Newsletter Number 53
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The Palaeontology Newsletter Contents 53 Association Business 2 Association Diary 10 Association Meetings 12 Future meetings of other bodies 16 Meeting Reports 26 Obituary: Michael House 36 From our correspondents “Laws” of animal evolution 42 Dusting off bone ontologies 48 Coping with Creation 52 Correspondence 55 The Mystery Fossil 66 Sylvester-Bradley Reports 68 Software Review: MacClade 4 93 Book Reviews 95 New publication from PalAss 127 Special Papers in Palaeontology no. 69 128 Palaeontology vol 46 parts 4, 5 130–131 Reminder: The deadline for copy for Issue no 54 is 3rd October 2003 On the Web: http://www.palass.org/ Newsletter 53 2 Newsletter 53 3 Internet Officer Association Business Dr J. Hilton, National Museums of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1JF. Publicity Officer Nominations for Council Dr P.L. Manning, The Yorkshire Museum, Museum Gardens, York YO1 7FR. Editors At the AGM in May 2004, the following vacancies will occur on Council: Dr P. Ahlberg, University of Uppsala, Department of Earth Sciences, Norbyvagen 22, President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Newsletter Editor Uppsala Se-752 36, Sweden. Nominations are now invited for these posts. Please note that each candidate must be proposed Dr Lyall I. Anderson, Curator of Invertebrate Palaeontology, Dept. of Geology and Zoology, by at least two members of the Association and that any individual may not propose more than National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh EH1 1JF, Scotland, UK. two candidates. Nomination must be accompanied by the candidate’s written agreement to Prof. E.N.K. Clarkson, Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Edinburgh, West stand for election and a single sentence describing their interests. Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JW. All potential Council Members are asked to consider that: Prof. Stephen K. Donovan, Department of Palaeontology, Nationaal Natuurhistorisch ‘Each Council Member needs to be aware that, since the Palaeontological Association is a Museum, Postbus 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands. Registered Charity, in the eyes of the law he/she becomes a Trustee of that Charity. Under Dr S.E. Evans, Department of Anatomy & Developmental Biology, University College London, the terms of the Charities Act 1992, legal responsibility for the proper management of the Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT. Palaeontological Association lies with each Member of Council’. Dr E. Harper, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, The closing date for nominations is Friday 26th September 2003. They should be sent to Cambridge CB2 3EQ. the Secretary: Dr Howard A. Armstrong, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Durham, Durham DH1 3LE e-mail <[email protected]>. Dr P.D. Polly, School of Biological Sciences, Queen Mary College, University of London, London E1 4NS. Dr C.H. Wellman, Centre for Palynology, University of Sheffield, Dainton Building, Brook Hill, Council Members 2003-2004 Sheffield S3 7HF. Ordinary Members President Dr M. Cusack, Division of Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Lilybank Gardens, Prof. D.E.G. Briggs, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, P.O. Box 208109, Glasgow G12 8QQ. New Haven, CT 06520-8109, USA. Dr T. Servais, Univ des Sci et Tech de Lille, U.F.R. des Sciences de la Terre - SN5, UPRES A 8014, Vice-Presidents 59655 Villeneuve D’Ascq CEDEX, France. Prof. D.A.T. Harper, Geologisk Museum, Københavns Universitet, Øster Voldgade 5-7, DK-1350 København K, Denmark. SALARIED OFFICERS OF THE ASSOCIATION Dr M.A. Purnell, Department of Geology, University of Leicester, University Road, Executive Officer Leicester LE1 7RH. Dr T.J. Palmer, Institute of Geography & Earth Sciences, University of Wales Aberystwyth, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 3BD Treasurer Prof. J. Hancock, Bleke House, Shaftesbury, East Dorset SP7 8QA. Editor-in-Chief Prof. D.J. Batten, Institute of Geography & Earth Sciences, University of Wales Aberystwyth, Secretary Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 3BD Dr H.A. Armstrong, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Durham, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE. Newsletter Editor Dr P.C.J. Donoghue, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ. Newsletter Reporter Dr G. Budd, University of Uppsala, Department of Earth Sciences, Norbyvagen 22, Uppsala Se-752 36, Sweden. Newsletter 53 4 Newsletter 53 5 deadline for nominations is 1st September. The award comprises a cash prize plus a framed AGM 2003 scroll, and is usually presented at the Annual meeting. The 46th Annual General Meeting of the Association was held on Wednesday 7th May 2003. Hodson Fund Dr Smith extended a