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ANNOUNCEMENTS
New proposed species names during 1998 Hemicytherura escobasensis Bertels-Psotka & Laprida
Newly Proposed Species Names Miscellaneous Announcements ISO97 Information Quadracythere gloriaensis Bertels-Psotka & Laprida
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Miscellaneous AnnouncementsBate, Ray. Lou Kornicker celebrates his 80th.birthday this year. We should record our best wishes on this occasion and hope that he enjoys good health and many more years of active research.
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During May, Dr. Ana Luisa Carreño (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) and Dr. Robin C. Whatley (University of Wales) were at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Southermost Brazil. At that meeting they, a new Ph.D., Maria Ines F. Ramos (Fundação Universidade do Amazonas) and I, discussed some topics about Recent and fossils Brazilian ostracodes. My sincerely thanks for their very interesting contributions. - João Carlos Coimbra.
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The special volume with communications at the 3rd European Ostracodologists Meeting (PARIS Bierville, 1996) is avalaible. Ref.: Crasquin-Soleau, S, Braccini, E., and Lethiers, F. (eds.): What about ostracoda! Bull. Centres Rech. Explor. Prod. Elf - Aquitaine, Pau, Mém 20: pp.1 - 432. Please, contact E. Braccini, (Pau, France) if interested.
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The annual Meeting of "Ostracodologistes de langue française (OLF 98)" was held in University Cl. Bernard, LYON1, France, on 14th May, 1998 (A.M. BODERGAT, chairperson): "Bilan des ostracodologistes de langue française au seuil du 3° millénaire; prospective" (some papers in press, Geobios, Lyon).
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The first volume of papers from ISO97 has been published as part of Volume 148 of the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. Senior authors should receive reprints soon, and copies of the volume will be distributed to registered ISO97 delegates in the near future. The table of contents is as follows:Special Issue: Non-marine Ostracoda: Evolution and Environment, J. Holmes and D. Horne [Eds.]
Larry W. Knox, Elizabeth A. Gordon, Ostracodes as indicators of brackish water environments in the Catskill Magnafacies (Devonian) of New York State, p. 9-22.
Dermeval Aparecido do Carmo, Robin C. Whatley, Simon Timberlake, Variable noding and palaeoecology of a Middle Jurassic limnocytherid ostracod: implications for modern brackish water taxa, p. 23-35.
Zhencheng Sun, Xiaojie Feng, Dongming Li, Fan Yang, Yonghong Qu, Hongjiang Wang, Cenozoic Ostracoda and palaeoenvironments of the northeastern Tarim Basin, western China, p. 37-50.
B. Brandon Curry, An environmental tolerance index for ostracodes as indicators of physical and chemical factors in aquatic habitats, p. 51-63.
F. Mezquita, G. Tapia, J.R. Roca, Ostracoda from springs on the eastern Iberian Peninsula: ecology,biogeography and palaeolimnological implications, p. 65-85.
F. Mezquita, R. Hernández, J. Rueda, Ecology and distribution of ostracods in a polluted Mediterranean river, p. 87-103.
Patrick De Deckker, Allan R. Chivas, J. Michael G. Shelley, Uptake of Mg and Sr in the euryhaline ostracod Cyprideis determined from in vitro experiments, p. 105-116.
Nigel D. Bridgwater, Jonathan A. Holmes, Sarah L. O'Hara, Complex controls on the trace-element chemistry of non-marine ostracods: an example from Lake Pátzcuaro, central Mexico, p. 117-131.
Ulrich von Grafenstein, Helmut Erlernkeuser, Peter Trimborn, Oxygen and carbon isotopes in modern fresh-water ostracod valves: assessing vital offsets and autecological effects of interest for palaeoclimate studies, p. 133-152.
Antje Schwalb, Stephen J. Burns, Kerry Kelts, Holocene environments from stable isotope stratigraphy of ostracods and authigenic carbonate in Chilean Altiplano Lakes, p. 153-168.
J.A. Holmes, M.J. Allen, F.A. Street-Perrott, M. Ivanovich, R.A. Perrott, M.P. Waller, Late Holocene palaeolimnology of Bal Lake, Northern Nigeria, a multidisciplinary study, p. 169-185.
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A Stereo-Atlas of Ostracod Shells comes to an end
Due to a number of factors the editors of A Stereo-Alas of Ostracod Shells have decided that the time has come to cease production. The reasons are many (economic, production problems, obtaining copy). The situation has been under review for the past 3 years and it has finally become impractical to continue with the atlas in its present state.
After 25 years of production, changes in the academic and industrial sectors have meant that fewer researchers are engaged in taxonomic work and this has been reflected in the number of manuscripts submitted and subscriptions to the Stereo-Atlas.
Approximately 700 species are described in the Atlas, many of them type species of their genus. We hope that the Stereo-Atlas will continue to be an invaluable resource for ostracod workers. The editors wish to extend their thanks to all past editorial board members, authors, reviewers and subscribers for their time and support.
