A new (third) edition of the trace-fossil volume of the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology (Häntzschel, 1975) is now in progress, with myself as coordinating author and Alfred Uchman as deputy coordinating author under the editorship of Roger Kaesler (Paleontological Institute, University of Kansas). The need for a revision has become increasingly clear since 1975 as more than 200 new invertebrate ichnotaxa have been named, and many others revised. The work will begin in earnest in May 2000, when authors have cleared room on their schedules for this work, and may extend for 6 to 8 years.

Among the first tasks of any Treatise project is the compilation of a bibliography, glossary of terms, checklist of ichnogenera, and list of museum repositories for type specimens. A fair start has already been made on the bibliography with an EndNote database of more than 17,000 references. Alfred and I hope to collect copies of many of these sources for our research libraries. The glossary will be based on that of Bromley and others (1984), the most extensive one that is currently available. A checklist of the ichnogenera mentioned by Häntzschel (1975) has been compiled and augmented by ichnogenera named afterward. Alfred and I have also begun a list of trace-fossil repositories, one of the most difficult lists to prepare. By the time authors begin their work, they will have extensive reference materials at hand to assist them.

Several potential authors have already expressed interest in the project, and some have committed their time to it. Others will be contacted over the coming months. It is important to put together a team of researchers who can work together effectively over the next decade.

Not all of the work will be taxonomic. Recent volumes of the Treatise include an increasing amount of explanatory material, including methods of study, paleoecology, and significance of the fossils to workers in related fields. There is ample room for summary articles on such topics as the history of ichnology, field methods on modern and ancient traces, tiering, ichnofacies, ichnofabric, biostratigraphy, bioerosion, and mathematical approaches in ichnology, among others. The authors of many of these articles will not be taxonomists, but researchers who are accomplished in other aspects of ichnology.

It is expected that taxonomic authors will organize their work as a series of short projects that are published in journal articles over a period of time. This will allow the entire ichnologic community to comment on their conclusions before publication of the Treatise volume. Each will report on their progress for a monthly newsletter distributed among authors. In the best case, authors will be able to support one another's requests for information and expedite the loan of specimens in their country.

Unlike previous editions of the trace-fossil part of the Treatise, this is to be a multiauthored, international work. In order to revise ichnogenera effectively, the authors will need input and cooperation from virtually every living ichnologist. In effect, the book will be the work not of any single person, but of an entire generation of ichnologists.

Häntzschel, W. 1975. Trace fossils and problematica (2nd edition). In Teichert, C. (ed.), Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, part W. Miscellanea, suppl. 1, p. W1-W269. Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press, Boulder, Colorado, and Lawrence, Kansas.