OstracodArts
Ostracods in the Mogollon Mimbres pottery
The Mogollon Mimbres cultures inhabited parts of today’s New Mexico from around 1000 to 1450. Their ceremonial pottery typically shows geometrical designs in black and white, combined with figures of stylized people and animals. During funeral ceremonies, the faces of the deceased were covered with a bowl in which a hole had been made, presumably to allow the soul to pass into the afterlife. The figured bowl is located in the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco and depicts two masked figures who appear to be looking into a water body, as well as several small animals that bear a striking resemblance to swimming ostracods. This is therefore probably the oldest known artistic depiction of ostracods. Foto shown here with permission of the photographer Peter D. Tillman.
Clay Ostracods
Nina Gerada & Caz Hildebrand
Artists Nina Gerada and Caz Hildebrand first visited the WH Collier Brickworks at Marks Tey in Essex, UK, to buy some naturally occurring clay. They were captivated by the place and the brick making methods: the prehistoric lakebed – designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest – from which the clay is extracted; the process of making bricks by hand; the extensive mould library; the downdraft kilns built in c1880.
They returned to document the site and spent a week there testing ideas for brick sculptures. They were very fortunate to meet micropalaeontologist Prof David Horne, who studies ostracod fossils found in the clay on site. He generously shared images of the ostracods fossils he studies. Caz and Nina were fascinated by them and wanted to bring these microscopic creatures to life, by scaling them up so they became easier to see. They began exploring methods of making ostracods from clay. Techniques include carving, modelling, casting and press-moulding. After making individual ostracods, some of which are impressionistic rather than accurate renditions of these creatures, they also made an imaginary seabed/lakebed containing fossils of ostracods.
About the artists:
Nina Gerada is a Maltese artist who works with clay, landscape, and the body to explore memory and embodiment. Her interdisciplinary career spans film production design, urban design, architecture and sculpture, this is reflected in her approach to material and scale. She has exhibited at The Malta Art Biennale (2026, 2024), the Malta Society of Arts (2024 and 2025), the British Ceramics Biennial (2023) and at Collect, Somerset House, London (2022 and 2023).
Caz Hildebrand (MA RCA Ceramics & Glass), formerly an award-winning designer, creates internationally exhibited glass and ceramic works. Caz’s practice centres on memory, loss and reparation through material transformation. Her work invites reflection on our shared heritage and the industrial processes that have shaped our everyday lives. Caz lives in London and works in her studio at The Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent.
https://whcollier.co.uk/site-of-special-scientific-interest/
Instagram:@cazhildebrand,@ninagerada
Artistic interpretation of ostracods found in Myanmar amber
The Chinese artist Dinghua Yang created this digital image of a Myanmarcypris hui couple during copulation. This ostracod species was described from Cretaceous amber from Myanmar and using tomography the presence of giant spermatozoa typical of certain living freshwater ostracods was confirmed for both, males and females. This proof of presence of giant spermatozoa in ostracods for over more than 100 million years inspired the artist to create a strikingly realistic scene of an ostracod mating.
(Images licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 for press release related to Wang et al. 2020)
Cribroconcha honggulelengensis
This vivid depiction of a scene from the life of the Late Devonian ostracod species Cribroconcha honggulelengensis was created by Mr. Chao Tan (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences) using Adobe Photoshop software. His work was scientifically supervised by Dr. Junjun Song (also NIGPAS). The illustration is part of the publication by Song, J.J., Huang, B., Qie, W.K., 2023. Allometry in Late Devonian Podocopa ostracods (Crustacea) and its implications for Ostracoda ontogeny. Paper in Palaeontology, e1480.
Ostracods as (his-) storytellers
In the children’s book Ostracods and the Blue Amazon, three Brazilian scientists let a colorful group of ostracod species tell the story of the genesis of the oceans. The cheerful illustrations were created by Thiago Medeiros.
The book was created under CC BY-NC 4.0
(Cristianini Trescastro Bergue, João Carlos Coimbra & Ruben Alexandre Boelter: Ostracode e a Amazônia Azul. Porto Allegre, RS, Liquidbook, 2020)
Eggimann – OSTRACODA porcelain
The Swiss artist, Marianne Eggimann, was and still is inspired by ostracods.
