Spring Meeting 2007 28-29 April, Leicester, UK A good mixture of students, academics and consultants attended this very successful meeting of TMS Ostracod Group in Leicester. The meeting ran over a weekend, with an afternoon of talks and two morning visits to local scientific sites. The Friday evening started with many attendees visiting the Leicestershire village of Leire* where we were superbly hosted by David and Pauline Siveter; indeed it was a family occasion, several wives were present and many of us stayed with the Siveters over the weekend period, the main result of which was a serious assault on the eminent Professor’s wine and whiskey supplies (thanks David). It was thankfully sunny for the Saturday morning fieldtrip, a visit to Groby* Pool (north of Leicester) to collect some Recent ostracods. This may have had its origins in a medieval fishpond. Today it is a SSSI to protect birds and other wildlife, but the ostracods have been rather neglected, until now that is (as far as we know there are no published records of living ostracods form Leicestershire). Leicester undergraduate Katy Gosling will be doing her third year dissertation on the ostracods from the pool. We sampled from various sites, with the knowledge of local expert Roy Clements who helped us identify freshwater gastropods and molluscs (see summary of molluscs at end of this report). Ostracods were present, although only one could be recognised in the field, a species of Herpetocypris (after all it was over 2mm long!). We look forward to learning more about the populations from Katy in due course. There was a packed schedule of talks and discussions on Saturday afternoon at the University of Leicester, on a wide variety of ostracod related topics. Dinah Smith (University of Leicester) introduced her PhD studies on the Roddons: microfossils and Holocene palaeoenvironmental change in the Fenlands. John Athersuch (StrataData) talked about how ostracods from the Caspian Sea are used for biostratigraphy in the Petroleum Industry. Ian Boomer (University of Birmingham) discussed the fate of the Metacopina, with a new look at the early Toarcian extinction. Roy Clements (University of Leicester) gave a detailed history of Groby Pool. Alan Lord (Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt) showed us some Middle Jurassic ostracods from Western Australia. John Whittaker (The Natural History Museum) reviewed ostracods from the Pleistocene of the Nene Valley. Vince Williams (University of Leicester) then introduced the ostracod fauna of (the recently created) Rutland Water which was initiated during a TMS ostracod Group visit to Rutland a few years ago. Carys Bennett(University of Leicester) updated us on her PhD work on Carboniferous ostracods from Scotland and the invasion of the non-marine realm. Mark Willliams (University of Leicester) showed an exceptionally preserved ostracod from the Miocene of Antarctica, and some special photos from a recent Antarctic field expedition. Finally, Ian Wilkinson (BGS) gave a talk on Cretaceous climate and ostracod distribution, David Siveter (University of Leicester) valiantly forfeiting his planned item on brood care in a Silurian ostracod, due to lack of time. We gathered on Saturday evening for a first class dinner at the White Horse pub in Leire, Leicestershire (David Siveter was clearly well-known by the proprieter). The meal and fine wines were much needed and appreciated after a hard day of fieldwork and discussions. A wonderful evening was had by all, and sleeping accommodation at David Siveter’s house was fortunately within staggering distance! On Sunday morning part of the group travelled to the British Geological Survey in Keyworth, for an informative two hour tour of the facility with curator Mike Howe and micropalaeontology researcher Ian Wilkinson. At the National Geoscience Records Centre Ian Wilkinson gave a brief talk on the history of the BGS, and Mike Howe showed us some of the many online databases that are available, including geological maps and borehole records. We walked through the huge core store and later had a chance to peek through the palaeontological collections, housed in beautifully preserved antique cabinets, with larger specimens out on display. The good attendance, friendly atmosphere, large number of talks and fine weather helped make it a special meeting to remember. The next meeting will be incorporated into the European Ostracod Meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, between 4th – 8th September 2007. Next year’s Spring Meeting will be held on the weekend of 25th – 27th April, at the Flatford Mill Field Centre, Suffolk (yes, it’s the same venue as Constable’s famous painting). We aim to provide training for new ostracod researchers, in the collection and study of ostracods including basic ostracod identification and study techniques. Please contact Ian Boomer if you are interested in attending. Carys Bennett & Ian Boomer [*Etymological footnotes by John Whittaker: Leire (pronounced Lee-er) is a Celtic river name (on which the village stands); villages named Layer in Essex have the same origin. Groby (pronounced Grooby) is a Scandinavian name meaning “farm near a hollow”].   