1
2 3
4 5
6 7
8 9
10 11 12
13 14
15 16
17 18
19 20
21 22
23 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
P. de Buisonje is a retired palaeontogist of the University of Amsterdam. He and J. dem Blaauwen are working on Middle Devonian vertebrate material from Scotland and Orkney, particularly coprolites, revealing that the prey were fishes (mostly acanthodians) and invertebrates. Part of the work is to be published in the near future. R. Davidson kindly donated some of the fossil material for this study. J. Clack, in collaboration with the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) and the Geological Museum, Copenhagen, led a team of four people from the Universities of Cambridge and Bristol that took part in a five-week expedition to the Upper Devonian deposits of Central East Greenland. Other team members were S. Finney, S. Neininger (University of Cambridge) and R. Hitchin (University of Bristol). The objectives of the expedition were study the geological and paleoecological context of the early tetrapod assemblages from East Greenland, and to obtain additional well-preserved material for anatomical study. Numerous fish and early tetrapod fossils were collected. Clack plans to present preliminary results at an Old Red Sandstone meeting in December (called 'New perspectives on the Old Red Sandstone', to take place in Burlington House, Geol. Soc. rooms, on December 7-8. More details from Peter Friend, Earth Sciences, Cambridge), and will preapre a report for GEUS internal distribution. R. Davidson and N. Trewin have their Tynet Burn paper accepted for publication by the Geol. Soc. London. Davidson continues to collect at several localities with good success and has donated comparative specimens to a number of researchers. M. Newman is also involved in some of the same studies, and with reconstructions of fish fossils for Jack Saxon's new edition of "Fossil Fishes of the North of Scotland." D. Dineley continues his studies of Devonian agnathans, their morphology, biostratigraphy, distribution, palaeo-environments and biogeography. C. Duffin also continues his work with Palaeozoic sharks, their morphology, biogeography, biostratigraphy and palaeoenvironment. R. Hitchin and L. Cook have been
working at an Upper Devonian site at Portishead, North
Somerset, in the Upper Old Red Sandstone, finding fishes
and eurypterids. A paper on the stratigraphy,
sedimentology, and palaeontology is in preparation. P.
Forey has agreed to be external examiner for Hitchin's
Ph.D. Its title is now, officially,
"Acentrophorus M. House continues his studies of Middle Palaeozoic biostratigraphy, and Devonian sea levels. D. Howley is studying the sediments and fossils of the Brecon Beacons area for a PhD. Interests include sedimentology, palaeontology, palaeo-environments, palaeo-geography and field mapping. S. Turner, J. Vergoossen and R. Williams are pursuing micro-vertebrate work in the same area. E. Loeffler continues her
studies on Devonian vertebrates from the Canadian Arctic,
recently publishing a paper with D. Elliott on new
Poraspis J. Marshall and T. Astin continue their research in palynology and sedimentology, respectively, of the Devonian of East Greenland. G. Miller is studying Silurian (Wenlock) ostracods from Baillie Hamilton and Cornwallis islands of Arctic Canada, and conodont biostratigraphy. In August of 1998 he visited the Academy of Sciences, Tallinn, Estonia, with Tiiu Marss finishing off a paper on thelodonts, acanthodians and conodonts from the Pridoli (Silurian) of the Welsh Borderland. This was funded under the Royal Society exchange scheme. During this time we also discussed the above project and thelodont material that I provided for Tiiu for her part in IGCP 406 project. M. Purnell continues his interests in biostratigraphy using conodonts and in conodont and early vertebrate feeding mechanics. J. Richardson continues his interests in biostratigraphy of the Devonian using spores. N. Trewin is studying the sequence stratigraphy, sedimentology, palaeoecology, interpretation of environments of Devonian fish, particularly the Silurian and Old Red Sandstone of Scotland. Trewin's and Davidson's paper about the Scottish locality, Tynet Burn, has been accepted for publication. R. Williams (Talgarth, South Wales) collects vertebrates from Lower Devonian sediments of the Welsh Borderlands for study by specialists, and has helped form a local Welsh Borders Research Grouph. He and others are currently emphasizing vertebrates from the Ludlow and Brecon areas. S. Young has been UK national correspondent for The Royal Society since January, 1997.She is interested in the anatomy, taxonomy, phylogeny, biostratigraphy, palaogeography, and palaeoenvironments of early |