July 11, 2026

• 09:15-10:00 lecture I: Daniel Sol (CSIC-UPF, Barcelona / CREAF, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain), "Bigger Brains, Smarter Minds? Connecting Neuron Numbers to Behavioural Flexibility in Birds"
• 10:00-10:30 Roberto Toro (Institut Pasteur, Paris, France)
• 10:30-11:00 coffee break
• 11:00:11:30 Kristina Kverková (Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic), "How Brain Cellular Composition Varies Across Vertebrates and Why Should We Care?"
• 11:30-12:00 Chris Vendetti (University of Reading, UK)

12:00-13:00 lunch break


session II: Palaeoneurology of mosaic and correlated brain evolution (part 1)

• 13:15-14:00 lecture II: Amy M. Balanoff (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA), "Mosaic Patterns of Brain Evolution and the Origins of Archosaur Flight"
• 14:00-14:30 Katja Heuer (Paris Brain Institute, France)

14:30-15:30 poster session and coffee break


session II: Palaeoneurology of mosaic and correlated brain evolution (part 2)

• 15:30-16:00 Alexandra A. de Sousa (Allen Institute, Seattle, USA | University of Bath, UK), "Energetic Constraints on Brain Organization in Human Paleoneurology"
• 16:00-16:30 Gabriel S. Ferreira (Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil | Senckenberg HEP, Tübingen, Germany), "Ontogeny and Evolution of Neuroanatomy in Turtles"
• 16:30-17:00 Ryan Felice (University College London, UK), "3D Morphometric Analysis Reveals Mosaic Macroevolution of Brain Shape in Mammalia"


closing remarks day 1




July 12, 2026

09:00-09:15 opening remarks, day 2


session III: Evolution of body, brain and lifestyle in ecological context

• 09:15-09:45 Margot Michaud (Institut Polytechnique UniLaSalle, Université d’Artois, France | Université de Liège, Belgium), "Multiscale Brain Evolution in Carnivora: An Ecological Perspective"
• 09:45-10:15 Fernando Blanco (Doñana Biological Station, Sevilla, Spain), "Global Ecological Shifts and the Reorganization of Large Herbivore Functional Systems over 60 Million Years"
• 10:15-10:45 Jasmine Hardie (University of Sheffield, UK), "The Role of Ecology, Sociality, and Development in Predicting Bird Brain Size"
• 10:45-11:15 coffee break
• 11:15-11:45 Camilo López Aguirre (Universidad de La Salle, Bogotá, Colombia), "Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics of Sensory Trade-offs during Bat Brain Evolution"
• 11:45-12:15 Simone Macrì (University of Helsinki, Finland), "Reconstructing the Early Evolution of the Snake Brain: From Neuroanatomy and Ancestral Models to Fossil Endocasts"


12:15-13:15 lunch break


session IV: Brain evolution in relation to behaviour and senses (part 1)


• 13:15-14:00 lecture III: Sue Healy (University of St Andrews, UK), "Using Brain Size as a Proxy for Cognitive Abilities: Pros and Cons"
• 14:00-14:30 Kei Yamamoto (Paris-Saclay Institute of Neuroscience, France)


14:30-15:00 coffee break


session IV: Brain evolution in relation to behaviour and senses (part 2)


• 15:00-15:30 Magdalena Boch (University of Oxford, UK | University of Vienna, Austria)
• 15:30-16:00 Robyn Grant (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK), "Ecology and Evolution of Vibrissal Touch"

closing remarks and good bye