Turtle Evolution Symposium 2021
The main goals of the “Turtle Evolution Symposium 2021” (TES 2021) are: to present, promote, communicate, and discuss the latest advances and original results about the evolutionary history of turtles, since their origin and early evolution until the present. It is an international meeting that gathers all turtle researchers and students around the world that work in specific topics like anatomy, evolution, nomenclature, taxonomy, phylogenetic relationships, fossil record of extinct turtles, conservation, among others.
TES 2021 is the seventh meeting since 1983 and the second in South America. In the last decades TES acquired certain regularity and it is organized each 3 years. In this TES 2021, we honor Dr. Marcelo S. de la Fuente. Dr. de la Fuente is the first researcher in South America dedicated to the study of extinct turtles and who marked a before and after in our discipline at regional level whose studies reached a global impact.
The election of Argentina as the place to organize TES 2021 is the result of the ongoing growth of paleoherpetology in the country during the last decades. Nowadays, the country accounts for more than 400 occurrences and more than 40 species of extinct turtles, being the most rich and important record of turtles in South America and one of the most important and extensive in the world.
Due to the pandemic caused by the virus SARS-COV-2, TES 2021 is developed completely in a virtual mode. However, going virtual allowed this TES meeting to be the biggest of all with more than 75 attendees from more than 25 countries around the world. During the symposium, 52 works and 2 keynote presentations were communicated. These presentations have covered different topics about extinct and extant turtles, like history, development, systematics, nomenclature, histology, anatomy, evolution, phylogeny, faunas, conservation, among others.
Sponsors and Support
The organization of the TES 2021 was possible because of the generous sponsorships and support by:
After the end of the TES 2021, registered participants will be invited to submit their full manuscripts in The Anatomical Record, to be included in the Special Issue “Turtle Anatomy and Evolution”.
The abstracts of the TES 2021 will be published in a special Volume of Abstracts in the Diamond Open Access journal PE-APA (Publicación Electrónica de la Asociación Paleontológica Argentina).
Financial Support of Scientific Meetings in Argentina by the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET)
Financial Support of Scientific Meetings in Argentina by the National Agency for Scientific and Technological Promotion (ANPCyT), through the Fund for Scientific and Technological Research (FONCyT) and the Management of the Software Industry, dependent on the Argentine Technological Fund (FONTAR)
Aluar is a national capital company producing aluminium managed according to the most demanding international parameters of industry and in constant evolution.
Support
TES 2021 Gift
Given the virtual nature of the TES 2021, we have decided to offer you a gift that can be constructed at the distance. We would like to invite you to build your own Niolamia skull, using the technique Paleocartón developed by the Argentinian paleoartist Santiago Reuil.
Using simple materials like paperboard or cardboard, paper tape, vinyl glue, and scissors, you can create your own skull of one of the most iconic fossils turtles of Argentina. This is, of course, an activity that you could (… or should) do with your children, nephews and loved ones, any kid that likes fossils and constructing things.
Below, you will find all the necessary information to construct your skull: an explanatory video (in Spanish ?, but you can use the automatically translated CC of the YouTube) made by Santiago for his YouTube channel, a guide with all the necessary parts, and a leaflet.
We like to think that this activity will somehow connect us around the world. If you manage to construct your skull, please do sent us a photograph!