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		compared with coeval sequences in the Orcadian Basin and from well sections in the Moray Firth and Mid North Sea High. Fieldwork was carried out on two sections on Ymer O and Gauss Halvo. Some 3 km of section was logged in detail. Work continues but significantly we have been able to date palynologically Ichthyostega. Very important following the attempt by palaeomagnetists (Geology 25:675-678, 1997) to redate it as Carboniferous. 1997: One week field work in Orkney by JEA Marshall & JF Brown. This involved further tracing of marine horizons within the Orkney Islands. On 17th July Marshall & Astin met with Mark-Kurik (project leader, national correspondent, Estonia), Luksevics (national correspondent, Latvia) and Ivanov (national correspondent, St. Petersburg, Russia) for an informal workshop discussion meeting at the Natural History Museum, London. Discussions included correlations between the Baltic, Scotland and Greenland and future co-operation in extending a climatic based Devonian stratigraphy. Dr. Giles Miller: Biostratigraphy of the Silurian using conodonts. He has been extracting conodonts from four samples from the Cape Phillips Formation, Arctic Canada. The samples were collected for trilobite study by Dr. Jon Adrain (then at Brock University, now at the Natural History Museum, London) between 1991 and 1993 and represents two areas; localities on the south coast of Baillie Hamilton Island (3 samples) and the Abbott River Section of Cornwallis Island (one sample). Trilobite faunas have been described and published by Dr. Adrain and co-workers from all of these samples. The samples represent the Wenlock part of The Cape Phillips Formation and span the instrenuus-kolobus (M. Sheinwoodian), perneri-opimus(U. Sheinwoodian), lundgreni-testis (L. Homerian) and ludensis (U. Homerian) graptolite zones of Lenz & Melchin (1991). The four samples also correspond (in the same stratigraphical order) to the Struzia dimitrova, Struzia petebesti, Mackenziurus deedeeiand Struzia harrisonifaunas of Adrain & Ramskold (1997). The study aims to correlate the graptolite, conodont and shelly fossil successions within the same sections. Preliminary work has also produced some good ostracod faunas which he plans to describe in a separate study. Workshop discussion meetings took place on 24-26th July 1997 with Dr. Tiiu Marss (co-leader IGCP 406) at the Natural History Museum, London, and involved biostratigraphic correlations between early Palaeozoic assemblages of conodonts and thelodonts. G.M. participated in the international meeting of IGCP 406 with Dr.Jon Adrain entitled: "Conodonts from the Cape Phillips Formation (Wenlock, Silurian) of Arctic Canada". Publications - see WWW site. Mike Newman (Aberdeen): Involved with reconstructions of fossil fishes for the next edition of Jack Saxon's new edition of "Fossil Fishes of the North of Scotland." The book is due to be published at the turn of the century. M.N. is also participating with Dr. N. Trewin and R. Davidson in a study on climatiids acanthodians from the Lower Old Red Sandstone of various localities in Scotland. Dr. Mark Purnell: Interests: biostratigraphy using conodonts. Dr. John Richardson: Biostratigraphy of the Devonian using spores. Has processed samples collected by Dr. Tiiu Märss (Estonia) from Arctic Canada. 30 to 40 samples have been processed but so far no spores have been found. The lack of spores suggests that the environment of deposition was probably not close to a shore, and was probably fairly deep water environment. Fossils extracted from the samples include brasinophytes, rare acritarchs, rare scolecodonts, graptolite fragments and one sample with rare chitinozoans. It may be worth dissolving further rock pieces for fusilla tissue fragments. Samples from the Silurian/Devonian boundary are at present being processed. Mr. Roderick Williams (Talgarth, S. Wales): Keen collector of vertebrates from Lower Devonian sediments of the Welsh Borderlands for study by specialists. Has recently collected some large ischnacanthid spines and jaws, Didymaspisand cephalaspids from Cusop, and other fossil fish material from Talgarth. Sally (V.T.) Young (NHM): UK national representative for The Royal Society since January 1997; Scientific interest: Devonian acanthodians; their morphology, distribution, biogeography and biostratigraphy. NB: PUBLICATIONS - see listing on WWW for others UK meetings On July 12-17th 1997 the International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM-V) took place at Bristol University. It was attended by IGCP participants including A. Ivanov (national correspondent, Russia), E. Luksevics (national correspondent, Latvia), T. Marss (co-leader, Estonia), M. Caldwell, A. Zhuravlev, M. Purnell and non-participants R. Aldridge, P. Donoghue, M. Smith. I. Sansom (UK) and J. Mallat (USA). They presented either poster or verbal reports, eight of which have some relevance to Project IGCP 406. The abstracts are published in the Journal of Morphology, vol. 232, nr. 3, 1997. The 45th (international) Symposium of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy was held from 10th to 13th September 1997 at the University of Derby, U.K. Presentations included eight posters and talks having some relevance to project IGCP 406 (and see Duffin above). On Wednesday 5th November a review seminar of the Palaeontological Association on Early Vertebrates took place at the Lapworth Museum and School of Earth Sciences, University of Birmingham. Ten verbal presentations were given, all having relevance to project IGCP 406. The meeting was attended by over 50 students and specialists, most from UK, and including 3 UK participants of projectIGCP 406 and the national correspondent.