Category Archives: Lectures

Kurtén Club start 20.9.2011, special lecture 22.9.2011

Dear all,

Kurtén Club starts again this autumn. Björn Kurtén Club is a forum for everyone intressed in paleontology. Main participants are paleontology students, researchers and professors. This year, we have every other week a presentation/introduction, held either by one of the group members or a visiting lecturer, and every other week a group meeting/conversation session. Visit our blog for more information: https://blogs.helsinki.fi/bk-club/ .

First meeting will be held tomorrow, 20.9.2011, at 16.00(-17.00) in room C108, Physicum, Kumpula. Next meetings will be held every Tuesday at the same time in the same place (unless otherwise announced). The program will be available on Kurtén Clubs blog. Suggestions for possible topics and speakers are most welcome.

This week we also have a special lecture by Lars Werdelin (The Swedish Museum of Natural History, http://www.nrm.se/en/menu/researchandcollections/departments/palaeozoology/staff/larswerdelin.477_en.html ) titled

The fossil Carnivora of Africa: review and analysis,
22.9.2011, 15.00, C108.

Best regards,
Aleksis Karme

Lecture by Prof. Wighart v. Koengswald

Dear Kurténians,

It is my great personal pleasure to announce the Björn Kurtén lecture
by Prof. Wighart v.Koenigswald, Bonn, a personal friend of Björn's and
one of my most inspiring teachers and role models back in my salad
days.

Wighart will speak on Tuesday, June 15, at 15:00 in Lecture Room C108
in the Department of Geosciences and Geography. The title of his talk
is "Three parameters characterizing hypsodonty".

Everybody warmly welcome!

Mikael

Special lecture in Paleontology on 10.6.

Björn Kurtén – club is proud to host yet another special lecture!

We have the pleasure to have Dr. Philip Anderson from University of Bristol, UK present his work on:

Early vertebrate teeth, jaw mechanics and feeding diversity

The talk will take place on the 10th June (10.6.) at 15.30, in the Kumpula Campus, the Department of Geosciences and Geography, Physicum building, room C108.

after the talk there is some time for discussions and questions.

Everybody warmly Welcome!

Background:

Philip Anderson is an evolutionary palaeobiologist focusing on the biomechanics and
functional morphology of fossil gnathostomes.  He uses a multidisciplinary approach to
explore the relationship between morphology and mechanical function and how this
relationship affects measures of diversity through the fossil record.   At the organismal
level, he has created models of jaw function for a group of basal fishes (placoderms)
developed using basic engineering theory.  These models have illustrated functional
convergence across clades and illustrate the potential for biomechanical analyses to give
insights into early jaw evolution.  He also uses physical experiments to explore how
aspects of dental shape affect fracture in food items.  This work has illustrated how
basic tooth characters, identifiable across gnathostomes, can greatly influence the
ability to break down food at a lower energy cost.  Finally, building off of the
experimental and modeling work, he has explored functional diversity amongst Devonian
gnathostomes utilizing biomechanical jaw characters. These analyses present different
results from standard morphological shape data, and give new insights into the disparity
of early gnathstomes at both the faunal and stage level.  He is currently at the
University of Bristol as a Marie-Curie research fellow.

Key references:

Anderson, P. S. L., 2010. “Using linkage models to explore skull kinematic diversity and
functional convergence in arthrodire placoderms.” Journal of Morphology (Early View
Online)

Anderson, P. S. L., 2009b. “The effects of trapping and blade angle on how notched
dentitions fracture biological tissues.” Journal of Experimental Biology 212: 3627-3632.

Anderson, P. S. L., 2009a. “Biomechanics, functional patterns, and disparity in Late
Devonian arthrodires.” Paleobiology 35(3): 321-342.

Anderson, P. S. L., and LaBarbera, M., 2008. “Functional consequences of tooth design:
effects of blade shape on energetics of cutting.” Journal of Experimental Biology 211:
3619-3626.

Anderson, P. S. L., 2008.  “Shape variation between arthrodire morphotypes indicates
possible feeding niches.”  Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28(4): 961-969.


