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Mammal-like reptiles..¬† warm blooded maybe? I’m not sure if anyone besides me would be interested in this type of talk.. I also wonder how close to the area where burning man takes place this research is happening? -Mark
Exciting new ideas on the most distant evolutionary origins of mammals
Professor Bruce Rubidge
Date:      Thursday 4 June                  Time: 20:00
Venue:   The auditorium, Roedean School, 35 Princess of Wales Terrace, Parktown
Charge:  R20
The Karoo is internationally acclaimed for its wealth of fossil reptiles, in particular therapsid mammal-like reptiles, the group that gave rise to mammals. Indeed, the record of therapsids from South Africa chronicles the early evolution of mammals in remarkable detail, providing a text-book example of how evolution occurs. Over the past decade there has been much speculation as to whether the earliest ancestors of mammals had their origins in Gondwana (South Africa) or Laurasia (Russia). Recent research in both supercontinents provides new information on the distant ancestry of mammals, and an extensive field programme in the Karoo offers exciting insight on the age, evolution, biodiversity and extinction of the oldest land-living reptiles from Gondwana.
Bruce Rubidge is director of the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research at Wits. He grew up on the fossil-rich family farm Wellwood near Graaff-Reinet and collected his first worthwhile fossil at the age of 5. He has published widely on vertebrate palaeontology and is active in heritage and geoscience-related issues. His particular research speciality is in therapsids, sedimentology and basin development of the Karoo.
