International Scientists join excursion to Geiseltal and Halle as part of first ever meeting

This international conference will bring together approximately 1,000 scientists from around the world to discuss ancient vertebrate life, including everything from fish to dinosaurs to primates. Traditionally, many scientists visit important sites for paleontology in the host country. From November 3-4, 25 international scientists will visit two very important fossil sites in Germany in the tour titled „Messel and Geiseltal: Highlights from the Cenozoic“.

These scientists come from eight different countries, USA, Canada, Australia, Korea, Japan, Denmark, New Zealand and Egypt.The excursion is a joint effort between the Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg and the Geiseltalsammlung (ZNS) of Martin-Luther-University (MLU).

The trip begins with Messel, near Frankfurt, and continues to the former mining area of Geiseltal and the Geiseltalsammlung in Halle (Saale). Both sites are from the Eocene, roughly 50 million years ago. Visitors to Geiseltal will see the last remaining outcrop of the coal seam, called the Oberkohle Formation, which is protected by the state as a Geotope.

The Geiseltal and Halle portions of the trip will be led by two scientists of the Zentralmagazin Naturwissenschaftlicher Sammlungen (ZNS) of MLU, Curator Dr. Meinolf Hellmund and Dr. Alexander Hastings, postdoc fellow financed by the German Federal Cultural Foundation.