ANNOUNCEMENT - INTERNATIONAL MEETING
Interrelationships of the Platyhelminthes
14-16 July 1999
The Linnean Society of London
Burlington House, Piccadilly
London W1V OLQ
The phylum Platyhelminthes comprises the numerous and diverse flatworms.
They hold a fascination for biologists at a multitude of levels and perhaps
occupy a pivotal position in the evolution of the Metazoa. Are they the
earliest divergent bilaterians still extant? Do they hold the key to the
evolution of the Metazoa? Do they exhibit a body plan from which more
complex coelomate organisms can be derived? With such fundamental questions
relying on our understanding of the group, it is unfortunate that the
phylogeny of the group is so poorly understood and that the very monophyly
of the group is not established.
The group is successful not only in terms of numbers of species (one
estimate is over 100,000 spp.) but also in the diversity of ecological
niches they occupy and life-history strategies they pursue. Terrestrial,
limnetic and marine free-living flatworms ('turbellarians') are abundant
and ubiquitous but perhaps not so familiar as the Neodermata, comprised of
obligate parasites such as cestodes, digeneans and monogeneans.
The division between workers on free-living flatworms and parasitologists
has been considerable, if not complete, and has impeded a wider
understanding of the phylum from a systematic and a general comparative
approach. In an attempt to address this problem a meeting will be held at
the Linnean Society in London when it is hoped that this division will be
bridged and a unified approach be developed for the study of the phylogeny
of the platyhelminths. Experts and specialists in up to 30 different groups
of organisms and disciplines will review the progress made in flatworm
phylogenetics since the seminal work of Ulrich Ehlers Das Phylogenetische
System der Plathelminthes (1985). The advances in sperm morphology,
confocal microscopy, neuroanatomy, comparative morphology, molecular
systematics, parasitology, and modern phylogenetics are brought to bear on
providing a unified system that tracks the evolutionary origins and
radiation of the group.
The meeting will appeal to those working directly with flatworms (e.g.
parasitologists, and developmental biologists) as well as those interested
in general zoology, (morphological and molecular) systematics,
phylogenetics and evolutionary biology.
Provisional Programme ...
Speakers and titles:
Wednesday 14 July 1999
Prof. Ulrich Ehlers, University of G=F6ttingen
Advances in understanding the phylogeny of the Platyhelminthes
Prof. Seth Tyler, University of Maine
The early evolution of the Platyhelminthes
Dr. Olga Raikova, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg
Contributions to the phylogeny and systematics of the Acoelomorpha
Prof. Reinhard Rieger, University of Innsbr=FCck
Phylogenetic systematics of the Macrostomorpha
Prof. Jaume Bagu=F1=E0, University of Barcelona
Molecular taxonomy and phylogeny of Tricladida
Dr. Boris Joffe, , Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg
=46latworm phylogeneticist: between molecular hammer and morphological anvil
Prof. David Halton, Queen's University Belfast
The flatworm nervous system and neuromusculature as sources of phylogenetic
characters
Dr. Nikki Watson, University of New England, Armidale
Insights from comparative spermatology in the (turbellarian) Rhabdocoela
Prof. Klaus Rohde, University of New England, Armidale
Protonephridia as phylogenetic characters
Dr. Max Telford, The Natural History Museum, London
Prof. Jean Lou Justine, Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris
Spermatozoa of Platyhelminthes and phylogeny
Dr. Ronald Sluys, University of Amsterdam
Towards a phylogenetic classification and characterization of Dugesiid
genera: a morphological perspective"
Dr. Ulf Jondelius, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm
The Prolecithophora
Dr. Walter Boeger, Universidade Federale Para=F1a
Phylogeny of Monogenoidea: a critical review of hypotheses
Dr. Marco Curini-Galletti, Universit=E0 di Sassari
Recent advances on the phylogeny and systematics of the Proseriata
Dr. Lester Cannon - The Queensland Museum
The Temnocephalida
Prof. Willi Xylander, Staatliches Museum f=FCr Naturkunde Goerlitz
Gyrocotylidea, Amphilinidea and the early evolution of the Cestoda
Prof. Janine Caira - University of Connecticut
The Tetraphyllidea - masters of host-specificity
Dr. Jean Mariaux - Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, Geneva
Cestode phylogeny in the molecular era
Prof. Ian Beveridge - University of Melbourne
The phylogenetic utility of cestode life cycles
Dr. Eric Hoberg, USDA, Maryland
A phylogeny for the Eucestoda: ordinal relationships integrating
morphology, molecules and total evidence
Prof. Klaus Rohde - University of New England, Armidale
The Aspidogastrea, an archaic group of Platyhelminthes
Dr. Vasilij Tkach - Ukrainian Academy of Sciences
The Plagiorchiida
Dr. David Rollinson - The Natural History Museum, London
Phylogeny of the Scistosomatidae
Dr. Rod Bray - The Natural History Museum, London
The Digenea - evidence from molecules and morphology
Dr. Tom Cribb - University of Queensland
Seeking phylogenetic value from the digenean life-cycle
Dr. Mark Wilkinson - The Natural History Museum, London
Towards a phylogenetic supertree for the Platyhelminthes
Prof. Dan Brooks - University of Toronto
=46rom description to explanation: putting the phylogenetic data base to wor=
k
Interrelationships of the Platyhelminthes
14-16 JULY 1999
Registration Fees :
=46ull registration =8A 80.00 pounds sterling
Linnean Society Fellows, BSP and Systematics Association members 45.00
Student registration =8A 25.00
Lunch & Refreshments =8A 15.00
Conference Dinner =8A 35.00
Registration forms and details from :
Ms. Marquita Baird
Meetings Officer, The Linnean Society of London
Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1V 0LQ
=46ax: +44 171 287 9364;
e-mail: marquita at linnean.demon.co.uk
