SUSAN TURNER

IGCP 328 : PAI,AEOZOIC MICROVERTEBRATES 1991-1995-

QUO VADIS? ACHIEVEMENTS A N D THE FtYrC E

TURNER S. 1995. IGCP 328 : Palaeozoic microvertebrates 1991-1995 - Quo vadis? Achievements and the future. [PICG 328 : Microvert~br~s pal~ozo'~ques 1991-1995 - Quo Vadis? Bilan et perspectives.] GEOBIOS, M.S. n ° 19 : 373-376.

ABSTRACT

International Geological Correlation Programme Project 328 on Palaeozoic microvertebrate biochronology and glo- bal marine/non-marine correlation is part of the Unesco-IUGS collaboration programme which intends to bring together scientists with common goals to solve key geological problems.

KEY-WORDS : UNESCO, IUGS, IGCP, PALAEOZOIC, MICROVERTEBRATES, HISTORY.

RI~SUME

Le Projet 328 du Programme International de Correlation G~ologique sur les Microvert~br~s Pal~ozo~ques ~tait ax~ sur la biochronologie et les corr61ations marin/non-marin ~ l'~chelle globale des microvert6br6s pal6ozdiques. I1 faisait partie du programme de l'U.I.S.G.-Unesco amenant a faire collaborer les scientifiques afin de r~soudre des probl~mes-cl~s de g~ologie.

MOTS-CL]~S : UNESCO, UISG, PICG, PALI~OZOIQUE, MICROVERTI~BRI~S, HISTOIRE.

The Unesco-International Union of Geological Sciences scientific committee meets once a year to consider proposals for such research pro- grammes and, once accepted, provides "seed mo- ney" to support scientific meetings in each of the 5 years the project is active. International Geological Correlation Programme Project 328 on Palaeozoic Microvertebrate Biochronology And Global Marine/Non-Marine Correlation was awarded in early 1991.

The Palaeozoic Microvertebrates research pro- gramme began life, however, on the wind-swept hillsides and paddy fields of eastern Yunnan when 35 scientists from 9 countries were seeking out Siluro-Devonian fish during the field meeting succeeding the Symposium on Early Vertebrates held in Beijing in September 1987. Walking the key sections of the Late Silu- rian and Ear ly Devonian Cuifengshan Group, discussion ensued on the exact horizons of fish fossils mentioned in earlier papers. We were overwhelmed by the number of bone beds in the

section, which had not at tha t time been collec- ted bed-by-bed. Several of us decided that we should encourage this sort of collecting to hap- pen. Moreover, we agreed to join together as a Palaeozoic Fish/Microvertebrate Working Group and produce a linking newsletter. From this came Ichthyolith Issues (now in its eighth year and reaching over 450 on the mailing list : Tur- ner ed. 1988-1994). Eventually, after agreement in 1989 at the 2nd Middle Palaeozoic Fishes Meeting in Tallinn (Mark-Kurik ed. 1992), the proposal for an IGCP was made to Unesco by Dr Gavin Young and Dr Sue Turner (Australia), Dr Alain Blieck (France), Dr Tiiu M~rss (Estonia) and Wang Nian-zhong and Wang Shi-tao of Chi- na. Around 200 active scientists and students representing around 50 countries have since con- tributed their efforts to the success to the project with many more giving support in the form of donations, collections and logistic help.

The main aim of this project has been to coordi- nate international research of microvertebrates

