Who We Are
The International
Working Group on Palaeozoic Microvertebrates consists
of researchers interested in the Palaeozoic fossil record
of vertebrates as revealed by their tiny scales, teeth,
and bone fragments extracted from rock samples. Such
"microremains" have important applications in
biostratigraphy (correlation and dating of rocks by
fossil content), paleoecology (ancient environments),
paleobiogeography (past distributions of organisms),
anatomy (structure of organisms), and phylogeny
(evolutionary relationships).
Study of microvertebrate
fossils is also informed by comparison with the
macroscopic fossil record of vertebrates, a research area
in which many members are active, while other
participants have a special interest in conodonts. In
addition, the Mesozoic and Cenozoic microvertebrate
records are increasingly of interest.