Fw: Mosasaur meeting 2004 2nd Try

[Danvarner@aol.com]

Dear friends and colleagues -

In April or May of 2004, we hope to organise a special meeting on all 
aspects of mosasaur taxonomy, systematics and palaeobiogeography, plus 
biostratigraphy and taphonomy.

During recent years numerous new mosasaur taxa from around the world 
have been erected, which would suggest that there is currently much 
life in mosasaur studies. Yet, at every palaeontological meeting we 
have attended recently, we have come across only very few mosasaur 
workers. For that reason we feel the time is right to have a special 
session devoted solely to these wonderful creatures, without any other 
vertebrate groups to distract us.

The aim of this first circular is to invite you all to this meeting, to 
be held in Maastricht in April or May of 2004. The reason for choosing 
Maastricht is obvious: the 'lizards of the Meuse (Maas) River' were 
first discovered here around 1770, and formally described as Mosasaurus 
hoffmanni by Gideon Mantell in 1829. In other words, the birthplace of 
mosasaurs - an ideal venue to stage this first mosasaur meeting, which 
ideally would have sequels elsewhere at regular intervals of 2 or 3 
years.

At this point, we would much like to hear from you if you consider 
attending such a meeting and let us know what you think of such an 
initiative. The exact dates have not been fixed yet - your response to 
this first circular will allow us to decide on the number of days for 
sessions and field work .

In addition to sessions and informal discussion, we will of course 
organise a field trip to the Maastrichtian type locality, the extensive 
underground galleries where the first mosasaur fossils were discovered, 
as well as the Geulhemmerberg K/T boundary section. We might also 
consider a trip to various other museums whose collections comprise 
type material of various mosasaur taxa from the Netherlands and 
Belgium. Our own museum collections are of course also available for 
study, but this needs prior arrangement.

Maastricht is within easy reach from many international airports: 
Amsterdam, Brussels and Düsseldorf are the local hubs, and the nearby 
Maastricht/Aachen regional airport has 3 to 5 daily connections with 
Amsterdam and London. Maastricht is also easily reached by car and 
train (3 hrs from Amsterdam).

Please get back to us during the coming weeks, and forward this message 
to your co-mosasaur workers. The second circular will go out well 
before the summer break.

Hope to hear from you soon and looking forward to welcoming you to 
Maastricht next year,

Kindest regards -



Anne S. Schulp & John W.M. Jagt
anneschulp@home.nl / john.jagt@maastricht.nl

Natuurhistorisch Museum Maastricht
PO Box 882
NL6200AW Maastricht
The Netherlands

tel. +31 43 3505490
fax +31 43 3505475

www.nhmmaastricht.nl