In section Paleobiology and Paleoenvironments, we study the evolution of ecosystems over long timescales. We deduce the environmental factors which significantly influenced the emergence and disappearance of communities throughout Earth’s history, alongside predicting the effects of modern day anthropogenic climate change on future ecosystems. To achieve this we combine geological fieldwork, state-of-the-art analytical methods, palaeobiological databases and statistical analysis.
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On October 29, 2025, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Kießling will give a lecture at the Nuremberg Planetarium titled “Between heat and hope: Species conservation in the age of climate change.” The event is part of the lecture series “Species conservation in the Anthropocene: Strategies for a Livable Future.”
As part of its regular courses, the GeoZentrum Nordbayern in Erlangen conducts a two-week field exercise on Gotland (Sweden) every two years. This year, master's students in palaeontology once again spent two weeks on the island learning how to measure geological sections on various scales and using different techniques, as well as how to extract information about sedimentary environments from rocks and fossils. Please read more...
This July, an international team of researchers, co-led by Professor Rachel Warnock, organised a “Taming the BEAST” workshop at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) in Beijing, China. Please read more...
