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.