Ostracods of the Paratethys Sea and Lake Pannon — Perspectives for renewal of cooperative projects

Abstract

Ideas from a workshop with the title ‘Ostracods of the Paratethys Sea and Lake Pannon‘, organised during the 6th European Ostracodologists’ Meeting (EOM-VI), are briefly presented. The necessity to start a new active communication between palaeontologists and neontologists on the evolution and palaeoecology of ostracods of the marine Paratethys and Lake Pannon during the Cenozoic in Europe and Asia is stressed. This should continue and extend studies of earlier generations of ostracodologists who contributed to the chronostratigraphic and palaeobiogeographic understanding of this domain. Several research topics are proposed and their importance is supported by such arguments as: (1) the high relevance of studies dealing with the origin and diversification of the fauna of (palaeo)ancient lakes; (2) the reconciliation of the systematics of fossil and Recent ostracod taxa, for a better reconstruction of evolutionary histories; (3) a better perception of the developmental trajectories of various Recent and fossil ostracod taxa to facilitate the application of ostracods for palaeoecological studies. Finally, topics for future workshops dealing with Cenozoic ostracods are proposed.