Organiser: Andrew Smith
This workshop is for all interested in getting up to speed with recent advances in echinoderm palaeobiology and phylogeny. Echinoderms continue to be a focus for much innovative palaeobiological research, partially because they have been the subject of extensive phylogenetic work, and partially because their complex skeleton shows such a close relationship between structure and function. Recent advances in our understanding of this group include the use of large integrated databases for phylogenetic reconstruction, the use of new technologies, notable CT-scanning and 3-D reconstruction to derive a better understanding of functional morphology, and the study of disarticulated ossicles which has extended our understanding of the range and diversity of Cambrian forms.