|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vertebrate
Paleontology Organizations
|
| The Society of
Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) is the primary
organization for
vertebrate paleontologists in the United States.
Among other
activities, it sponsors the Journal of Vertebrate
Paleontology, a
quarterly journal that publishes articles on all aspects
of vertebrate
paleontology. At the web site you can join the society,
learn about the
annual meeting, take a look at graduate programs in
vertebrate
paleontology, and see a listing of current job postings
in vertebrate
paleontology. |
|
| The Asociación
Paleontológica Argentina is probably the most
prominent paleontological
society in Latin America. It publishes Ameghiniana, a
quarterly journal
of paleontology. Most articles are in Spanish,
although
abstracts in English are also usually included. |
|
| Asociación
Paleontológica de Chile |
The
Asociación Paleontológica de Chile is a
relatively new organization
that was founded in 2008 to promote the field of
paloentology in Chile
and the protection of Chile's paleontological resources. |
|
Museums
with large South American
fossil mammal collections |
| The
American Museum of Natural History has great fossil
collections for
pretty much every vertebrate group, so it's no surprise
that their
South American collections are also outstanding. Much of
the material
was collected by George Gaylord Simpson, one of the most
influential
experts on South American paleomammalogy.
Highlights include
extensive collections of Casamayoran,
Mustersan,
Deseadan, and Colhuehuapian fossil mammals from
Patagonia.
|
|
| The
Field Museum has excellent
collections of fossil mammals from South America,
primarily due to the
efforts of Elmer Riggs during three expeditions in the
1920's. The
collections span much of the South American Cenozoic
including the
Casamayoran, Mustersan, Deseadan, Colhuehuapian,
Santacrucian,
Laventan, Chasicoan, and Lujanian South
American Land Mammal
"Ages" (SALMAs). |
|
| The
collections at the Florida
Museum of Natural History are strong in two primary
areas. First, the
extensive late Cenozoic collections from the state
include many South
American taxa that emigrated northward during the Great
American Biotic
Interchange (GABI). Second, thanks to the museum's
active
field program in Bolivia, the collections include many
specimens from
the rich Deseadan Salla Beds
and various Neogene localities in Bolivia. |
|
| The
Museo Argentino de Ciencias
Naturales in Buenos Aires is the home of the collections
of the famous
South American paleontologist, Florentino Ameghino.
As such,
it includes many important type specimens and
collections from
virtually every Cenozoic time period represented in
South America. |
|
| The
Museo de La Plata in La
Plata, Argentina has one of the most important
collections of South
American fossil mammals in the world. The museum has
been a center of
South American paleontological research for many years
and continues
the tradition today; the faculty include experts in
nearly every aspect
of South American paleomammalogy, and fieldwork is
ongoing in many
parts of the continent. |
|
| Yale's
Peabody Museum got a
real boost when it acquired Princeton's paleontology
collections, the
most extensive and well-studied collection of Santacrucian
(late Miocene) fossil mammals from Patagonia. The
paleontological
specimens were collected along with zoological and
botanical specimens
in an exhaustive survey of Patagonia sponsored by the
university
from 1896-1899. They were described and illustrated in
an exquisite set
of volumes, The Reports of the Princeton University
Expedition to
Patagonia. |
|
| University
of
California Museum of Paleontology (Berkeley) Collections and Research |
The
UCMP has a large collection of mammal and other fossils
from the very
important middle Miocene (Laventan)
locality of
La Venta, Colombia. These fossils were collected in a
series of
expeditions led by Dr.
R.A.
Stirton in the 1940s and 1950s. The site remains
one of
the most important in South America because it preserves
the remains of
many species of tropical mammals that are unknown in
other parts of the
continent. |
|
Other
Links
|
| The Bibliography of
Fossil Vertebrates, sponsored by SVP, is a searchable
database of
publications on vertebrate paleontology. It's a
great
resource for literature searches, especially taxonomic
searches. |
|
| This page provides a nice annotated list of various technical and non-technical books and publications on fossil mammals. If you're interested in learning more about fossil mammals, start here. | |
| The Polyglot
Paleontologist is a web site begun by a friend of mine,
Matt
Carrano. It is a central library for
paleontological articles
that have been translated into English (from a variety
of other
languages). You can download existing translations, add
your own
translations, or post requests of others. If
you've
translated articles or have some you would like
translated, you should
definitely check it out. |
|
This
page
was last updated on August 9, 2011.
|