The 70th Anniversary Session of the Paleontological Society was held at the Karpinsky Institute

On April 1-5, 2024, the Karpinsky Institute hosted the 70^th Anniversary Session of the Paleontological Society on “Patterns of Evolution and Biostratigraphy”.

More than 150 experts from 49 institutions of 26 cities of Russia and other countries, including representatives of research and production organisations of the Federal Agency for Mineral Resources (Rosnedra), geological, paleontological, biological institutes and regional research centres of the Russian Academy of Sciences, profile departments of state universities, local history and paleontological museums, museum-reserves took part in the session with presentations. Among the co-authors of the presentations were experts from Germany, Great Britain, Canada and Mongolia.

Colleagues from Azerbaijan in the delegation from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, headed by the Director General of the Institute, Academician A.A. Alizadeh, were honoured guests of the event. The session was opened by the First Deputy Director General of the Karpinsky Institute, M.A. Tkachenko. He pointed out that paleontology and stratigraphy are the most important fields of regional geological studies, which have always played an important role in the activities of the Karpinsky Institute.

The opening speech of the President of the Society, Academician A.Yu. Rozanov, was devoted to current issues of stratigraphy and paleontology: problems of training specialists at universities, creation and restoration of scientific schools.

Academician A.A. Alizadeh made a presentation on the current state of paleontological and stratigraphic studies in Azerbaijan. During the session, meetings of the permanent sections – Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic, Vertebrates, Museum sections – were held. Oral presentations were made by 129 participants, 13 of whom attended the session via videoconference. There were also 36 poster presentations (published electronically on the Karpinsky Institute website). The sessions were streamed live on the Institute's website.

The topics of the presentations covered a wide range of current problems in stratigraphy and paleontology. Geological and biotic events at boundaries of stratigraphic units of the General Stratigraphic Chart and related changes in biota, updated zonal scales for orthostratigraphic faunal groups (foraminifers, radiolarians, ammonoids, graptolites), results of paleobiogeographic, paleoclimatic, paleoecological and paleofacies reconstructions, new data on biostratigraphy of sediments of various ages by microfossils and macrofauna were discussed during the session. A number of presentations were devoted to the morphology, environment, evolution and systematics of ancient animals, lagerstätten and trace fossils of various origin. Much attention was given to Precambrian paleontology: results of studies of organic matter in the oldest Archaean formations, Riphean microfossils and stromatolites were discussed. Problems of the Cambrian lower boundary were highlighted; new data on the systematics, taphonomy and biostratigraphy of Vendian-Cambrian fossils were presented.

The Proceedings of the 70^th Session of the Paleontological Society were published for the meeting, which contained abstracts of 185 presentations; 165 presentations were made at the session, a record number in the history of the annual meetings of the Society. During the session, the Interdepartmental Stratigraphic Committee of Russia and the Central Council of the Society held their meeting, 13 people were admitted as full members.

For the good preparation and successful holding of the meeting, as well as for the timely publication of the "Proceedings of the 70th Session..." its participants express their gratitude to the Administration of the Karpinsky Institute, the Department of Exhibition Activities, the staff of the Cartographic Factory, the Scientific Secretary of the Institute T.Yu. Tolmacheva, Scientific Secretary of the Society A.A. Suyarkova, members of the Organising Committee: employees of the Department of Stratigraphy and Paleontology V.V. Gorshenina, E.L. Grundan and E.S. Razumkova; employee of the Sector of the Interdepartmental Stratigraphic Committee E.N. Leontieva, and the staff of the Institute's Technical Support Department A.Yu. Yakovlev, T.V. Bodryakov and M.A. Lanovoy.