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(scales, teeth, denticles, fin spines, bones) and in- tegrate the data on the main groups of Palaeozoic fishes. In so doing we have clarified taxonomy of the various vertebrates where possible. This of course includes several major classes of "fishes" - the "Agnatha" already considered to be a ragbag of probably not closely related forms sharing the apparent trait of jawlessness ; the chondrich- thyans or "sharks" and holocephalians (another mixed-bag) ; the extinct armoured placoderms ; and the bony fishes includixig acanthodians, acti- nopterygians, and sarcopterygians (including lungfish and coelacanths as well as the "ances- tors"/sister group of the tetrapods). We even eventually have tried to recognise "mini" tetrapod bits to see if we can pinpoint or extend the origin of the four-legged beasts back in time. By using fish micro-remains and the individual databases set up, we have investigated biostratigraphy, de- fined biozonation therefrom and especially aided correlation of marine-non-marine sequences whe- re vertebrates come into their own (complemen- ting palynology). The data derived has also been applied to gain insights into palaeoenvironments; palaeogeography and distribution (vicariant or otherwise) of the main taxa. In addition we ho- ped to assess controlling factors and processes such as climatic changes, geographic changes such as sea level rise and fall, catastrophic events, and palaeoenvironment adaptation.

With the Unesco-IUGS annual grant, we have met for an international forum each year. The first formal meeting was held in Canada during the 7th International Symposium on Studies of Early Vertebrates, in June 1991 at the Parc de Miguasha, Quebec, the only museum in the world dedicated to fossil fishes based as it is on the fa- mous Frasnian Escuminac Formation (Turner 1992). Additional financial aid came from Cana- dian IGCP and the Quebec Government. Over 50 papers (and even a video) on Palaeozoic fishes were given, half directly relevant to IGCP 328 (V~zina & Arsenault eds 1991). At the first busi- ness meeting Drs Sue Turner and Gavin Young were elected joint project leaders with Dr Alain Blieck (France) and Dr Tiiu M~irss suggested as co-leaders for the second term. Field work was carried out at one Lower Silurian, and various Devonian to Lower Carboniferous localities in Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (V~zina & Cloutier eds 1991). The resulting Symposium volume (Arsenanlt, Leli~vre & Janvier eds in press), and one on the Escuminac fauna (Schultze, Cloutier & V~zina eds in press) are due for publication in 1995.

In September 1992 participants mainly from the former Soviet Union joined with Chinese collea- gues to present papers at the Subcommission on Devonian Stratigraphy's International Sympo- sium on the Devonian System and its Economic Oil and Mineral Resources (ISDSEOMR) in Gui- lin, China (Teng & Li eds 1992), and Dr Gavin Young held an IGCP 328 workshop there and in Beijing (Turner 1993). In 1993 we held our first major international meeting, the Walter Gross Symposium, jointly with the SDS at GSttingen, Germany, which included 3 days field excursion to Palaeozoic of Thuringia. Over 80 participants from over 20 countries contributed 68 abstracts, 56 verbal and 16 poster presentations (Turner ed. 1993). Thirty two people attended the field excur- sion and there were IGCP workshops on several themes (Bartzsch, Blumenstengel & Weyer 1993). Over 30 refereed papers will appear in Modern Geology (Wimbledon, Blieck & Turner eds in press). In GSttingen, Drs Sue Turner and Alain Blieck were elected as co-leaders for the rest of the project (Turner 1994). Last year we again held a joint meeting with the SDS in Russia. Fol- lowing an IGCP 328 workshop was the sympo- sium, "Devonian Eustatic Changes of the World Ocean Level" in Moscow (House & Lebedev eds 1994), and then 20 scientists from 6 countries participated in the field trip to study the classic Frasnian deposits of Timan, Komi Province (Yu- dina & Moskalenko eds 1994). One hundred scientists from 16 countries met for workshops, study of collections, poster and verbal presenta- tions and field excursions (Alekseyev 1994). A Special Issue of Ichthyolith Issues will present the Moscow IGCP 328 papers.

