Every autumn, paleontologists worldwide begin preparing for the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Annual Meeting. It is an opportunity to share research, learn alongside colleagues, and explore the local fieldwork that sparks international curiosity.
In both 1964 and 1980, the Florida Museum welcomed the Annual Meeting to Gainesville.
At the time of the 1980 meeting, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology held 1,281 members and was in its fortieth year of annual gatherings. There were presentations, social hours, and (the most exciting!) a field trip. This trip was to the prolific Thomas Farm Site, an 18-million-year-old sinkhole in Bell, Florida. It is teeming with vertebrate fossils of the Hemingfordian, including those of birds and small fauna.
These photographs from the archives show the 1980 field trip in action, with visitors touring through the shade and sand.
More
- Florida Vertebrate Fossils: Thomas Farm fossil site
- Florida Vertebrate Fossils: Land Mammal Ages, Hemingfordian
- About the Vertebrate Paleontology archives
- Membership data referenced in Society of Vertebrate Paleontology News Bulletin. No. 121, February 1981, page 3. This bulletin is contained within archival item S1.NB.12 (Society of Vertebrate Paleontology News Bulletin, 121-126, 1981-82).
Photographs: Vertebrate Paleontology Archives, items S7.1.3.1, S7.1.3.2 and S7.1.3.3