MPC 2021 - Program

MPC 2021

Code of conduct:

MPC is committed to creating a safe and harassment-free space of all the participants, regardless of race/ethnicity, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, and religion (or lack thereof). We are adopting a Virtual MPC Code of Conduct (download) based on the Paleontological Society's Policy of Non-Discrimination and Code of Conduct (read/download), which all participants are asked to agree to in order to register. The guidelines in the Code of Conduct apply to this virtual meeting just as they would to an in-person meeting. Also note that anyone banned from participating in Palentological Society activities is similarly not welcome to participate in the MPC.

Welcome to MPC 2021!!

Oral sessions will be run through Zoom via pre-recorded presentations.
Poster sessions will be run through Zoom breakout rooms and pre-recorded lightning talks, which will be found here during MPC. After watching the lightning talk, find the presenter's breakout room in Zoom for Q&A!
Visit the ABSTRACTS PAGE to view the abstracts for each presentation

*All appropriate zoom links will be provided to registered participants closer to the time of the conference

All times are listed as Pacific Time

Friday June 4th

10:00- 1:30 pm: Workshop: Inclusive field research practices for the 21st century

5:00-6:30 pm: Career panel

Saturday June 5th

View all abstracts HERE

7:15-7:45: Cappuccino social

8:00-8:15: Virtual MPC hosts. Introduction

8:15-9:00: KEYNOTE Monica Carvalho. Extinction and evolution of tropical rainforests

9:00-10:45 ORAL SESSION 1: Paleozoic

9:00-9:15: M. Nibbelink and A.M.F. Tomescu. Exploring zosterophyll relationships under a broader sampling of character space.

9:15-9:30: S. Booth, H. Thomas, I. Duijnstee, and B. Muddiman. Ecological (dis)similarity between Pennsylvanian coal floras across space and time.

9:30-9:45: K.C. Pfeiler and A.M.F. Tomescu. Early Devonian evidence for modular assembly of the regulatory toolkit for secondary growth.

9:45-10:00: M. D'Antonio. New complexity in arborescent lycopsid cambial dynamics.

10:00-10:15: R. Spiekermann, A. Jasper, and D. Uhl. The Permian (sub)arborescent lycopsids from Gondwana: what we do and do not know about some of them.

10:15-10:30: M. Lalica and A.M.F. Tomescu. New data on glomeromycete spores in the Lower Devonian (Emsian; c. 400 Ma) of Gaspé (Quebec, Canada).

10:30-10:45: M.P. Donovan, M.A. Gorman, M.T. Dunn, and S.R. Schachat. Early Mississippian microarthropod herbivory on laminate leaves.

10:45-11:30: Break. Social coffee hour during break

11:30-1:30 ORAL SESSION 2: Mesozoic

11:30-11:45. J. Kalyniuk, D. Greenwood, J. Basinger, C. Brown, D. Henderson, and C. Greenwood. The Early Cretaceous vegetation of central Alberta as a food source for the armoured dinosaur Borealopelta markmitchelli.

11:45-12:00: M. Bickner, F. Herrera, and P.S. Herendeen. An Early Cretaceous Fossil Seed in Three Modes of Preservation from Central Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, China.

12:00-12:15: F. Herrera, M.A. Bickner, N. Ichinnorov, A.B. Leslie, P.R. Crane, and P.S. Herendeen. Early Cretaceous abietoid Pinaceae from Mongolia and the history of seed scale shedding.

12:15-12:30: J. Lee, D.L. Contreras, G. Upchurch, and C.V. Looy. Dispersal ecology of flowering plants in a Late Cretaceous forest: new insights into angiosperm seed size evolution.

12:30-12:45: K.K. Tang, S.Y. Smith, and B.A. Atkinson. Fruit of Esgueiria from the Late Cretaceous of western Northern America.

12:45-1:00: L. Le Renard, R. Stockey, G. Upchurch, and M. Berbee. Bleximothyrium ostiolatum, a new fossil fly-speck fungus from the Lower Cretaceous Potomac Group and its interpretation through phylogenetic comparison with extant species.