Report on the Mollusca observed at Groby Pool (28th April 2007 a.m.) The following details all represent tentative field identifications.  No material was collected as to allow confirmation of the identifications.  Microfaunal samples were retained from each locality for further study by Katy Gosling (University of Leicester) Locality 1:  just to the north of the overflow [Grid Reference: SK5229 0825] Anodonta cf. cygnaea (Linnaeus) – single specimen, bivalved, dead; others seen in water. Locality 2:  Grid Reference: SK5225508323; pH = 8.46; temperature = 14.8° C Bithynia ?tentaculata (Linnaeus) Pisidium/Sphaerium sp. (c. 1 cm long) Planorbis cf. carinatus (Linnaeus) - single specimens of each, all alive. Locality 3:  Grid Reference:  SK5219908401; in reed beds. Pisidium sp. – very small, alive(?) Planorbis cf. corneus (Linnaeus) – juvenile, dead. Locality 4:  Grid Reference: SK5217208431; field edge, muddy bottom. (Herpetocypris also seen alive at this site) Pisidium sp. – very small, isolated valve Pisidium sp. – very small, bivalved, alive Lymnaea cf. stagnalis (Linnaeus) – dead shell Roy G Clements, 2nd May 2007 Spring Meeting 2006 19-21 May 2006, Drongen, Ghent, Belgium A highly succesful Spring Meeting was held in Drongen Abbey, near Ghent, where the following talks were presented. Carys Bennett (Leicester) Ostracods from the Midland Valley of Scotland: colonisation of the non-marine realm in the Lower Carboniferous Ian Boomer (Birmingham) et al. Late Quaternary ostracod fauna and stable-isotope record from the Caspian Sea Patrick De Deckker (Canberra) Comparison between laser ablation ICP-MS and microprobe analyses of ostracod valves calls for caution on standard analyses of valves through solution chemistry Dave Horne (Queen Mary, London) 'Why are darwinuloid males like London buses? David Siveter (Leicester) 'The Cambrian Fossils of Chengjiang, China: the flowering of early animal life' Ian Slipper (Greenwich) The life and times of William Harris of Charing John Whittaker (NHM, London) Some new and imperfectly known Pleistocene ostracods from the UK After the talks a short business meeting was held. General notices: 1. John Whittaker was 'elected' as successor to Alan Lord as OG Secretary from the AGM in November 2006. 2. The next meeting is expected to be in Birmingham in October, details to follow. 3. John Whittaker and Alan Lord were presented with engraved glass goblets and a bottle of fine french wine with which to test them with! They received these awards in recognition of their outstanding contributions to ostracod research and to the Ostracod Group. Spring Meeting, 2005 The meeting was held on Wednesday 18 May 2005, in the Palaeontology Demonstration Room, The Natural History Museum, London. 13.30 Welcome and Introductions - Dr Ian Slipper (Chair, Ostracod Group).   Housekeeping notices - Dr John Whittaker (Local Secretary). 13.35 The Natural History Museum Ostracod Collections - Dr Giles Miller (NHM) 14.00 The myodocope Entomozoe from the Silurian of the Russian Arctic - Professor David Siveter (Leicester) 14.25 Ostracod shell chemistry and the West Sussex raised beaches - Dr Jonathan Holmes (UCL) 14.50 What are Ostracoda? A cladistic analysis of the extant superfamilies of the subclasses Myodocopa and Podocopa - Dr Dave Horne (Queen Mary, London) with Isa Schoen, Robin Smith and Koen Martens 15.15 Tea 15.45 Musings on the Aral, Caspian and Black Sea ostracods - Dr Ian Boomer (Newcastle) 16.10 Biogeography and phylogeography of non-marine Ostracoda - Dr Dave Horne (Queen Mary, London) with Isa Schoen and Koen Martens 16.35 Demonstration of Plates for the Second Edition of 'A stratigraphical Index of British Ostracoda' - Dr John Whittaker (NHM) 16.50 Short Business Meeting 17.00 Close Spring Meeting 2004 The meeting was held in the Chatham Campus of the University of Greenwich on Friday 5 to Sunday 7 March - Local Secretary Dr I.J. Slipper. The outline programme was as follows: Saturday 6 March - 'Wapping Seminar' of presentations and posters followed by dinner Sunday 7 March: Upper Cretaceous of Charing, Kent (classic Locality of T.R. Jones) and living freshwater localities (Leaders: Drs I.J. Slipper [Greenwich] and D.J. Horne [QMW London]). Spring Meeting 2003. Leicester, Friday 