National Working Groups have met and conduc- ted formal and informal identification workshops in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, France, India, Lithuania, Poland, UK, USA and Canada. Field meetings and relevant field work by partici- pants have taken or will take place in Australia, Canada, China, Belgium, France, Germany, Po- land, Venezuela and Vietnam. Two important ex- peditions to Arctic Canada have been organised by Canadian representatives and encouraged Ca- nadian-French-Estonian co-operation. From all the field work has come important work especial- ly on the mid Palaeozoic microvertebrates. There are new students of Palaeozoic fishes in Austra- lia, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Spain and the USA. The re- search project network has increased to over 500 workers and particularly satisfying are the conti- nuing offers of microvertebrate collections from conodont and invertebrate workers, some of

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which have been passed on for s tudy to members from developing countries. There is increased in- terest in introducing microvertebrates into under- graduate and graduate programmes and a gro- wing need for graduate texts (e.g., Long ed. 1993). Active research is continuing in all Palaeo- zoic systems, with new discoveries reported in many regions including for example, Antarctica, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chi- na, Germany, Gornai-Altai, Iran, Irian Jaya, Ka- zakhstan, Lithuania, Mongolia, Moravia, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Spain, South Africa, South Wales, Timan-Pechora, Ukraine, Urals, and Vietnam.

The Final meeting of IGCP 328 will be held at the 8th International Meeting on Early/Lower Vertebrates in Paris in September 1995 followed by a joint field excursion with the SDS to the Pa- laeozoic of northern France and the Ardennes, Belgium. National representatives will present results towards a Devonian microvertebrate bio- correlation fulfilling a major part of the long term aims of the Working Group to produce biozone schemes and correlation tables using vertebrates for all Palaeozoic systems.

And the Future? IGCP 328 participants have ac- tively co-operated with other IGCP projects such as IGCP 261 (Global Bioevents) ; 272 (Latin American Conodontology) which nominated 328 as its successor ; 306 (Stratigraphic Correlation in southeast Asia) ; 321 (Gondwana Dispersion and Asian Accretion) ; and 335 (Recovery from Extinction Events). We have also co-operated and actively participated in IUGS Subcommissions on Silurian and Devonian Strat igraphy and made contact also wi th the Carboniferous and Permian Subcommissions. Our Working Group, like our "sister" the Pander Society, has become an offi- cial uni t of the International Palaeontological As- sociation. These co-operations will continue and hopefully s trengthen as microvertebrate work is recognised as useful to the geological community.

To that end already in 1994 it was agreed to pre- pare for a Successor Project incorporating the work of the newly-formed xenacanth working group looking at Late Palaeozoic-Early Mesozoic microvertebrate zonation. There are also ideas to investigate the co-association of vertebrates, co- nodonts and spores. The new research pro- gramme will take an integrated approach to cor- relation between Paleozoic marine and non-ma- rine sequences, including the major stage and system boundaries into the Triassic. The interest already generated during IGCP 328 will encou- rage fur ther and wider investigation of microver- tebrates incorporating the Mesozoic. With this

approach we hope ult imately to provide standard microvertebrate correlation throughout Phanero- zoic time.

Acknowledgments - I would like to thank all those who have contributed to IGCP 328 especially my Co-leaders Dr Alain Blieck and Dr Gavin Young, all group and national leaders and those who have helped us financially and otherwise in the Unesco, IUGS and national IGCP Committees and other institutions in many countries. Especial thanks to those who have aided us to achieve our meetings, especially M. Marius Arsenault and team, Professor Michael House and SDS colleagues, Professor Otto H. Walliser and GSttingen University team, and Drs A. Rozanov and Oleg Lebedev and their colleagues of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

This is a contribution to IGCP 328. Palaeozoic Micro- vertebrates.

R E F E R E N C E S

ALEKSEYEV A.S. 1994 - Moscovian and basal Kasimo- vian (Middle and Upper Carboniferous) of the Moscow Basin. Field Excursion Guidebook (July 10, 1994), IC~P 328/SDS joint meeting (DECWOL) : 9 p.

ARSENAULT M., LELII~VRE H. & JANVIER Ph. (in press) - Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium for Studies on Early Vertebrates (Parc de Miguasha, Qu@bec, June 1991). Bulletin du Musdum national d' Histoire naturelle, 17, (1-4).

