CHICAGO, IL (December, 2007) – The only reason that most people ascend to 14,000 feet is to go skiing. For a group of
U. S. and Chilean scientists, however, such altitudes are ideal fossil-hunting terrain. In fact, over the past 10 years their explorations have taken them to one of the highest elevation vertebrate fossil sites in the world. The localities near Salar de Surire in northern Chile have yielded several hundred fossil mammal specimens. A study led by Dr. Darin Croft of Case Western Reserve University has determined that one of these specimens, a partial skeleton collected in 2004, represents a new species of armored mammal known as a glyptodont, which they have named Parapropalaehoplophorus septentrionalis.  As Dr. Croft says, “The name of this new species is a mouthful, but it does roll off the tongue nicely!” The discovery is reported in the December issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Glyptodonts are a group of now-extinct armored mammals most closely related to modern armadillos. Unlike armadillos, glyptodonts had shells made of mostly immovable plates and reached much larger sizes; some of the largest likely weighed two tons – the size of a small car! The new species, P. septentrionalis, is much smaller, weighing a mere 200 pounds and it documents the early history of this interesting group, which went extinct at about the same time that humans arrived in the New World. “When we collected this fossil, we had no idea that it would turn out to be a new species,” said Croft. “We knew that it would be an important specimen, given its completeness, but it was only after careful comparison to other known species that we realized how unusual it was."

The new species of glyptodont is one of about 18 mammal species known from the Chucal Fauna, the collective name given to the fossils from the Salar de Surire region. Other Chucal mammals include armadillos, marsupials (opossum relatives), rodents, and a variety of extinct hoofed mammals. These mammals, along with plant fossils recovered from the same area, suggest that northern Chile had relatively few trees 18 million years ago. John Flynn, a co-author of the study said that " Our sites are now located more than 14,500 feet above sea level, but when these animals were alive the region was at much lower elevations. That means that the Chucal fossils give us a unique insight into the timing and rate of uplift of the high Andes.”

Croft said that “working in the Altiplano of Chile can be challenging; the air is thin, water is scarce, and the temperatures plummet as soon as night falls. On the other hand, there are hardly any bugs, you don't have to worry much about rain, and the stars are spectacular.”

 

ABOUT THE SOCIETY OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY
Founded in 1940 by thirty-four paleontologists, the Society now has over 2,000 members representing professionals, students, artists, preparators and others interested in VP. It is organized exclusively for educational and scientific purposes, with the object of advancing the science of vertebrate paleontology.

 

The Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (JVP) is the leading journal of professional vertebrate paleontology and the flagship publication of the Society. It was founded in 1980 by Dr. Jiri Zidek and publishes contributions on all aspects of vertebrate paleontology.

IMAGE AND FIELD PHOTOS:

Top: Reconstruction of the glyptodont Parapropalaehoplophorus septentrionalis, based on a partial skeleton from the early Miocene of northern Chile; artwork by Velizar Simeonovski. See Croft et al.

Middle: The team’s campsite near Salar de Surire. The site can only be reached by 4-wheel drive truck. Team members sleep in tents, and cook over a gas stove. Photo by D. Croft.

Ken Kostel

American Museum of Natural History

212-496-3419

 

Susan Griffith,

Case Western Reserve University

216-368-1004

 

A Call for Volunteers: We need a few more good men and women!

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology conducts most of its activities through standing committees staffed by volunteer SVP members.  You have benefited from the work of these committees if you have attended the annual meeting, utilized the SVP website, or read an article in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, just to name a few of the essentials. If you would like to contribute to the well-being of SVP with your ideas, willingness to review applications, or interest in learning how a scientific society works behind the scenes, please let us know which of SVP's ongoing activities interest you the most.

The standing committees of SVP are listed below with a brief description of what each committee does. If you are interested in the work of one or more committees please follow the instructions listed below.

If you are already a committee member, thank you!

Catherine Badgley, President
Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

 

 

 

Annual Auction Committee
The Auction Committee implements the auction at the annual meeting and publicizes and solicits donations of items to be sold at the auction.

 

Media Liaison Committee
This committee arranges for members of SVP to present their scientific findings to the press by writing, reviewing, or facilitating press releases each year, by organizing the Press Conference at each annual meeting, and by cultivating contacts with the media. The ultimate goal is to raise the profile of SVP with the media and the public.

 

Program Committee
The Program Committee is responsible for gathering, reviewing, and organizing submitted abstracts, and for planning a comprehensive program of oral presentations and posters for the annual meeting. The Program Committee reviews proposals for symposia and also oversees production of the Abstract Volume as a Supplement to the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

 

Award Committees
The following 10 committees manage the society's annual awards. 

 

A Call for Symposia 
The Program Committee for the 68th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, to be held at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, Cleveland, Ohio, October 15-18, 2008, is calling for symposia proposals.

Proposals should include a concise description of the symposium topic including its significance and specific relevance to the particular meeting time and location (if appropriate), and a list of speakers and preliminary titles, not to exceed 16 speakers in total. Five or six poster presentations are also welcome. Proposals should not exceed two pages in length.

Please send proposals to Jason Head, Program Committee Chair at: jason.head@utoronto.ca.

The deadline for proposal submission is Thursday, December 13, 2007.

Jason J. Head
SVP Program Committee Chair

A Call for Field Trips and Workshops
The Host Committee for the 68th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, to be held at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, Cleveland, Ohio, October 15-18, 2008, is calling for workshop and field trip proposals, including pre and post-meeting events. 

The Proposal Outline contains a list of all of the information you must provide to the Host Chair in order for your proposal to be considered.  Examples of previous field trips and workshops can be viewed in the 2007 Second Circular.

Proposals and questions should be submitted to Darin Croft, Host Committee Chair at: dcroft@case.edu. 

The deadline for proposal submission is Thursday, December 13, 2007.