Abstract
The problem of consistent identification of unornamented fossil ostracod taxa, especially species, is reviewed in an historical context. The solution lies in modern imaging and image storage and handling technologies combined with a careful but pragmatic (heuristic) approach to identification and taxonomy.
Highlights
A common remark to ostracod specialists even from fellow palaeontologists’ is “Oh, ostracods, little beans!” with the implication that they are essentially unidentifiable and not very useful
While it is true that ostracods are not usually as abundant as foraminifera in marine sediments and are extremely difficult to identify in thin-section, the importance of the group for palaeoenvironmental analysis and biostratigraphy especially of non-marine sequences is well-established
With fossil ostracods it is usually possible to recognise juveniles from adults and often adult males and females from carapace characteristics, but the specimens occur in death assemblages that represent varying distance from the original living population of a species
Summary
A common remark to ostracod specialists even from fellow palaeontologists’ is “Oh, ostracods, little beans!” with the implication that they are essentially unidentifiable and not very useful. Meisch et al (2019) estimate that there are 2330 “subjective” species of extant non-marine ostracods assigned to 270 genera. Horne et al (2002) give an estimate of 33 000 living and fossil species These figures are certainly underestimates, as Rodriguez-Lazaro and Ruiz-Muñoz 1) comment “Only about half of the estimated 20 000 living species have Lord: BSGF 2020, 191, 27 been described formally, the majority from marine and transitional waters”
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