28 February - Sunday 2 March 2003. Attendees: Dr Ian Boomer (Newcastle), Dr Roy Clements (Leicester) and Mrs Jan Clements, James Evans (Leicester), Dr Mick Frogley (Sussex), Dr David Horne (NHM), Prof. Hou Xianguang (Yunnan University, visiting Leicester), Dr Nicky Johnson, Prof. Alan Lord (UCL), Richard Pope (Greenwich), Prof. David Siveter (Leicester) and Mrs Pauline Siveter, Dr Ian Slipper (Greenwich), Dr Robin Smith (NHM), Radka Symonova (Charles University, visiting Greenwich), Dr Mark Williams (BGS, Keyworth), Vince Williams (Leicester), Mark Woodger (Bristol), Brett Woodhouse (Leicester). The party assembled at the Ullesthorpe Court Hotel, Ullesthorpe on Friday 28 February and, following a convivial evening, were ready for work after breakfast the next morning. However, David 'insomniac' Horne had scored before breakfast with specimens of living Candona candida (O.F. Mueller, 1776) from a water butt in the hotel garden! The rest of the group, somewhat more torpid, had breakfast and travelled to the Department of Geology, Leicester for a day of varied and excellent presentations, sustained by lunch in a nearby pub, coffee, and a very fine coffee and walnut cake from the hands of Pauline Siveter. The programme on Saturday 1 March commenced with thoughts for Dr Dick Benson and his family. Dick, who died in February, had close connections with Leicester through his friendship and collaborations with the late Prof. Peter Sylvester-Bradley, founder of A Stereo-Atlas of Ostracod Shells. Since our last visit to Leicester it is sad to note also the loss of Mrs Joan Sylvester-Bradley, a good friend and kind hostess to the Ostracod Group who died on 8 February 2002. The following talks were presented: Ian Boomer - 'Mesolithic coastal environments of Northumberland: Living in the oldest house in Britain' - as featured in a recent 'Meet the Ancestors' TV programme. Mick Frogley and Alex Chepstow-Lusty - 'High resolution isotopic and faunal evidence for climatic variability in the Lucre Basin, Cuzco region, Peru, over the last 2ka'. David Horne and Robin Smith - 'A new first British record of Potamocypris humilis (Sars 1924), a freshwater ostracod with a disjunct record in Britain and South Africa'. Richard Pope - 'A Freshwater Mutual Climatic Range Method - using ostracods to establish past climates' Ian Slipper - 'The faunal response of ostracods within Cenomanian chalk/marl rhythms' David Siveter, Hou Xianguang and Mark Williams - 'China off the beaten track: huntin' bradorids' (yes, we know bradorids are not ostracods, but they are bivalved and we have adopted them). Robin Smith, David Horne and John Whittaker - 'A new species of Terristricythere from the UK'. Radka Symonova - 'Ostracods of the Cejc Lake, Czech Republic'. Mark Williams, David Siveter and Giles Miller - 'Scottish Carboniferous ostracods. A case study from the Ballagan Formation'. Roy Clements - 'Introduction to the Field Day, 2 March 2003'. After this interesting and varied day, which included special displays prepared by Roy Clements and James Evans, the party retired to the Ullesthorpe Court Hotel for dinner. Sunday 2 March turned out to be a wonderful, bright Spring day and it was a pleasure to be in the field, first to look at the Lower Jurassic at Tilton-on-the-Hill and then to sample for living material in Rutland Water, both to the east of Leicester. Tilton Railway Cutting SSSI Nature Reserve (SK76130560). The former railway cutting exposes the Lower Jurassic Lias Group, represented by the top of the Dyrham Formation, Marlstone Rock Formation, and basal Whitby Mudstone Formation, spanning the Upper Pliensbachian and Lower Toarcian stages. Roy Clements demonstrated the sequence, explaining that recent ammonite work (Howarth 1992) indicated that the base of the Toarcian stage falls within the Marlstone Rock Fm. and thus much lower than previously thought. A small faunal list for the Marlstone Rock section at Tilton was published by Lord (1982) and a full account of Toarcian ostracods from nearby Empingham (Rutland Water) is in Bate & Coleman (1975). Whitby Mudstone Fm., Bed RGC12, base immediately above Ironstone Mbr., tenuicostatum zone, sample yielded: Trachycythere verrucosa Triebel & Klingler, 1959 Kinkelinella tenuicostata Martin, 1960 ?Monoceratina sp. Paracypris sp. Modern Locality 1: Tilton Railway Cutting, seepage-fed swampy pond with abundant macrophytes in the bottom of the cutting close to the road bridge. Abdundant Psychrodromus olivaceus (Brady & Norman, 1889). Modern Locality 2: Tilton Railway Cutting, seepages / ponds under wooden walkway in bottom of cutting, abundant decidous leaf litter. Abundant Eucypris pigra (Fischer, 1851); Also some Potamocypris fulva (Brady, 1868). Following