Are you interested in animals, and specifically in tetrapods: that is, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, living and extinct? Are you interested in their evolution, biology and diversity, in their portrayal in art, literature and fiction, in the animals of the distant past, in conservation, cryptozoology, domestication and, frankly, in just about anything relevant to the world of tetrapods? If the answer is “Hmm, I’m not sure”, you might like to go away and do something different. BUT if the answer is “Yes”, have you heard about TetZooCon?
Yes, TetZooCon, an annual meeting themed around the contents and remit of the world-famous blog Tetrapod Zoology (currently in its 13th year and 4th iteration). This year TetZooCon is going virtual, with an afternoon and evening of talks and events on Zoom.
Announcing Events for the 2020 Zoom Meeting
A Zoom-based meeting is, of course, going to be different. But we hope it works out ok. It will at least allow more of our friends and like-minded colleagues from the far-off lands across the sea to attend - hello to you, dear foreigners! At the time of writing, the schedule is still being firmed up and things aren’t fully confirmed. But here’s the rough plan…
Session moderators are John Conway, Sharon Hill, Darren Naish.
Saturday 12th December (times given are as per GMT)
16.00-16.15 welcome to TetZoomCon 2020, from John Conway and Darren Naish
16.15-16.45 Becky Wragg Sykes — Re-imagining Neanderthals: From Archaeology to Palaeoart
16.45-17.15 Natalia Jagielska — The Rise & Demise Of Non-Pterodactyloid Pterosaurs
17.15-17.45 RJ Palmer — Paleoart as Creature Design
17.45-18.45 BREAK FOR 1 HOUR (breakout sessions for those who want them)
18.45-19.15 Anjali Goswami — Digitising vertebrates: or how a mammalogist stopped being impressed by birds and learned to love salamanders
19.15-19-45 David Lindo — Missing: Without Action (on recently extinct birds)
19.45-21.15 British big cats workshop - intro from Darren Naish, film discussion with Matthew Everett, a discussion with author and environmental consultant Rick Minter, with input from field investigator Matt Jones and ecologist and naturalist Leo Willis
21.15-21.30 break (as we set up the palaeoart workshop)
21.30-late? Palaeoart workshop (with a host of palaeoartists!)
Admission to the main event, including all talks.
Note - this does not include entry to the Palaeoart Workshop.
Admission to the Palaeoart Workshop, your chance to draw along with a palaeoartist. Spaces are limited!
Previous Years:
Talks from previous years (2014 to 2017) have covered a huge range of subjects...
2014's meeting included talks on mermaids past and present (Paolo Viscardi, Horniman Museum and Art Gallery), the history of speculative zoology (Darren Naish, Tet Zoo Towers), the amphibian conservation crisis (Helen Meredith, ZSL), azhdarchid pterosaurs (Mark Witton, University of Portsmouth), Shakespeare and mystery primates (Carole Jahme, journalist and broadcaster), wildlife photography (Neil Phillips, UK Wildlife) and the biology of sauropod dinosaurs (Mike Taylor, University of Bristol). A write-up of the 2014 event is here.
At the 2015 meeting we had talks on urban birdwatching (David Lindo, aka The Urban Birdwatcher), Mesozoic marine reptiles (Jessica Lawrence-Wujek, University of Southampton), pygmy elephants (Matt Salusbury, freelance journalist), the story behind The Future Is Wild (Vicky Coules, writer and artist), the story behind The Unfeathered Bird (Katrina van Grouw, artist and writer), the science of sea monsters (Darren Naish again), and more. A write-up of the 2015 event is here.
2016 was similarly excellent and electric: speakers covered bears in Britain (Hannah O'Regan, University of Nottingham), the vital statistics of the Loch Ness Monster (Charles Paxton, University of St Andrews), the biomechanics of kneecaps (John Hutchinson, Royal Veterinary College), dinosaurs and the evolution of sex (Darren Naish, yet again), exotic sooglossid frogs (Jim Labisko, University of Kent), pterosaur biology (David Unwin, University of Leicester) and more. A write-up of the event is here.
The 2017 event was the first at our new, much larger venue: The Venue. The substantial extra space allowed much more as goes merchandise, products and artwork. Talks included Darren Naish on Hunting Monsters, Rose-Heather Mikhail on the history of zoos, Dani Rabaiotti on Does It Fart?, Aubrey Roberts on Triassic marine reptiles, Beth Windle on thylacines, and Ben Garrod on how things work in TV-land... A fuller account can be read here at TetZoo.
2018’s TetZooCon stepped things up to WHOLE NEW LEVEL with two full days of TetZooConiness… TetZooConity… TetZooCo— whatever. Unsurprisingly, it featured twice as much material as the TetZooCons of previous years, and the larger scope of the meeting meant space for loads more stuff. Events included a block of talks on bird evolution (with talks from Robyn Womack, Caitlin Kight, Albert Chen, Hanneke Meijer and Glyn Young), a panel discussion on bird evolution, a parallel palaeoart session that occurred separately from the other talks, talks from Steve Allain (snake fungal disease), Jennifer Jackson (baleen whale biology and evolution), Ian Redmond (‘The Reluctant Conservationist’), several book signings, an on-stage discussion devoted to speculative biology, a conference meal, a drinks reception, and lots more stalls. A fuller description of what happened is here at TetZoo.
Aaaaaand 2019’s TetZooCon was the biggest and bestest so far. Again, TWO WHOLE DAYS of TetZooCon-ness, including panel discussions on natural history film-making and the palaeobiology of dinosaurs and pterosaurs, a giant palaeoart event and exhibition (with talks from Rebecca Groom, Joschua Knüppe, Agata Stachowiak and Jed Taylor), and talks from Jack Ashby (unnatural history museums), Ellen Coombs (whale stranding records), Lauren McGough (hunting with eagles), Alice Pawlik (amphibian conservation), Ross Barnett (The Missing Lynx), Tim Haines (Walking with Dinosaurs to Dinosaurs in the Wild - 20 Years of Popular Digital Palaeontology) and Amy Schwartz (studying roadkill). It was epic! A TetZoo write-up is here. Surely things can only get better. Surely the 2020 meeting will be THE GREATEST TETZOOCON THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEEEEN!!!!!111!!!!! Oh….
Social Media and Sharing
TetZooCon promotes the sharing of info and images used during the meeting on twitter and other social media platforms and it is assumed that presenters and speakers are ok with the sharing of their material unless they state otherwise. Please use #TetZooCon when tweeting or in instagram. Please note that photos and audio and visual recordings taken during the event will be used online (at the Tetrapod Zoology blog etc) and on social media. Please make us aware if you wish to opt out.
Code of Conduct
TetZooCon operates a code of conduct whereby we do not tolerate harassment of conference participants in any form. Participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the conference without a refund at the discretion of the organisers. We follow the Conference Code of Conduct recommendations explained in more detail here. If you have any questions, concerns or relevant issues to discuss, please contact any of the organisers via email or our social media channel.
Terms and Conditions
We regret that we cannot provide refunds for people who have purchased tickets but are then unable to attend. The appearance of all advertised speakers and presenters is dependent on circumstances and may change at any time.
