The most biostratigraphic important miospore species from the Ordovician up to the Silurian (part I)

Palynological research project in collaboration with CENPES/BPA palynologists (Petrobras). First project (2009)

Presented next are details of the consulting research project “Ordovician – Middle Devonian miospore collection and database”, devised for exclusive use by CENPES/BPA palynologists. The project consists in mounting a palynological reference collection of biostratigraphically most important spores and cryptospores from the Ordovician through the Middle Devonian. It implies a minimum of 150 selected species. Most of them will be from the Gondwana Supercontinent. However, some stratigraphically relevant species known from Euramerica will be also included, as they could prove potentially useful for future work and comparison with Gondwanan taxa.

Two main parts will compose the final product of the project: the reference slide collection proper, and the database.
a) Sufficiently well preserved specimens (identifiable at species level) will be located on conventional palynological slides by means of an England Finder graticule. The slides will be numbered and stored in special boxes. The slides will be mounted at Université de Liège, Belgium, with the whole assemblage of palynomorphs recovered from the organic residues after the processing of selected samples at the University. Provenance data for each reference slide will be provided whenever possible, including: country, basin, rock unit (fm.), biostratigraphic unit, and age. An appropriate number of specimens (so as to cover an array of size and morphological variability) will be referenced for each species – although not necessarily on the same slide. Every selected specimen will be photographed. All these data will be stored in the database.
b) The database will be organized by using the software FileMaker Pro (we do not provide the software - for more information see http://www.filemaker.co.uk/). The database will be saved on CDRom or DVD media. The database will consist of:
- The original description of each species and a high-resolution scanned (PDF) copy of publications illustrating the type specimens. A synthetic additional description of the specimens will be added, and the main differences from morphologically similar species will be stressed.
- Synonymy lists.
- Stratigraphic ranges (age and zonal span).
- Geographic distribution.
- A complete list of bibliographic references from which the above data are compiled.
- Reference slide data (slide numbers and England Finder coordinates).
- High-resolution pictures of all selected specimens in the slide collection, including detail pictures when deemed necessary for the species characterization.
- A keyword research tool (e.g.: search for morphology, stratigraphy, taxa names, slides).