NOW 25^th Anniversary Meeting

Sabadell (Barcelona), 16–18 November 2022

Organized by the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP)

The NOW database of fossil mammals (https://nowdatabase.org/) started as a small joint initiative of a few researchers in 1996 but over three decades it has grown and evolved into a thriving community including mammal paleontologists from all over the world. NOW, initially set to include only data of Neogene mammals from the Old World, has turned global in scope and nowadays includes data for Cenozoic mammals worldwide. A lot has changed since 1996, yet the spirit, illusion, and ideals that promoted its creation are still there and have succeed in engaging new generations of paleontologists.

We have NOW for years to come, but 25 years is quite a respectable age for a database and this requires a celebration. Therefore, after one year delay because of the pandemic, it is our pleasure to invite you to the NOW 25^th anniversary meeting to be held in Sabadell (Barcelona, Spain) in November 16–18^th 2022. Please note this is not an event reserved to NOW contributors, everyone is invited!

Venue

The NOW 25^th Anniversary Meeting will be fully face-to-face and held at the Espai Cultura Fundació 1859 Caixa Sabadell (https://www.fundaciosabadell.cat/en/fundacio-1859-caixa-sabadell/), which is in the Sabadell city center, just a few meters away from the ICP museum. The Espai Cultura is an ancient modernist style building by renowned architect Jeroni Martorell surrounded by nice gardens. It is equipped with a large modern auditorium and several smaller meeting rooms. Catering for coffee-breaks and lunch is included.

Dates and deadlines

Registration, payment, and abstract submission deadline: September the 30^th.

Registration information and prices

• Regular: 120 €
• Student: 60 €

Registration price is 120 euros and includes attendance to the meeting, lunch and coffee breaks during the 16^th and the 17^th at Espai Cultura Fundació 1859 Caixa Sabadell. Field trip expenses, including celebration lunch and visit to the Finca Batllori cellar, are also included in the price.

Student price: Degree and master students, as well as PhD candidates and early postdocs (up to after 2 years of PhD completion) have a discount rate of 50% over the registration price thanks to sponsorship by Ajuntament de Subirats.

Click here to fill in the registration form: https://form.jotform.com/221942466411352

Presentations, abstract submission, and publication

For the NOW 25^th Anniversary Meeting contributions will be restricted to oral presentations only. Oral presentations are scheduled for 15 minutes duration including a few minutes for questions. Contributors should check the different thematic sessions (see below) and indicate in the registration form in which session they would prefer to feature their work. If you are unsure which session suits better your contribution, please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. If several presentations not fitting any symposium are received, an open theme session may be included in the program.

Extended abstracts will be peer-reviewed and published in a special issue of the journal Paleontologia i Evolució published by the ICP. Abstracts can be up to 500 words long and include 1 figure (color or grayscale) and up to 5 references. Abstract formatting template is available for download here: https://www.icp.cat/attachments/cursos/NOW25_Conference_Abstracte_Template.docx. Please use it! Abstracts not following the template style will be returned to the authors. Abstracts can be submitted through the registration form. The abstract volume, including the fieldtrip guide, will be available shortly before the meeting.

How to arrive to Sabadell and suggestions for accommodation

Sabadell is one of the largest cities in Catalonia and is located just 20 km north of Barcelona. Historically an important industrial center it is well communicated by road and railway with Barcelona. To arrive to Sabadell from the Barcelona–El Prat Airport the best option is to take the Aerobus (A1 or A2; check departure times here: https://www.barcelona-aerobus-tickets.com/barcelona-aerobus-timetable/) to the center of Barcelona (Plaça Catalunya). Once at Plaça Catalunya go to central station to take the train to Sabadell. You may take Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (line S2; check departure times here: https://www.fgc.cat/en/fgc-network/l-barcelona-valles/en-lines-and-schedule-barcelona-valles-s2-barcelona-placa-catalunya-sabadell/) or Rodalies de Catalunya (RENFE line R4; check departure times here: https://www.renfe.com/es/en/suburban/rodalies-catalunya/timetables). Both companies have frequent trains (one each 15 or 30 minutes) that will take you directly to the Sabadell city center (Sabadell Plaça Major station). Travelling time from Plaça Catalunya to Sabadell ranges between 40 and 50 minutes depending on the company you use. The whole trip from the airport to Sabadell city center should take one and a half to two hours.

The city center and the area close to the meeting place and ICP museum is the commercial center of Sabadell and is full of restaurants, bars and shops. Furthermore, there is a good number of emblematic modernist style buildings here and there, including the Espai Cultura Fundació 1859 Caixa Sabadell, where the meeting sessions will be held.

