http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted_sites/bms Newsletter of Micropalaeontology ISSN 0140-6730ISSN bms NumberNumber 5959 EditedEdited byby PhilPhil DonoghueDonoghue BBrriittisishh MiMiccroparopallaaeeononttoollooggiiccaall SSoocciieettyy Registered as a Charity No 284013 society business Editorial The ritual list of publications requiring reviewers follows; any prospective reviewers should get in touch t has been some time since the last issue of the with me by telephone or email, but please bear in mind newsletter and I am sure that some of you have my forthcoming change of address. Best wishes to all. been wondering why issue 59 did not hit your I Arthur, W. 1997: The origin of animal body plans: a doormat sometime during September or October. At the May meeting of the BMS Committee it was decided study in evolutionary developmental biology. that the date of publication of the newsletter should be Cambridge University Press, 339pp. set back until after the AGM such that it could convey Bartels, C., Briggs, D. E. G. & Brassel, G. 1998: The news of that meeting. So here it is, better late than fossils of the Hunsrück Slate: marine life in the never (although I would argue that it is bang-on time, Devonian. Cambridge Paleobiology Series 3, Cam- but then I would, wouldn’t I?). bridge University Press, 309pp. Although the newsletter has been distributed in Johns, M. J., Barnes, C. R. & Orchard, M. J. 1997: electronic format through the BMS website for some Taxonomy and biostratigraphy of Middle and Late time, this is the first issue to also be available elec- Triassic elasmobranch ichthyoliths from northeast- tronically in PDF (Portable Document Format), also ern British Columbia. Geological Survey of Canada, available from the BMS website. The benefit of this file Bulletin 502, 235pp. format is that it shrinks large documents into very Norris, A. W. & Uyeno, T. T. 1998: Middle Devonian small electronic files, while preserving (perfectly) the brachiopods, conodonts, stratigraphy, and trans- intended formatting of text and images. Many of you gressive-regressive cycles, Pine Point Area, south of will already be aware of this format through its adop- Great Slave Lake, District of Mackenzie, Northwest tion by electronic journals. It is hoped that in future Territories. Geological Survey of Canada, Bulletin the newsletter could be distributed almost exclusively 522, 191pp. in electronic format, freeing much-needed funds for Pinard, S. & Mamet, B. 1998: Taxonomie des petits publication of the journal and providing a better foraminiferes du Carbonifere superieur-Permien service to the membership. inferieur du bassin de Svedrup, Arctique canadien. The previous issue of the newsletter bore a Palaeontographica Canadiana 15, 253pp. foram on the cover, an image kindly supplied by Paul Pearson (Bristol). Through my usual lack of rigour, I Phil Donoghue (Editor) School of Earth Sciences, forgot to ask Paul for an explanatory caption in time; University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 Paul has since supplied the following details for those 2TT, UK. From January 1st 1999: Department of Geol- who have not been able to sleep for the past six ogy, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK. [email protected] months, or else wanted to assess their foram-spotting prowess: Globigerinoides trilobus, a planktonic foraminifer from the middle Miocene of Limalok Guyot, west Pacific (approximately 15 Ma). This is a well preserved specimen, showing minute spine holes on the Secretary’s Report ridges between pores. As you will have noticed (or should have - chasten yourself if you did not), the ntroduction: 1997/1998 has been my first year as current issue sports coccolithophoroids, an image Secretary of the BMS (I was actingSecretary 1996/ kindly supplied by Jeremy Young (NHM). I asked I1997). Although there have been no society-wide Jeremy to come up with something intelligent for the meetings during the year, there has been a lot of explanatory caption and he supplied the following: two activity behind the scenes. coccospheres of Umbilicosphaera sibogae var. foliosa, each about 15 µm in diameter. Sample from plankton Kluwer Academic Publishers filter from the N. Atlantic (26N, 30W, 35 m water depth) The take over of Chapman and Hall by Kluwer Academic collected by Ric Jordan (Yamagata University), SEM from Publishers during thesummer of 1998 has been source Jeremy Young (NHM). U. sibogae is one of six of concern to the Main Committee as there are obvious coccolithophore species selected for multidisciplinary implications for the Society’s Special Publications study within the CODENET research project Series. On 9th July 1998, the Society Chairman, (www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted_sites/ina/ Secretary, Treasurer, and Newsletter Editor attended a CODENET). Just think, a whole nail-biting six months meeting with Petra van Steenbergen (Publishing Editor, before the next exciting installment! Kluwer) in the Department of Palaeontology, of The 2 society business Natural History Museum, London to discuss