vote of thanks to the retiring members of Council, Dr Clack, Dr Gabbott, This is conferred on a palaeontologist who is under the age of 35 and who has made a notable Dr Johnson, Dr Milsom, Dr Orr and Dr Sansom. Dr Purnell extended a vote of thanks to Dr Smith early contribution to the science. Candidates must be nominated by at least two members of who was retiring as secretary and had completed ten years of service to Council. the Association and the application must be supported by an appropriate academic case. The New members of Council for the coming year are Dr Ahlberg (Editor) and Dr Anderson (Editor); closing date for nominations is 1st September. Nominations will be considered and a decision Dr Purnell becomes a Vice President. made at the October meeting of Council. The award will comprise a fund of £1,000 and a commemorative scroll, presented at the Annual Dinner. The following awards and prizes were announced: Sylvester-Bradley Awards were made to: Broughton, Harrington, Hernandez Castillo, Gladwell, Joomun, Lane, Tetlie and Zuykov. This totalled £6,856. It was noted that the awards Annual listing of PhD titles represented a wide range of international science from graduate students to established and The now annual list of palaeontology and palaeo-related PhD titles will be published in recently retired academics. the next (Winter) issue of the Newsletter. If you are intending to offer a PhD project to Council are now investigating the possibility of reorganising the Association year so the AGM can begin October 2004, we would be grateful if you could submit these to the Newsletter be held during the Annual Christmas meeting. <[email protected]> by the copy deadline, which is 3rd October 2003. Your email should include the project title, supervisors, and enquiry contact details including an email Awards and Prizes address for one of the supervisors. The listing will also be made available via the Association website. Remember that Palaeontology Newsletter gets sent to undergraduate winners of the Palaeontological Association Prize, which is for the best performance in palaeontology by an Sylvester-Bradley Award undergraduate student in their penultimate year of study. These students are, by definition, the Awards are made to assist palaeontological research (travel, visits to museums, fieldwork etc.), very best palaeontologists in-the-making, so don’t miss your opportunity to reach out to them! with each award having a maximum value of £1,000. Preference is given to applications for a single purpose (rather than top-ups of other grant applications) and no definite age limit is applied, although some preference may be given to younger applicants or those at the start Electronic access to Palaeontology of their careers. The award is open to both amateur and professional palaeontologists, but The password for accessing Palaeontology through Ingenta will change on 1st August 2003. preference will be given to members of the Association. The awards are announced at the AGM. Please note the instructions that follow. The password is the 13-letter word followed by Council will also consider awards in excess of £1,000. Typically these would aid pilot projects two digits that appears following your name on the address label of the envelope that this with an aim of supporting future applications to national research funding bodies. newsletter was delivered in (or it can be obtained by sending an e-mail named ‘password’ to Electronic submission of applications, through the website, is preferred and will comprise a <[email protected]>). CV, an account of research aims and objectives (5,000 characters maximum), and a breakdown 1. Go to the Easylink URL <http://www.ingenta.com/journals/browse/bpl/pala/> of the proposed expenditure. Each application should be accompanied by the names of a (please note: bpl is lower-case L, not number 1) personal and a scientific referee. Successful candidates must produce a report for Palaeontology 2. Enter the username and password in the boxes at the bottom left of the screen: Newsletter and are asked to consider the Association’s meetings and publications as media for Username: palamember conveying the research results. The deadline is 28th November 2003. Password: *************## Mary Anning Award 3. Click the ‘Enter’ button below these boxes, then select the article you want from the The award is open to all those who are not professionally employed within palaeontology but contents lists. who have made an outstanding contribution to the subject. Such contributions may range from 4. Click ‘Full Text’ then click ‘Download PDF’. the compilation of fossil collections, and their care and conservation, to published studies in Please note that this service is a privilege to members and is only for personal use, so the recognised journals. Nominations should comprise a short statement (up to one