China News Service, Beijing, September 12 (Reporter Sun Zifa) Reporter learned from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology), Chinese Academy of Sciences, on September 12 that the 18th Annual Academic Conference of Vertebrate Paleontology and the 10th International Conference on Pterosaurs in China was held in Hami, Xinjiang from September 11 to 14. Nearly 400 experts and scholars from more than 100 scientific research institutes, universities and cultural institutions around the world gathered together to conduct in-depth academic exchanges and discussions around vertebrate paleontology, pterosaurs and other research.
Poster for this conference. Photo courtesy of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Academician Xu Xing, Director of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chairman of the Chinese Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, delivered a speech on behalf of the organizers. He reviewed the significant progress made in the fields of vertebrate paleontology and paleoanthropology in China over the past two years and believed that the output of these breakthrough results fully demonstrated the vigorous development of vertebrate paleontology and paleoanthropology in China.
Xu Xing said that Hami was the choke point of the middle route of the Silk Road, and the Bronze Age archaeological discoveries represented by Yanbulak Cemetery have been famous in the academic world since the 20th century. In 2005, academician Qiu Zhanxiang and researcher Wang Banyue of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, identified pterosaurs from broken bones in Hami, kicking off the research of Hami, a world-class fossil treasure house.
He said that since then, for more than 20 years, the scientific research team represented by researcher Wang Xiaolin has worked hard and explored here, and made a series of breakthrough discoveries. They have published important articles in top international journals such as Science, and named and established the Hami pterosaur fauna. Hami has therefore been known as the "Pterosaur Eden".
At the opening ceremony of the conference, the 2026 seventh "Yang Zhongjian Science Communication Award" was announced and awarded. The Chinese Society of Vertebrate Paleontology awarded the Hami Museum the title of "Science Popularization Education Base of the Chinese Society of Vertebrate Paleontology".
The conference reports cover cutting-edge fields such as research on the Hami pterosaur fauna, a review of twenty years of cooperative research between China and Brazil, research on the ancient genome of Chinese mammals in the Quaternary, structural innovations in early bony fishes, human evolution issues in the early and middle Pleistocene cave accumulation mammals in southern China, functional morphology and its application in vertebrate paleontology research.
Branch reports showcase the latest achievements and progress in the fields of vertebrate paleontology, paleoanthropology, paleolithic archaeology, molecular biology, paleoenvironmental science, museum construction, and science popularization from multiple perspectives. In addition, the conference also arranged 103 oral reports and 60 poster reports.
It is reported that more than 90% of the reports at this conference were completed by academic backbones, young scholars and graduate students. Young talents are becoming a new force in the development of the discipline.
The 18th Chinese Annual Academic Conference on Vertebrate Paleontology and the 10th International Conference on Pterosaurs was hosted by the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, and the Hami Institute of Culture and Museum, and hosted by the Hami Museum. (over)
