The module gives you the skills needed to describe and classify many of the major post-Palaeozoic families of ostracods. Lectures will provide an introduction to the morphology and ecology of ostracods and an overview of the current understanding of ostracod phylogeny supported by reference collections of prepared slides, which should be studied and recorded.
Key assemblages and events in the post-Palaeozoic evolution of the Ostracoda are introduced including (i) the occurrence and extinction of late-Triassic to early Jurassic Metacopina, (ii) mid- Jurassic diversification of marine lineages, (iii) the establishment of late Jurassic to early Cretaceous ‘Wealden facies’ Cypridea assemblages, (iv) First appearance of many distinctive deep-sea taxa in the Late Cretaceous Chalk seas, (v) Cenozoic evolution of deep water assemblages and their role in recording palaeoceanographical change (including the inception of the psychrosphere), and (vi) the role of non-marine ostracods as indicators of climate change in the non-marine realm. Many of these themes are supported by focused practical sessions that involve picking/sorting/identifying ostracods from key stratigraphic intervals.