The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) is a professional organization that was founded in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 1940 to advance the science of

vertebrate paleontology Vertebrate paleontology is the subfield of paleontology that seeks to discover, through the study of fossilized remains, the behavior, reproduction and appearance of extinct animals with vertebrae or a notochord. It also tries to connect, by us ...

around the world.

Mission and Activities

SVP has about 2,300 members internationally and holds annual scientific conferences in North America and elsewhere. It is organized for educational and scientific purposes with a mission to "advance the

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

of vertebrate paleontology and to serve the common interests and facilitate the cooperation of all persons concerned with the history,

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

, comparative anatomy, and

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

of vertebrate animals, as well as field occurrence, collection, and study of fossil vertebrates and the stratigraphy of the beds in which they are found." SVP is also concerned with the conservation and preservation of fossil sites. SVP publications include the ''

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology The ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that was established in 1980 by Jiri Zidek (University of Oklahoma). It covers all aspects of vertebrate paleontology, including vertebrate origins, evolu ...

'', the ''SVP Memoir Series'', the ''News Bulletin'', the''Bibliography of Fossil Vertebrates'' and most recently '' Palaeontologia Electronica''.

History

SVP was founded as an independent society in 1940 by a group of scientists who had formed the 'section of vertebrate paleontology' in the

Paleontological Society The Paleontological Society, formerly the Paleontological Society of America, is an international organisation devoted to the promotion of paleontology. The Society was founded in 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland, and was incorporated in April 1968 in ...

six years earlier. Among the founding members were

George Gaylord Simpson George Gaylord Simpson (June 16, 1902 – October 6, 1984) was an American paleontologist. Simpson was perhaps the most influential paleontologist of the twentieth century, and a major participant in the modern synthesis, contributing '' Tempo ...

, who was nine years later also a founding member of the

Society for the Study of Evolution The Society for the Study of Evolution is a professional organization of evolutionary biologists. It was formed in the United States in 1946 to promote evolution and the integration of various fields of science concerned with evolution and to organ ...

, and

Alfred Sherwood Romer Alfred Sherwood Romer (December 28, 1894 – November 5, 1973) was an American paleontologist and biologist and a specialist in vertebrate evolution. Biography Alfred Romer was born in White Plains, New York, the son of Harry Houston Romer an ...

. SVP's members wanted to maintain a strong focus on evolution and zoology at a time when the Paleontological Society was becoming increasingly biostratigraphic and industry focused. SVP's first president was Al Romer (served 1940-41), and its current president is Jessica Theodor. Six out of the last eight of SVP's presidents have been women (

Annalisa Berta Annalisa Berta (born 23 July 1952) is an American paleontologist and professor emerita in the Department of Biology at San Diego State University. The focus of her research is the evolution and fossil history of whales and other marine mammals, ...

, Catherine E. Badgley,

Blaire Van Valkenburgh Blaire Van Valkenburgh is an American paleontologist and holds the Donald R. Dickey Chair in Vertebrate Biology in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at University of California Los Angeles. She is a former president of Society of ...

Catherine Forster Catherine Ann Forster is an American paleontologist, taxonomist and expert in ornithopod evolution and ''Triceratops ''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of herbivorous chasmosaurine ceratopsid dinosaur that first appeared during the late ...

, Emily Rayfield, and Jessica Theodor), as is the president-elect (Margaret Lewis).

Public policies

SVP considers that "vertebrate Fossils are significant nonrenewable paleontological resources that are afforded protection by federal, state and local environmental laws and guidelines", and that scientifically important fossils, especially those found on public land, should be held in the public trust, preferably in a museum or research institution, where they can benefit the scientific community as a whole. The

Paleontological Resources Preservation Act. S. 546 The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (, ) is a land management law passed in the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 30, 2009. The bill designates millions of acres in the US as protected an ...

and H. R. 2416 were introduced in the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

with the support of SVP. SVP has also been involved in legal action to protect the original boundaries of Grand Staircase–Escalante and