1:00-1:15: H. Nowak and E. Kustatscher. In situ spores of leptosporangiate ferns from the Triassic in Europe.

1:15-1:30: J.P. Benca, I.A.P Duijnstee, and C.V. Looy. Developmental origins of pollen malformations.

1:30-2:00: Break.

2:00-3:30 LIGHTNING TALK & POSTER SESSION 1

A. Lowe and C. Strömberg. Using morphological leaf functional traits to characterize ancient plant community ecology .

A. Markham, S. Lavin, W. Brightly, C. Crifò, T. Gallaher, A. Lowe, A. Novello, E. Stiles, P. Wilson, and C.A.E. Strömberg. The analysis of palm phytolith morphology as a paleoecological and paleobotanical tool.

A. Golub, D. Sunderlin, S.E. Allen, and H.W. Meyer. Exploring variable resolutions of leaf morphotype approaches on paleoclimate reconstruction: A case study using the Eocene Florissant paleoflora, central Colorado.

D. Quiroz, F. Herrera, J. Toro, M. Carvalho, and C. Martínez. Paleobotany and Stratigraphy of the Lower-Aptian to Middle-Albian in the Central Sub-Andean Zone of Ecuador.

E. Olson, A. Miller, and M. Nebel. Paleobotany of the early Permian Hermit Formation, Grand Canyon National Park.

J.D. Carrasco, T. Gallaher, and C.A.E. Strömberg. Applying 3D rendering and glass sculpture techniques to representing microbotany in public exhibitions.

K. Berry. Revisiting R.H. Tschudy's Fern Spike Concept 40 Years Later.

N.A. Jud, S.E. Allen, C.W. Nelson, C.L. Bastos, and J.G. Chery. Fossil Paullinieae from the early Miocene of Panama and implications for the diversification of lianas in Sapindaceae.

T. Kukla, J.K. Caves Rugenstein, D.E. Ibarra, M.J. Winnick, C.A.E Strömberg, and C.P. Chamberlain. North American grasslands expanded as winters grew drier.

W.H. Brightly, M.E. Bianconi, and C.A.E Strömberg. The role of grasslands in the evolution of seed dispersal strategy in the Poaceae.

4:30-6:30 Saturday Night Trivia Social

Sunday June 6th

View all abstracts HERE

7:15-7:45: Cappuccino social

8:00-8:15: Virtual MPC hosts. Welcome

8:15-9:00: KEYNOTE Alejandra Gandolfo. Darwin’s “Damned Land”: A Paleo(Neo)botanist’s Paradise.

9:00-11:00 ORAL SESSION 3: Cenozoic 1

9:00-9:15: D.K. Kataria, N. Soomro, R.A. Lashari, and S.A. Khan. Isolation and Analysis of the Palynomorphs from Khadro Formation Exposed at Ranikot Fort Area Sindh, Pakistan.

9:15-9:30: M. Adaime, S. Kong, and S.W. Punyasena. Phylogenetically-informed computer vision methods for fossil pollen classification: some ecological and evolutionary implications.

9:30-9:45: V.A. Korasidis, S.L. Wing, D.M. Nelson, A.A. Baczynski, and G.J. Harrington. Terrestrial pollen carbon isotope record across the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.

9:45-10:00: J. Liang, Q. Leng, L. Xiao, and H. Yang. Two redwood genera (Sequoia and Metasequoia) from Miocene Hannuoba Formation, Inner Mongolia, Northern China: Preservation, cuticular characters, and CO2 reconstruction.

10:00-10:15: C.S. Koç, F. Wagner-Cremer, T.H. Donders, and H. Yıldırım. The Miocene Flora of Orhaneli Basin (Bursa, Turkey): preliminary results.

10:15-10:30: G.L. Hoffman, R.A. Stockey, and G.W. Rothwell. Leaves of Araceae from the late Paleocene of Alberta, Canada: Orontiophyllum grandifolium comb. nov.

