Williams, G. L., J. K. Lentin, and R. A. Fensome, 1998

As a doctoral student in the 1980s, there were a handful of texts that I and most other budding dino-workers knew to be indispensable. Amongst these were such tomes as Bill Evitt's 1985 Sporopollenin Dinoflagellate Cysts, and Max Taylor's The Biology of Dinoflagellates of 1987; accompanying these two books on my shelf was the then current 1981 edition of the Lentin & Williams Index, which proved to be an essential guiding light through what then appeared to me to be an arcane maze of dinoflagellate taxonomic reassignments. Given that there was even then a huge volume of taxonomic literature and no widely utilised suprageneric classification system employed by the majority of dinoflagellate workers, a more valuable compendium of information which simply enabled a ‘green' research student to assimilate and navigate the vast and complex world of dinoflagellate taxonomy could not be invented. Since those seemingly distant days, the Index has seen several more iterations, and continues to go from strength to strength, as evidenced from the latest contribution – one that will require many palynologists to install extra-strength shelving in their offices!

In these days of quality assessments and productivity demands (yes, we even have such things in Universities!), it is now scarcely possible to imagine the midnight oil-burning that must have gone into the compilation of the original Index prior to its genesis in 1973 (then known as Fossil dinoflagellates: index to genera and species). This first edition was a volume of 176 pages, being home to some 292 genera and 1329 species. It is perhaps not unreasonable to state that the publication of this text was one of the most notable publication milestones in the history of our subject area – enabling any novice researcher to locate any pertinent taxonomic reference with ease, and to track the sometimes chequered history of the species in which they were interested. As a vehicle for clarifying and stabilising dinoflagellate taxonomy and systematics, the importance of the Index cannot be overemphasised. Indeed, it could be said that the existence of both the Index in its various manifestations, and Evitt's ‘Big Blue Book' actually allowed a much more ordered and rapid progression of dinoflagellate taxonomics than has been possible in other fields of micropalaeontology, culminating in the now widely accepted suprageneric classification scheme of Fensome et al. (1993). As a measure of how much the field has developed, by the time my own much-cherished 3rd edition was published in 1981, the statistics had mushroomed considerably, so that 414 genera, 2210 species, 230 subspecies and 2 varieties, were included, encompassing some 117 new combinations, 12 new species and 9 rank changes! One could say that once the compilation of the first edition was complete, it was then only a matter of keeping the database up-to-date for the publication of each subsequent revised edition – but to do so would not only be uncharitable in the extreme (and lose me many friends!), but would also neglect the evolutionary progression of the series as a whole into something far more valuable than simply a list of genera and species.

A few facts and figures help to put the new 7th edition into perspective, including as it does taxa published up to April 1998. Coverage now extends to some 817 pages, and is home to a massive 583 genera, 3785 species, 374 subspecies, 19 varieties and 7 forms. This represents an increase of almost 30 genera and 300 species (many of them new to me!) over 1991's 6th edition of the Index. Combine this with 48 new combinations and 3 new names, and it becomes clear why such a huge undertaking has required the 50% increase in authorship, with the participation of Rob Fensome. Not only has the Index seen a variety of publishers over the years, but the new edition has also seen a change of name, now being officially recognised as The Lentin & Williams Index, a justified acknowledgement of the work of the original authors.

The main text of the Index itself remains largely comparable to previous editions, and is accompanied by two Appendices containing non-dinoflagellate genera and generic names not based on fossilisable forms. The massive reference list continues to be an indispensable information source to those papers not taken by your own library or those published in other lands. However, it is at the front of the Index that some of the most important information can be found – a most welcome addition over recent years: the ‘Rules of Nomenclature' section. In a few short pages that should be compulsory reading for those wishing to erect new taxa, there are summarised all of the pertinent rules and regulations of the ICBN, clarifying the often opaque world of nomenclatural niceties, and hopefully ensuring that new descriptions do not fall into the taxonomic and systematic potholes of some of their predecessors. This section is then followed by a useful glossary to the terms used in the Index, and lists of new names, new combinations and (largely my own!) newly validated taxa.

Perhaps you may criticise this review for being positive in the extreme, but I for one believe that the publication of this series of indices, and the new edition in particular, has performed such a sterling service to dinoflagellate workers over the past quarter century (gulp!), that its importance cannot be over-estimated. The 7th Edition of the Index appears to be exhaustively comprehensive in scope, and I trust it will continue to serve our research community as successfully over the next 25 years as it has done since it first appeared in 1973 – buy it now!

References

Evitt, W. R., 1985. Sporopollenin Dinoflagellates: Their Morphology & Interpretation. AASP Foundation, Austin, Texas. 333 pp.

Fensome, R. A. et al, 1993. A Classification of Fossil and Living Dinoflagellates. Micropaleontology Press Special Publication, No. 7, 351 pp.

Lentin, J. K., and G. L. Williams, 1973. Fossil Dinoflagellates: Index to Genera and Species. Geological Survey of Canada, Paper, No. 73-42, 176 pp.

Lentin, J. K., and G. L. Williams, 1981. Fossil Dinoflagellates: Index to Genera and Species. 1981 edition. Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Report Series, No. BI-R-81-12, 345 pp.

Taylor, F. J. R., 1987. The Biology of Dinoflagellates. Botanical Monographs, No. 21, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford. 785 pp.