Welcome!

Dear friends of early and lower vertebrates,

We cordially invite you to attend the 18th ISELV, which will be held from February 3rd to 8th 2026, at the Hassan 1st University in Berrechid, Morocco, just outside Casablanca. This meeting will also be co-organised by the University of Zurich.

A pre-conference field trip focusing on Mesozoic sites in the Western Atlas and the surrounding area is planned to start on January 29th, 2026. The post-conference field trip focused on the Palaeozoic and especially the Devonian, will begin directly after the conference on February 9th, 2026, and will end on February 14th, 2026, well before Ramadan and the Chinese New Year.

The 18th ISELV will bring together scientists and interested laypersons from around the globe with an interest in early and lower vertebrates of the Palaeozoic, with a focus on their anatomy, phylogeny, ecology and systematics and hope to receive contributions encompassing a great diversity of topics. We aim to provide an integrative environment that welcome delegates of all nations, ethnic backgrounds, and genders.

We invite you to join the 18th ISELV in Berrechid, where you can present your vibrant, cutting-edge, and impactful research on early and lower vertebrates. We look forward to welcoming you to this exciting gathering of global experts!

Why Morocco?

Morocco is a country of stunning beauty with a great diversity of environments, vibrant cities, and breathtaking landscapes. It is also the perfect playground for palaeontologists. Due to the Mediterranean to sub-Saharan climates, sediments ranging from the Proterozoic to the Holocene are prefectly exposed throughout the country. In the past century, the incredible palaeontological treasures of Morocco have made it a center of attention worldwide. The rich occurrences of fossil fish and lower vertebrates are, of course, of greatest interest to our community: the Devonian fish-bearing outcrops of the eastern Anti-Atlas, Triassic fishes and amphibians in the Western Atlas, Mesozoic vertebrate track sites in the High Atlas down to the Atlantic coast, and economically important fish and reptile occurrences of the Cretaceous and Cenozoic in the northwest of the Atlas chains and in the very South.

As the field of palaeontology is rapidly growing in Morocco, this conference is also a great opportunity to network with local research groups, reduce parachute science, foster international collaboration, and discuss geo-heritage.

Furthermore, Morocco is world-renowned for its great hospitality. This is reflected by the fact that most Moroccans speak several languages, including Arabic and French, the official languages, but also Berber languages, Spanish, English, German and sometimes also East Asian languages. It is not unusual to get spontaneously invited to share a cup of the famous peppermint tea. Moroccan cuisine is also famous for its wealth of different spices including cumin, saffron etc. Most importantly, Morocco is also a very safe country.

Important dates

Exact dates may be subject to change.

✅Distribution of 1st circular and call for sessions: March 2025

✅Start of social media activities: end May 2025

✅Website launch: end May 2025

✅Distribution of 2nd circular: first week June 2025

✅Opening abstract submission: first week June 2025

✅Registration opening: 20 Aug 2025

⏳Deadline for early bird registration: 30 Sep 2025

⏳Deadline for abstract submission: 31 Oct 2025

⏳Notification of oral and poster communications: 15 Nov 2025

⏳Publication of final scientific programme: 15 Dec 2025

Circulars

1st circular

2nd circular

Our logo

Zellige

Zellige is a style of geometric mosaic tilework and is a characteristic architectural element of Morocco and the Arab and Islamic world. This millennium-old traditional art is commonly found on walls, pillars, arches, floors, fountains, pools, and minarets. Zellige tesselations are exceptionally diverse and intricate, and include endless combinations of different polygons, symmetries, and colours.

Our logo features a recurring zellige motif: the Rub el Hizb. This octagram is a religious symbol in Islam, used to divide each of sixty "sections" of the Quran into four equal parts. It is often found in Islamic art, and on flags from around the world and across history.

Arabic calligraphy

Since the 9th century, the Arabic script has served as the basis for calligraphic art. Due to its cursive nature and the simplicity of Arabic letters, Arabic calligraphy is often used to form shapes, objects, and symbols.

This unique style with flowing and overlapping lines and curves is a cultural trademark of Arab and Islamic culture. It is used in religious texts, art, architecture, craftsmanship, education, political symbols, and in company logos (e.g. Emirates, Al Jazeera). While our logo does not include any actual Arabic text, it mimics this characteristic graphic style.

Taxa

The Devonian layers in the Moroccan Anti-Atlas preserve a rich and diverse early vertebrate assemblage, including 'placoderms', chondrichthyans, actinopterygians, and sarcopterygians. We chose the following three taxa to represent this fauna in our logo. From top to bottom:

Ctenacanthus: giant early chondrichthyan, the "great white shark" of the Devonian, one of the largest predators of its time.

Megalichthyid: tetrapodomorph lobe-finned fish, an incredibly rare occurrence in Morocco's Devonian, of which new material is currently being investigated.
(Life reconstruction by Nobu Tamura)

Alienacanthus: 'placoderm' armoured fish with an extremely elongated lower jaw, giving it a unique look.
(Life reconstruction by Christian Klug)

Organisers