To mark the final issue, a cumulative index has been produced, Cumulative Index of A Stereo-Atlas of Ostracod Shells, and was distributed to all subscribers with volume 25. Additional copies of the Index can be obtained from the address below.
Additional copies can be obtained from: Dr Ian Boomer, Department of Geography, University of Newcastle, Newcastle NE1 7RU. <Ian.boomer@ncl.ac.uk> [1999]. Cost £5-00. Cheques payable to The British Micropalaeontological Society.
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Farewell to A Stereo-Atlas of Ostracod Shells By John WhittakerChairman, British Micropalaeontological Society
A Stereo-Atlas of Ostracod Shells (ISSN 0952-7451) was launched in 1973 with the late Peter Sylvester-Bradley and his then postdoctoral associate, David Siveter, as editors. Peter Sylvester-Bradley was F.W. Bennett Professor of Geology in the University of Leicester, England. He was, by any standards, an exceptional individual who contributed fully to local, national and international scientific endeavours. The Stereo-Atlas was his brainchild and was typical of his innovative style. The initial hope of the editors was to generate enough interest to publish for two years and then take stock. Volume 25 (for 1998) has appeared; sadly, this is the last in the series, as the decision has been taken to cease publication.
The original aims of A Stereo-Atlas of Ostracod Shells were simple enough, to harness and disseminate the scientific revolution which the scanning electron microscope (SEM) provides to micropalaeontology. As Peter Sylvester-Bradley declared in the opening article of the very first issue, this "New Palaeontography" places priority on the illustrations as a language easily communicated and understood by the international palaeontological community. To that end the Stereo-Atlas was designed with a unique format: a high illustrations-to-text ratio, an emphasis on stereo-photography and a policy of producing plates about as good as technology can achieve.
Initially produced under the imprint of the Department of Geology at the University of Leicester (1973-1975) and then for one year (1976) by Broadwater Press (Welwyn Garden City), from 1977 to 1981 it was published jointly by (the then) Robertson Research International (Llandudno, Wales) and the British Micropalaeontological Society, London, since when it has appeared solely under the aegis of the B.M.S. The (then) British Museum (Natural History), London and the Department of Geology at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth also provided invaluable logistical support in the early years of publication. From 1981 to 1996 the production of the Stereo-Atlas was entrusted to BPC Blackpool Ltd (and its predecessors), to whom a great debt is owed for the quality of publication, especially the plates. Latterly the Stereo-Atlas has been produced by Moulton Printing of Blackpool. Over the years all of those who served as an editor, treasurer, or have been closely involved with the day-to-day running of the Stereo-Atlas have, perhaps appropriately, been mainly former students or former research associates of Peter Sylvester-Bradley: John Athersuch, Ray Bate, Ian Boomer, Cyril Haskins, David Horne, Alan Lord, Bob Lundin, John Neale, Lesley Sheppard, David Siveter, Robin Whatley and John Whittaker.
Palaeontological research demands high quality, consistent taxonomy and A Stereo-Atlas of Ostracod Shells has gone a long way to supporting that goal in the field of ostracod research. Rigorous taxonomy is no less important today than it was when the journal first appeared in 1973. However, times and demands on researchers and their research programmes change. More recently, ostracod research has concentrated on neotony, genetics and applications such as shell chemistry and palaeoenvironmental, biostratigraphical and palaeobiogeographical utility. Whilst the scientific need for taxonomy remains as paramount as ever it is clear that today less research, and particularly less research funding, is a fact of life in this branch of our science. This has recently been reflected in the reduced numbers of manuscripts received for the Stereo-Atlas and also in the lack of new subscribers. Furthermore, institutional libraries are coming under increased financial pressure to stop taking specialized journals and, in trying to tap a limited "niche market" this has especially affected the Stereo-Atlas. Production matters relating to "economies of scale" have also, lately, provided additional problems. It is therefore with considerable sadness that the editors feel it is time to cease production of the Stereo-Atlas.
Since the first issue of the Stereo-Atlas appeared twenty-five years ago nearly seven hundred species have been described in its pages, many of them type-species of their genera. In latter years the quality of the illustrative stereo-pairs, which are its trade-mark, surpassed that of most palaeontographical works. A Stereo-Atlas of Ostracod Shells certainly made its mark and can fairly claim to have been true to its aims.
As a valedictory, a comprehensive Index of all twenty-five volumes has been compiled by Robin Smith and will be distributed free to all subscribers with the last issue.
Happily, A Stereo-Atlas of Ostracod Shells will be wound up without any financial burden to the British Micropalaeontological Society. Indeed, we expect a modest surplus to be available to be donated to the B.M.S. for publication purposes - ostracod papers, of course!
John E. Whittaker
(Chairman, British Micropalaeontological Society)
The Natural History Museum, London
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CYPRIS No. 17 (1999): home page, table of contents, ostracode research by country list