico de Tomar, Portugal; Centro de Geociências da Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal; Instituto Terra e Memória, Mação, Portugal.
  • Maria Helena Henriques - Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal.
  • Mário Antas - Museu de Arte Antiga, Lisboa, Portugal; Centro Português de Geo-História e Pré-História, Lisboa, Portugal; Universidade Lusófona, Lisboa, Portugal.
  • Opeyemi Lateef Adewumi - Centro Português de Geo-História e Pré-História, Lisboa, Portugal.
  • Pedro Proença Cunha - MARE - Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente, Departamento de Ciências da Terra, Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal.
  • Pierluigi Rosina - Instituto Politécnico de Tomar, Portugal; Centro de Geociências da Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal; Instituto Terra e Memória, Mação, Portugal.
  • Silvério Figueiredo - Centro Português de Geo-História e Pré-História, Lisboa, Portugal; Instituto Politécnico de Tomar, Portugal; Centro de Geociências da Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal.
  • Smaine Chellat - Universidade de Constantine, Algeria.
  • Sofia Pereira - Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal.
  • Vanessa Antunes - Centro Português de Geo-História e Pré-História, Lisboa, Portugal.
  • Xabier Pereda-Suberviola - Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Departamento de Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Basque Country, Spain.