Applied Biostratigraphy

• Older publications may have what are (presently) obsolete genus names but the information attached to that name may still be useful. For example, an important compilation of planktonic foraminifera published in 1985 refers to the species discussed previously as Morozovella pseudobulloides or M. pseudobulloides.
• It may be unclear what an abbreviated (i.e. initial) genus name may actually be referring to if the species name itself is unfamiliar.
• Older publications or data sets may include out-of-date names which have subsequently become synonyms of other species.

Sometimes, the affinity of a particular fossil, if not clear from the text or data set, can be found in the genus name itself. For instance, many (not all) species of planktonic foraminifera often contain the sequence “glob-” in the name (e.g. Globigerina, Globoconusa, Globorotalia, Globotruncana etc.). Calcareous nannofossil names often contain the sequences “nanno-”, “cocco-” or “-lith-”. For Palynology – in particular dinoflagellate cysts – “-idium” appears to be a common ending for genus names and conodonts often contain “-gnathus-” within their name.

For macrofossils ammonite names frequently end with, or contain “-ceras-” and echinoids (sea urchins and starfish) often contain “-aster-”.

Of course, this is not true in every case and is only probably true in a minor subset of any fossil group, but it might provide just enough of a clue to help track down the elusive fossil’s affinity.

The upshot of all of this is that the academic literature on the taxonomy of fossil groups can be complex. In practical terms for the industry it means that historical biostratigraphic data (potentially very valuable) can be difficult to use unless it is managed and handled properly. Oil and consultancy companies can have very large historic biostratigraphic databases at their disposal. Maximising the value of those databases in a “low-oil-price” world is a challenge that has to be addressed. At time of writing there appears to be no universally accepted strategy for tackling this issue. Specialists studying individual fossil groups may be addressing the issues for their particular fossil group in the form of (for example) books or websites with a lexicon of different species (see for example the “Paleobiology Database” or “Mikrotax” for examples of co-operative group efforts in this direction – see “Internet Resources” at the end of this manual), but there is no consistent method for doing so between the groups and even less so using digital methods.