Sabadell has a wide offer of accommodation options from hotels to touristic apartments. Find below a suggestion of hotels which are located close to the venue.

HOTEL URPÍ

Address: Carrer de Sant Maties, 5, 08208 Sabadell, Barcelona

Phone: +34 937 24 40 00

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Web: https://hotelurpi.com/en/

URBAN SABADELL

Address: Ronda de Zamenhof, 21, 08201 Sabadell, Barcelona

Phone: +34 689 04 32 79

Web: https://urbansabadell.com/en/

HOTEL CATALONIA

Address: Plaça de Catalunya, 10-12, 08206, Sabadell

Phone: +34 93 727 92 00

Web: https://www.cataloniahotels.com/en/hotel/catalonia-sabadell

Map with hotels situation, ICP museum and Meeting Place: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1vdeP_4Y9hQ4GfkK9VEmPZOaGCbAP7Og&usp=sharing

Conference proceedings

The extended abstracts for the NOW 25^th Anniversary Meeting contributions are published in a special issue of the journal Paleontologia i Evolució. You can download the whole volume, which also features the fieldtrip guide, here: http://www.icp.cat/now25/docs/P&E_NOW_25th_anniversary_abstract_book_and_fieldtrip_guide.pdf.

Final program

The NOW 25^th Anniversary Meeting will include two days of talks, including two keynotes and five thematic sessions, plus a third day of fieldtrip. Additional activities, such as guided tour to the Sabadell Catalan modernist buildings, are also included. All talks will be held at Espai Cultura Fundació 1859 Caixa Sabadell.

Field trip to the Vallès-Penedès Basin

The NOW 25^th Anniversary Meeting will include one-day field trip to the Vallès-Penedès Basin on Friday the 18^th. In this field trip we will get an overview of the basin structure and sedimentary record focusing in two well-represented critical intervals: the Miocene Climatic Optimum (MCO; ~17–15 Ma) and the Middle/Late Miocene transition (~12.5–11 Ma). Participants will take a bus from the ICP museum at Sabadell at 9:00 and bring them back there after the tour. A detailed fieldtrip guide is included in the meeting special issue of Paleontologia i Evolució and may be downloaded here: http://www.icp.cat/now25/docs/P&E_NOW_25th_anniversary_abstract_book_and_fieldtrip_guide.pdf.

The field trip will also include several social activities, including a celebration lunch and a visit to caves Finca Batllori in Subirats. Cava is a sparkling wine which is mostly produced in the Penedès area of Catalonia. Finca Batllori is a renowned cellar that has been producing high-quality wines and caves since the XVII^th century (more information here: https://fincabatllori.com/en/). The visit will show the modernist cellar, the traditional process to elaborate cava and will include a taste of their products.

Social activities

Being a celebration meeting, this must include some social activities! Besides the visit to the cellar and celebration lunch on the fieldtrip day, there are some surprises for Thursday evening. First there will be a guided tour to visit modernist architecture of Sabadell courtesy of Ajuntament de Sabadell. Catalan modernism was an art form that flourished during the late 19^th and early 20^th century and resulted in a unique architecture, popular to the public thanks to impressive buildings such as the Sagrada Família of Barcelona. Modernism is profusely present in Sabadell, which counts with several fantastic examples of its architecture (https://visitsabadell.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/ENG_SabadellModernista.pdf). After the tour we will have a taste of craft beers at the ICP museum courtesy of La MicroCerveseria of Sabadell (more information here:  https://educamtap1.wixsite.com/lamicro).

Organizing committee

• Isaac Casanovas-Vilar
• David M. Alba
• David Basanta
• Pere Figuerola

Scientific committee

• David M. Alba (ICP)
• Júlia Arias-Martorell (ICP)
• Isaac Casanovas-Vilar (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, ICP)
• Marc Furió (ICP)
• Christine M. Janis (University of Bristol, Brown University)
• Kari Lintulaakso (Finish Museum of Natural History LUOMUS)
• Àngel H. Luján (ICP)
• Raquel Moya-Costa (ICP)
• Pasquale Raia (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II)
• Juha Saarinen (University of Helsinki)
• Lars W. Van den Hoek Ostende (Naturalis Biodiversity Center)
• Indrė Žliobaitė (University of Helsinki)

The NOW 25th Anniversary meeting is part of R+D+I project PID2020-117289GBI00

Sponsors:

NOW logo:

The NOW 25th Anniversary Meeting recreating a Miocene horse species was done by paleoilustrator Roc Olivé with support of the Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología (FECYT).