Jussi Eronen

Kurtén club special presentation on tue 25.5

Dear all,
Kes Schroer is visiting researcher in the Jernvall lab for a few weeks, and would be happy to present her own and the research group’s current research.
As there is no planned schedule for next tuesday, we decided to grab the opportunity. So Kes will present her current research and view from other side of the big ocean on next Tuesday, 25.5., at 16.00 in the C108 (the normal place).
Kes is working in The Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology (CASHP) which is a research center at The George Washington University, USA. Her primary research interest is the development of teeth, particularly enamel. Currently, she is investigating the molarization process in Paranthropus and developmental differences between deciduous and permanent enamel. On the side, Kes is analyzing the pedagogical effectiveness of evolution exhibits in American museums.

Special lecture in Paleontology on 26.5

Björn Kurtén – club is proud to host another special lecture!
As the season’s last lecture, we have the pleasure to have Prof. Sophie Montuire from University of Bourgogne and EPHE Dijon present a talk titled:
Rodent’s biodiversity, evolution and emergence of phenotype
The talk will take place on the 26th of May (26.5.) at 16.00, in the Kumpula Campus, the Department of Geosciences and Geography, Physicum building, room C108.
after the talk there is some time for discussions and questions.
Everybody warmly Welcome!
Background:
Sophie Montuire is a specialist in rodent evolution. She is interested in paleontology and biodiversity focusing on the evolution of rodents in relation to biotic and abiotic factors. First, she seeks to understand the relationships between mammalian communities and climate (size and species richness). The observation of the species richness evolution through time allows us to constructing transfer functions in order to quantify climatic parameters. Second, she studies the relationships between shape and climate in rodents, and peculiarly in arvicolines. This sub-species shows a great variability of the tooth patterns both at intra-specific or inter-specific scales in relation to geography or environment during the Quaternary period. Finally, she tries to understand the mechanisms acting on the morphological variability (Evo-Devo) through morphometrical analyses leading to link developmental mechanisms with morphological variability (modularity) in arvicolines.  She works at Université de Bourgogne, and Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE), Dijon as a Professor and director of studies.
Key references:
MONTUIRE, S. & BRUNET-LECOMTE, P. (2004). Relation between climatic fluctuation and morphological variability in Microtus (Terricola) grafi (Arvicolinae, Rodentia) from Bacho Kiro (Bulgaria, Upper Pleistocene). Lethaia, 37: 71-78.
MONTUIRE, S., MARIDET O. & LEGENDRE, S. (2006). Estimations of Late Neogene climates in Europe using rodents. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 238: 247-262.
RENVOISÉ E., EVANS A., JEBRANE A, LABRUÈRE C., LAFFONT R. & MONTUIRE S. (2009). Evolution of mammal tooth pattern: new insights from a developmental prediction model. Evolution 63: 1327-1340.
LAFFONT R., RENVOISÉ E., NAVARRO N., ALIBERT P., MONTUIRE S. (2009). Morphological modularity and assessment of developmental processes within the vole dental row (Microtus arvalis, Arvicolinae, Rodentia). Evolution & Development 11: 302-311.

Luento Dinosaurusten alkuperästä

Jäikö Dinosauruskurssi (523137) väliin? Harmittaako? Tule silti
kuulemaan dinosaurusten alkuperästä telkänpönttöön tämän viikon
torstaina 15.4 kello 16.00. Luento on avoin kaikille.

Tunnettu dinosaurusasiantuntija, Mikko Haaramo, kertoo luennossaan
“Arkosaurien suuri radiaatio ja dinosaurien alkuperä” harvemmin
populaarikulttuurissa esitellyistä eläimistä, jotka eivät häviä
kiinnostavuudessaan dinosauruksille. Luento antaa vastauksia
kysymyksiin, miksi dinosaurukset “perivät” maan seuraavaksi 160
miljoonaksi vuodeksi, ja mitkä evolutiiviset innovaatiot tällä yhdellä
arkosaurien kehityslinjalla sen aiheuttivat.

Esitys alkaa tasan 16.00 ja päättyy kello 18. Paikkana luentosali 2402
eli Telkänpönttö, Biokeskus 3, Viikinkaari 1.

– Ahti Launis