10:30-10:45: R.A. Stockey, G.L. Hoffman, and G.W. Rothwell. Fossil spadices: Bognerospadix and the Paleocene diversification of Araceae.

10:45-11:00: I. Huegele and S. Manchester. Fruits and seeds of the mid-Paleocene Tongue River Member of the Fort Union Formation, southeastern Montana.

11:00-11:30 Break. Social coffee hour during break

11:30-1:30 ORAL SESSION 4: Cenozoic 2

11:30-11:45: M. Carlson, M. Rottersman, A.M. Bedoya, W.H. Brightly, and C. Strömberg. Habitat-Driven Evolution of Seed Dispersal Strategies in Onion Grasses.

11:45-12:00: A. Simpson and V. Korasidis. On the use of databases in paleobotanical research: triumphs, pitfalls, and good and bad examples.

12:00-12:15: P.F. Fields. Using Angiosperm Foliar Tooth Morphology as an Aid to Fossil Leaf Identifications.

12:15-12:30: M. Smith, S. Manchester, and S.Y. Smith. Fossil flora of the mid-Eocene Kishenehn Flora, northwestern Montana, USA.

12:30-12:45: T. Matel, M.A. Gandolfo, E.J. Hermsen, and P. Wilf. New reproductive structures of Cunoniaceae tribe Cunonieae from the early Eocene Laguna del Hunco flora, Chubut, Patagonia, Argentina.

12:45-1:00: J.A. Myers, D.M. Erwin, and H.E. Schorn. Reevaluation of the Cenozoic Impression Record of Psudotsuga Carr. in Western North America.

1:00-1:15: A. Hamersma, S. Manchester, and F. Herrera. Beautifully preserved fruits and seeds of Euphorbiaceae from the Oligocene of Peru investigated by micro-CT scanning and light microscopy.

1:15-1:30: Z. Quirk, S.Y. Smith, and R.P. Acosta. Where did they come from, where did they go: examining niche conservatism through time in a primarily tropical plant lineage.

1:30-2:00: Break

2:00-3:30 LIGHTNING TALK & POSTER SESSION 2

A. Odé, P. Kenrick, and F. Wagner-Cremer. Genome size evolution in early land plants.

C. Crifò, J. Carlos, Berrio, A. Boom, D. Giraldo-Cañas, and L. Bremond. A paleotemperature thermometer for the Northern Andes based on C3/C4 grass phytoliths.

E. Chen, A. Lowe, and C. Strömberg. Assessing limitations of community-scale inferences of leaf mass per area estimates made from fossil leaves.

E. Spagnuolo, P. Wilf, and R. Kooyman. An open vegetation-plot database for Southeast Asia: tool for ecology, conservation, and paleo-conservation.

G. Rossetto-Harris, P. Wilf, E. Stiles, and X. Zou. Rapid scoring and morphotyping of fossil leaf floras from large image libraries using Adobe Bridge.

G. Wilson. Large Slabs, Slim Margins and Unbiased Collecting: Getting the Most from Your Outcrop.

J.E. Correa-Narvaez, L. Vinola. Late Cretaceous plant remains from the Monos Formation of Cuba.

M. Rottersman, W.H. Brightly, M.E. Bianconi, and C.A.E. Strömberg. Variation in Grass Seed Dispersal in Tropical Savannas.

P.K. Wilson, A. Phillips, C.A.E. Strömberg, and G.P. Wilson Mantilla. Examining Paleoclimate Across the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K/Pg) Boundary in Northeastern Montana.

R. Hayes and C. Looy. Floral changes during the late Paleozoic deglaciation of Australia: a network approach.

S.D. Spaur, J.K. Caves Rugenstein, D.J. Koning, E.L. Driscoll, and S. Aby. The hydroclimatic and paleoenvironmental response to warming in the southwestern US: A case study of the Middle Miocene Climate Optimum.

4:30-6:30 Sunday Night Happy Hour Social

Please come to discuss and vote on the location of next year's MPC!

Photo credit: shout out to Ian Glasspool/the Field Museum for the image of the charcoalified flower at the top of the page

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