The Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt am Main cordially invites you to this international conference celebrating three remarkable anniversaries:

• 30 years UNESCO World Heritage Status of the Messel Pit Fossil Site (1995)

• 50 years of Senckenberg excavations at the Messel Pit (1975)

• 150 years since the first fossil was discovered at Messel (December 1875)

The Messel Pit, with its 47-million-year-old fossiliferous sediments, represents arguably the best-preserved ecosystem from Earth's last sustained greenhouse phase. With 1,409 documented taxa and exceptional preservation, it offers unique insights into terrestrial ecosystems under climatic conditions that Earth might experience again in coming centuries.

While celebrating Messel's rich history of study, this conference will examine the entire Eocene world through geology, paleontology, and climate research, with particular focus on terrestrial ecosystems. State-of-the-art scientific research will be presented and discussed in an international context.