the situa- Lyell 2000 tion and plan a strategy in the best interests of the The BMS is organizing the Lyell Meeting in the year Society. Kluwer are keen to make a relationship with 2000 on behalf of the Joint Committee for Palaeon- the BMS work, and generally speaking the we are tology. The topic approved by the Main Committee is’ satisfied with the positive response to the questions Plankton Evolution and Climate Change’. Speakers will raised (prints runs, royalties, discounts for members, be by invitation only, and members are encourage to etc). However, due to the unavoidable absence of the make suggestions to the BMS Secretary who will be Series Editor (ProfessorMalcolm Hart) a final decision convening the meeting. Lyell 2000 provides the about how to proceed was deferred until after the Society with an excellent opportunity to demonstrate November 1998 Main Committee meeting. A second to the wider geological fraternity exciting research in meeting with Kluwer has been arranged for 24th this important sphere. The meeting will take place at November 1998. the Geological Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, Distribution of BMS Special Publications origi- London, probably during February. nally published by Chapman and Hall is now undertaken by Kluwer (25% discount to BMS members). There is Annual General Meeting also a 20% discount to BMS members on selected books Following discussions with Professor Alan Lord (UCL), published by Kluwer (see separate advertisements in the Main Committee decided to change the format of this issue).Kluwer accept payment in NLG, GBP or US$. the Annual General Meeting. The new venue, the If members experience any difficulty in ordering books, Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre at UCL, is smaller and please let me know directly. more appropriate to ouruse than the Anatomy Lecture Theatre. About 80 members attend the 1998 AGM. Newsletter of Micropalaeontology Following Society business (see below), two The Main Committee decided at their March 1998 talks were delivered by Dr MatthewJ. Collins (Post- meeting that the newsletter should be published in graduate Institute in Fossil Fuels and Environmental April (to announce the AGM) and in December (to Geochemistry, University of Newcastle) entitled ’Small report on the AGM and announce new officers). Accord- Beginnings: Ancient Biomolecules and ingly, Number 58 was issued in April 1998. Thanks are Micropalaeontology’ and by Dr Norman Macleod due to Dr Phil Donoghue for his continuing efforts to (Department of Palaeontology, Natural History maintain the high standard he has set. Museum, London) entitled ’The Renaissance of Graphic Correlation’. The Society is grateful to both Website http://www.nhm.ac.uk/ Matthew and Norm for taking the trouble to prepare hosted_sites/bms and deliver such enlightening presentations which The website has two regular updates each year to stimulated much discussion. accommodate the newsletter, with smaller irregular Afterwards, the wine reception, generously updates (to include specialist group news, new links, sponsored by Robertson Research International Ltd, etc). Specialist Groups are urged to take advantage of was held in the South Cloisters which provided less this facility. A domain name (bmsoc.org) has been cramped conditions that the Rock Room. As an reserved for future use. The Society is fortunate to have experiment, commercial and academic posters were the energy of Webmaster Dr Giles Miller at its disposal. on display, and 15 contributions were forthcoming. If these arrangements are considered to have been Special Publication Series successful, then they will be repeated at the 1999 Calcareous Nannofossil Biostratigraphy, edited by Dr AGM. Special thanks are due to Jim Davy, Local Paul Bown, was published in 1998. Thanks are due to Secretary, for his devoting his time and energy to the Paul and his contributors for all their hard work in AGM logistics. producing a magnificent volume which, I am sure, will become an international standard and best seller. Changes to the Committee Although the book has a Chapman and Hall cover, it is Professor Dick Aldridge stood down as BMS Chairman marketed and distribute by Kluwer Academic Publishers at the 1998 AGM. The Society is indebted to Dick for (fullprice: £79; 25% discount price for BMS members: his energetic commitment to the Society and for his £59.25). Other special publications are in the pipeline. representations to the Joint Committee for Palaeon- tology over the past three years. The Main Committee is pleased to announce that Dr John Whittaker 3 society business (Department of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum) they, as well as the Secretary and the Treasurer, ’shall has accepted our invitation to stand for election as be elected initially for a three year term of office but Chairman (proposed by Dr Jim Riding and seconded by may be re-elected for a second term of office in that Dr Ian Wilkinson). Dr Whittaker was elected unopposed position’. Previously these officers only served for an at the 1998 AGM. initial term of two years.