lunch in the Noel Arms, Whitwell, the party sampled Rutland Water for living ostracods. Whitwell Water Sports Centre (SK926082) Ian Boomer demonstrated the workings of a Renberg corer and a dredge. Modern Locality 3: margin of Rutland Water, sandy/muddy bottom 1-2m deep, adjacent to the jetty from which an intrepid boat team set sail to sample deeper waters. Candona cf. candida (O. F. Mueller, 1776) Cypria ophthalmica (Jurine, 1820) (abundant) Cypridopsis vidua (O. F. Mueller, 1776) Ilyocypris sp. Limnocytherina sanctipatricii (Brady & Robertson, 1869) (one living adult female; several empty male and female carapaces also obtained) Deep water sample, north arm of Rutland Water, near Limnological Tower (circa SK931073): Material dredged by the boat crew yielded live Candona cf. candida (O. F. Mueller, 1776) Cypria ophthalmica (Jurine, 1820) (abundant) Cypridopsis vidua (O. F. Mueller, 1776) Cytherissa lacustris (Sars, 1863) Ilyocypris sp. Limnocytherina sanctipatricii (Brady & Robertson, 1869) This is essentially the same fauna that was found on the margin at the jetty, with the addition of C. lacustris; this is only the third locality in Britain where you can find living Cytherissa lacustris, the other two being Semerwater in Yorkshire and Loch Assynt in Scotland (pers. comm. DJH, and IDB for the latter record). Previous collecting on 28 September 1975 (Siveter 1975) yielded live: Ilyocypris gibba (Ramdohr) - females only, very common, smooth and noded Cypria opthalmica (Jurine) - adults and instars, common Potamocypris villosa (Jurine) - common Eucypris virens (Jurine) - rare Erpetocypris reptans (Baird) - rare Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre lagoons (lagoon no. 3, at circa SK893078): Modern Locality 4 - small creek on lake margin, surface covered with duckweed (Lemna sp.). organic rich mud on bottom. Cypria ophthalmica (Jurine, 1820) Juvenile Candona sp Modern Locality 5 – Phragmites reed bed on lake margin – organic-rich mud and reed debris. Candona sp. Cypria ophthalmica (Jurine, 1820) Cypridopsis vidua (O. F. Mueller, 1776) Ilyocypris sp. Isocypris beauchampi (Paris, 1920) Potamocypris cf. villosa (Jurine, 1820) Additionally some large empty valves of Cypris pubera O. F. Mueller, 1776 were found among the reeds at Loc. 5. Burley Fish Ponds area, north arm of Rutland Water (circa SK886086) The Burley Fish Ponds are now beneath the north arm of Rutland Water, but in 1975 yielded (Siveter 1975): Mud from Phragmites reed bed: Cypridopsis vidua (Müller) - adults, very common Candona neglecta Sars - valves only, rare, dead Erpetocypris reptans (Baird) - adult valve fragments, rare Ilyocypris gibba (Ramdohr) - rare Open water pond: Cypria opthalmica (Jurine) - adults and instars, common Strand line sediment sample (SK889086): A dry strand-line deposit of plant debris left by a former high lake level yielded empty valves of Herpetocypris sp., Candona sp. and juveniles of a large cypridid, possibly Cypris pubera. Vince Williams will be conducting his undergraduate long project on Rutland Water ostracods, and we look forward to his results in due course. Following a full day of collecting the party dispersed. We are very grateful to David Siveter and Roy Clements for organising such a successful weekend, and to the University of Leicester for lecture facilities. We are especially grateful to Mr Tim Appleton (Manager, Rutland Water Nature Reserve) and to Anglian Water for permission to collect and for use of a boat for deep water sampling. The Rutland Water sampling attempted to replicate the 1975 sampling, and by happy chance Tim Appleton was our host on that occasion. References: Bate, R.H. and Coleman, B. 1975. Upper Lias Ostracoda from Rutland and Huntingdonshire. Bulletin of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, 55: 1-42. Howarth, M.K. 1992. The ammonite Family Hildoceratacea in the Lower Jurassic of Britain. Monograph of the Palaeontographical Society: 1-200 (Part 1: 586, 145, 1991; Part 2: 590, 146, 1992). Lord, A.R. 1982. Metacopine ostracods in the Lower Jurassic. In Banner, F.T. and Lord, A.R. (Eds) Aspects of Micropalaeontology, George Allen and Unwin (pp.262?277). Siveter, D.J. 1975 Report of Ostracod Group meeting in Leicester, 27-28 September 1975, British Micropalaeontological Society Newsletter. (Faunal identifications by John Athersuch, Eric Robinson and Peter Sylvester-Bradley. Identifications: thanks to Ian Boomer, David Horne, Robin Smith and Radka Symonova. Alan Lord Secretary, Ostracod Group International meetings 21ème Réunion des Ostracodologistes de Langue Française 19th-22nd April 2006, Tétouan, Morocco. Download the 1st Circular (.doc, 56 kb) 15th International Symposium on Ostracoda - Berlin, September, 2005