Bears Ears The Bears Ears are a pair of buttes located in San Juan County in southeastern Utah, United States. They are protected as part of and the namesake of the Bears Ears National Monument, managed by the Bureau of Land Management and United States ...

national monuments, both of which were established to provide protection for paleontological resources. The ethics by-law of SVP states "The barter, sale, or purchase of scientifically significant vertebrate fossils is not condoned, unless it brings them into or keeps them within a public trust." Because of this, SVP has advocated that scientifically important fossils, such as the theropod skeleton auctioned in Paris in 2018, be placed in public trust repositories like those at major museums and universities. The position of the SVP is that "The fossil record of vertebrates unequivocally supports the hypothesis that vertebrates have evolved through time" and that evolution is "the central organizing principle of

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

, understood as descent with modification" and is important to

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

as well. The Society believes only scientifically supported evolutionary theory should be taught in school and that creationism and

intelligent design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins". Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for its bold attempt to ...

have no place in the scientific curriculum. To this end, SVP has set up programs to train educators in teaching evolution.

Publications

*''The

'' (JVP) is the society's flagship publication. JVP was founded in 1980 at the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

and continued in 1984 by SVP. JVP contains original contributions on all aspects of the vertebrate paleontology; including vertebrate origins, evolution,

functional morphology Functional may refer to: * Movements in architecture: ** Functionalism (architecture) ** Form follows function * Functional group, combination of atoms within molecules * Medical conditions without currently visible organic basis: ** Functional sy ...

, taxonomy,

biostratigraphy Biostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy which focuses on correlating and assigning relative ages of rock strata by using the fossil assemblages contained within them.Hine, Robert. “Biostratigraphy.” ''Oxford Reference: Dictionary of B ...

paleoecology Paleoecology (also spelled palaeoecology) is the study of interactions between organisms and/or interactions between organisms and their environments across geologic timescales. As a discipline, paleoecology interacts with, depends on and informs ...

paleobiogeography Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

, and paleoanthropology. *The ''SVP Memoir Series'' publishes monographic papers that are longer than JVP articles. *''The News Bulletin'' has been published for SVP since its founding. ''The News Bulletin'' contains minutes of annual business meetings, news from members around the world, address changes, new members, job advertisements, and obituaries. *''The Bibliography of Fossil Vertebrates'' is an index for publications on all subjects related to vertebrate paleontology. *''Palaeontologia Electronica'' is the world's first electronic journal of paleontology and is sponsored in part by SVP.

Awards and prizes

The SVP issues the following awards, grants and prizes: *Cohen Award for Student Research (after Steven Cohen) *Colbert Prize Student Poster Prize (after Edwin H. and Margaret Colbert) *Dawson Predoctoral Fellowship Grant (after Mary R. Dawson) *Estes Memorial Grant (after Richard Estes) *Gregory Award (after Joseph T. Gregory) *Hix Preparators' Grant (after Marvin and Beth Hix) *Honorary Membership *Institutional Membership (a program for institutions in developing nations) *Lanzendorf-National Geographic PaleoArt Prizes (after John Lanzendorf) *Patterson Memorial Grant (after Bryan Patterson) *Program for Scientists from Economically Developing Nations *Romer Prize (after

Alfred Romer Alfred Sherwood Romer (December 28, 1894 – November 5, 1973) was an American paleontologist and biologist and a specialist in vertebrate evolution. Biography Alfred Romer was born in White Plains, New York, the son of Harry Houston Romer an ...

) * Romer-Simpson Medal (after Alfred S. Romer and George G. Simpson) *Skinner Award (after Morris Skinner) *Wood Award (after Albert E. Wood) *Jackson School of Geosciences Travel Grant *SVP Futures Award *Carroll Award (after Robert Carroll)

References

External links

SVP's websiteSVP's Blog "Old Bones"Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology
{{authority control Paleontological institutions and organizations Scientific societies based in the United States Geology societies Natural Science Collections Alliance members Bethesda, Maryland Paleontology in the United States Scientific organizations established in 1940