Official page for the Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa (PSSA) & the society’s biannual newsletter, PalNews 🌍🦕🌿🐊🐀🐒⛏🦴 📧 [email protected]
Johannesburg, South Africa
Joined July 2016
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Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa retweeted
The remarkable diversity of mammalian carnivores may be built on a surprisingly limited set of dental solutions—teeth that are good at slicing meat cannot also excel at crushing hard foods, and vice versa.
According to a new Science study, this inherent tradeoff between cutting and crushing performance has repeatedly steered the evolution of carnassial teeth toward two recurring forms, helping explain how predators evolved to exploit different diets.
Learn more: scim.ag/4pwkUY0
📅 Save the Date!
The countdown begins! Join us as the Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa gathers once again to share the latest research, reconnect with colleagues, and celebrate our shared passion for palaeontology.
#PSSA2027 #Palaeontology #SouthernAfrica #Fossils
Last in our speaker lineup: Fonda Mathlaga 🎤🦴
Join us on the 4th of June 2026 for an evening of palaeontological research, discussion, and community.
#PSSA #Palaeontology #SeminarEvening
Talk Title: Anomodonts of the Abrahamskraal Formation, Beaufort Group, SA
📍 Cate Druce Lecture Room, Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
📅 RSVP by 25 May 2026 for catering purposes
💰 @GenusPalaeo
#SpeakerHighlight #SouthAfricanScience
Today is the final day to submit your applications for our Mobility Grant. This grant supports a student member attending our upcoming Seminar Evening.
To apply, email a short motivation to the PSSA Executive at [email protected]
#PSSA #PalaeontologyStudents #MobilityGrant
📍Cate Druce Lecture Room, Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
#EarlyCareerResearchers #ScienceEvents
Towering onto the screen: Vulcanodon, among the earliest known sauropods to emerge in the wake of the Triassic–Jurassic transition 🌍🦴 Featured in The Dinosaurs. #Palaeontology #Sauropod #Jurassic #SouthernAfricanFossils #DinosaurPaleontology #FossilHeritage #TheDinosaurs
📍 Fossil localities are more than points on a map - they are records of ancient worlds, preserved in stone.
Happy #FossilFriday!
#OnderKaroo #KarooBasin #SouthAfricanFossils #AfricanPaleontology #DeepTime #Fossils #Paleoecology #EarthHistory #Gondwana #Fieldwork
Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa retweeted
From the archives, our low budget version of Walking with Dinosaurs back in fieldwork near Clarens, South Africa nearly a decade ago. You might recognise some of the people watching in bemusement as I pace out these tracks (thanks to @Kimi_Chap for sharing) … #FossilFriday
Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa retweeted
From living to fossil: ancestral state reconstruction of leaf architecture in extant Lauraceae & its relevance for the fossil record onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/…
ALT Photographs of seven extant laurel leaves illustrating the variety of morphology among members of the Family Lauraceae. Top row from left to right: Ocotea purpurea (scale bar 1 cm); Cryptocarya aschersoniana (scale bar 0.5 cm); Damburneya cf. coriacea (scale bar 1 cm); Machilus japonica (scale bar 2 cm). Bottom row from left to right: Caryodaphnopsis burgeri (scale bar 2 cm); Sassafras albidum (scale bar 2 cm); Lindera obtusiloba (scale bar 2 cm). Blue rectangle in bottom right corner is a cover image for the journal palaeontology. All leaves from the Collection of Cleared Leaves of the Institute of Geology, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.
Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa retweeted
Just spotted this on the post box opposite @NHM_London very wholesome content and possibly one of the most heartfelt tributes I’ve seen to the great man
Join us in welcoming Prof. Roger M.H. Smith as one of the speakers at this year’s PSSA Seminar Evening 🎤🦴
We look forward to hearing more about his work and engaging with the southern African palaeontological community on the 4th of June 2026.
#SpeakerHighlight
Talk Title: New Early Permian lacustrine faunas of Namibia and Brazil
📍 Cate Druce Lecture Room, Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 📅 RSVP by 25 May 2026 for catering purposes 💰 @genus.palaeo
#PSSA #Palaeontology #SeminarEvening
Student members - this one’s for you 🎓🦴
The PSSA will be offering a Mobility Grant to support a student member attending our upcoming Seminar Evening. To apply, email a short motivation to the PSSA Executive at [email protected] by 20 May 2026 for consideration.
This #FossilFriday, discover the latest research and palaeontological highlights from members of our society in the newest volume of #PalNew.
📖 The newsletter is available now via the link in our bio.
#Paleontology #AfricanPaleontology #SouthAfricanScience #PaleoCommunity
Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa retweeted
Congratulations Sir David Attenborough on your 100th b’day 🎂 Life on Earth was a seminal moment for 8-year old me: captivating & a major reason I am where I am now. I can’t hear that theme tune without getting goosebumps. It’s been a joy & privilege to meet & work with you
Another South African fossil featured in 🎥 The Dinosaurs. Massospondylus, a key taxon in our understanding of early sauropodomorph evolution 🇿🇦🦕.
#Palaeontology #SouthAfricanScience #KarooBasin #Massospondylus #Triassic #DeepTime #TheDinosaurs #FossilHeritage
📚Paper: Chapelle et al 2022 – Interelemental osteohistological variation in Massospondylus carinatus and its implications for locomotion. (peerj.com/articles/13918)