BARTZSCH K., BLUMENSTENGEL H. • WEYER D. 1993 - Palaeozoic (Devonian) of Thuringia. The Gross Sym- posium (GSttingen, 31 July-6 August 1993), Field Excursion (31 July-3 August 1993). Guidebook : 60 p.

HOUSE M.R & LEBEDEV O.A. (eds) 1994 - Joint Sub- commission on Devonian Stratigraphy - Devonian Commission of the Interdepartmental Stratigraphic Committee of Russia and IGCP Palaeozoic micro- vertebrate biochronology and global marine-nonma- rine correlation Project 328 Meeting : Devonian Eustatic Changes of the World Ocean Level (Moscow, 9-22 July 1994). Abstracts : 51 p.

LONG J.A. ed. 1993 - Palaeozoic Vertebrate Biostrati- graphy and Biogeography. Belhaven Press, London: 369 p.

MARK-KURIK E. (ed.) 1992 - Fossil fishes as living ani- mals. Proc. 2nd International Meeting on Middle Palaeozoic Fishes (Tallinn 1989). Academia, 1, Tal- linn : 299 p.

SCHULTZE H.-P., CLOUTIER R. & VI~ZINA D. (eds) (in press) - Paleontology and Geology of the Upper De- vonian Escuminac Formation from Qudbec, Cana- da. Museum of Natural History, University of Kan- sas Press, Lawrence.

TENG W.C. & LI J. (eds) 1992 - International Sympo- sium on the Devonian System and its Economic Oil and Mineral Resources (Guilin, China, 1992). Abs- tracts, Guilin.

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TURNER S. (ed.) 1987-1994 - Ichthyolith Issues : news and views on Palaeozoic ve r t eb ra t e microfossils. Br i sbane and Univers i t~ des Sciences et Technolo- gies de Lille publ .

TURNER S. 1992 - Microver tebra te hun t ing in Mi- guasha . Repor t of f irs t official meet ing of IGCP 328 a t the VII th In t e rna t iona l Sympos ium on the Study of Lower Ver tebra tes , Parc de Miguasha , Quebec, 9-22 June , 1991. Episodes, 15 : 131-133.

TURNER S. 1993 - IGCP 328 : Palaeozoic microverte- b r a t e workshops in 1992. Episodes, 16 (3) : 398-401.

TURNER S. (ed.) 1993 - The Gross Symposium-Scienti- fic sessions. IGCP 328 : Palaeozoic Microver tebra tes

Subcommiss ion on Devonian S t r a t i g r aphy jo in t mee t ing (GStt ingen, 4-6 Augus t 1993). Abstracts , Univers i t~ des Sciences et Technologiques de Lille.

TURNER S. 1994 - Get t ing toge ther in GSttingen. IGCP 328 Symposia /workshops in 1993. Episodes, 17 (1- 2): 22-23.

VI~ZINA D. & ARSENAULT M. (eds) 1991 - VII Interna- tional Symposium on Studies of Early Vertebrates

(Parc de Miguasha, Qudbec, 9-22 June 1991). Abs- t rac ts , Parc de Miguasha : 53 p.

VI~ZINA D. & CLOUTIER R. 1991 - Field trips guide book. VII International Symposium on Studies of Early Vertebrates (Parc de Miguasha, Qudbec, 9-22 June 1991) : 71 p.

WIMBLEDON W., BLIECK A. & TURNER S. (eds) (in press) - The Gross Symposium Volume (Proc. IGCP 328 - The Gross Symposium, GStt ingen, Augus t 1993). Modern Geology.

YUDINA YU A. & MOSKALENKO M.N. (eds) 1994 - Fras- nian key-sections of the South Timan. Fie ld guide book. IGCP 328/SDS jo in t meeting. Al l -Russ ian Pe- trol. Scient.-Res. Geol. Explor. Inst. (VNIGRI), Ti- man-Pechora Dept., U k h t a : 44 p.

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P.O. Box 3300 S. Brisbane, Qd 4101, Austral ia