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Annual Report for 1999
IGCP 406
"Circum-Arctic Lower-Middle Palaeozoic Vertebrate Palaeontology and
Biostratigraphy"

1. Summary of Major Past Achievements of the Project
During 1996, IGCP 406 meetings and workshops were held in Edmonton, Canada, in Uppsala, Sweden, in Tallinn, Estonia, and in Vilnius, Lithuania. International collaborative field work was carried out in northern Canda. Working groups began research initiativesinvolving the Canadian, Greenland, Spitsbergen, and northern Russian parts of the Circum-Arctic region.
During 1997, IGCP 406 held two meetings, in Buckow, Germany during July, and in St. Petersburg, Russia during September. Both meetings resulted in substantial volumes of abstracts published as special publications of Ichthyolith Issues. The St. Petersburg meeting also included a workshop for authors of a volume on Severnaya Zemlya stratigraphy, part of it to be published in Russia and another part by Geodiversitas, Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris. In addition, smaller workshops, discussions, and field meetings, funded by other agencies, were held in London, Vilnius, and Edinburgh, and project-related field work took place in northern Canada, Alaska, and Scotland.
In 1998, IGCP 406 met in Warsaw, Poland, during September. More than 50 scientists from 16 countries participated in the scientific sessions, workshops, and field excursion. The meeting abstract volume was published as Ichthyolith Issues Special Publication 4,a field-excursion guide book was printed, and manuscripts were submitted for publication in a special issue of Acta Geologica Polonica. The above mentioned Severnaya Zemlya volumes also received manuscript submissions at the same meeting and later that year. IGCP 406 members were also key participants in an important paleontological and biological conference held in London in April. Fruitful IGCP 406-sponsored collaborations included international field work by two different teams in northern Canada. The project has now grown to more than 150 participants from 18 countries.

2. Achievements This Year
2.1 General scientific achievements (including societal benefits)
As before, the project's aims and activities were publicized through newsletter articles (e.g. Ichthyolith Issues), through electronic mail to all participants, and through the Palaeozoic MicrovertebratesWorld-Wide-Web page. The main IGCP 406 meeting was held in Jurmala, near Riga, Latvia. This meeting brought together more than 100 scientists and graduate students from 16 countries to share research results, to plan further collaborative studies of fossil collections, and to plan collaborative applications for field-work and research funding. The meeting was held in conjunction with the Fourth Baltic Stratigraphical Conference, resulting in numerous additional opportunities for exchange of ideas and collaborations. Many scientists participated in IGCP 406 for the first time, including representatives from two new countries, Belgium and Belarus.
IGCP 406 participants also represented the project at other meetings during 1999. Important examples are the meeting in London on Major Events in Early Vertebrate Evolution, and the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology annual meeting in Denver, U.S.A, and the Baltic Stratigraphical Meeting held in conjunction with our project meeting in Latvia. In addition, workshops associated with planning of the final IGCP 406 meeting for the year 2000 were held in Ukhta and Syktyvkar, Russia, with an associated field meeting in the Subpolar Urals. Several smaller workshops, field meetings, and field trips were also held by project participants. Achievements of these smaller workshops are mentioned where known. Progress in addition to that reported at the meetings is also summarized below.

IGCP 406 Annual Meeting: "Lower-Middle Palaeozoic Events Across the Circum-Arctic" Jurmala,
Latvia, September 27-October 2, 1999
More than 100 participants from 16 countries (Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine, U.K.) attended. The main emphasis was on biostratigraphic studies comparing well-known sections in the Baltic region with sections in more remote Arctic