The ostracods are handcrafted from a mixture of porcelain and paper (Paper Clay) in a scale between 150:1 and 300:1. Scanning electron microscope images and light microscope images from ostracods served as guides through the fantastic world of ostracods.
The variety of surface structures and shape is made individually. Each piece is uniquely handcrafted in a complex and labour-intensive process. After each valve is formed, they are fused and it will need 2-3 weeks to gently dry the mass. Then, it will be burnt at a low 1020°C, glazed and then burnt at 1250°C. When valves are to be coloured or decorated with gold, they are placed in the oven for a third time at 800°C. Overall, the whole process takes about 5-6 weeks.
Images: courtesy of M. Eggimann.
Ostracod in the parc
The large ostracod model shown here can be seen in the Prehistoric Parc of Sebnitz in southeastern Germany close to the border to the Czech Republic. It was built by Franz Gruß known for his models of prehistoric animals in Großwelka and Sebnitz.
Image © Peter Frenzel
Gold sculptures @ ISO 16, Brasilia
…. in the shape of Perissocytheridea krömmelbeini
During ISO16, held in Brasília, Brazil, three pioneering Brazilian ostracod-researches were paid homage to: professors Irajá Damiani Pinto, Yvonne T. Sanguinetti and Ivone Purper. As a gift to show gratitude for their contributions to Brazilian ostracodology, the ISO16 organizing committee presented each of them with an ostracod-shaped golden sculpture.
Silvia R. Gobbo, of the symposium organising committee, took the article with the description of Perissocytheridea krommelbeini Pinto & Ornellas, 1970 to a jeweller and supervised the production of the pieces of jewelry. The crafting process started with a final size sculpture in a type of resin for approval. Then, the final piece was forged from silver and subsequently plated with gold.
The images show the golden sculpture, the original description of P. krömmelbeini in Pinto & Ornellas 1970, and Silvia R. Gobbo holding the golden ostracod.
Anonymous Japanese Artist
… made clay whistles in the shape of Physocypria nipponica
This whistle was made by a member of a local community group based at the Lake Biwa Museum in Japan. The clay is from Shiga and the whistle was fired in a small, portable, traditional kiln. The artist visited Dr. Robin Smith at the Lake Biwa Museum one day and asked to look at some ostracods. There were some Physocypria nipponica from Lake Biwa alive at the time in the lab. He later made a number of clay whistles, which represent his impression of Physocypria swimming around. The whistle works very well!
Foto of P. nipponica courtesy of Robin J. Smith.
An Ostracode advertises chocolate …
Franz Stollwerck founded a chocolate factory in Cologne, Germany, in 1839 and achieved great international business success within just a few years. Starting in 1897, collectible pictures were added to the chocolate bars and elaborately decorated collector’s albums were sold to hold the pictures – an innovative and successful marketing strategy, as collecting the pictures quickly became a popular hobby for many people and swapping pictures a popular pastime. The pictures were organized into series on themes from nature, art, technology, and history.
The collectible picture shown here for French-speaking countries is from the series ‚The World of Animals‘ from around 1903. At the bottom left of this scene is an ostracod, whose colorful pattern is very reminiscent of the fictional coloration of ‘Monoculus ornatus’ by Christine Jurine (in Jurine, L. 1820), see comparison on the third image.
Jurassic scenes in the botanical garden
These ostracod models exhibited in the Jardin des Plants (Botanical Garden) in Paris are most likely record-breaking in terms of body size! The show took place between November 20th, 2024 and January 19th, 2025 and was entitled „Jurassique en voie d’illumination“, dealing with Jurassic ecosystems: the idea was that the people going through the exhibition at night would travel through the deep-sea to continental areas. The specimens were selected by members of the palaeontology lab of the Musée Nationale d’Histoire Naturelle de Paris, located next to the botanical garden. Marie-Béatrice Forel, curator at the palaeontological collection, chose the microfossils to be displayed. The little „scenes“ and landscapes were first drawn by a scientific illustrator of the lab, in accordance with the scientists involved. They were then crafted by the company China Light Festival B.V.
Images © Marie-Béatrice Forel
Gigantocypris by Tamara Karan Žnidaršič, made in crochet technique
These twin specimens of Gigantocypris made by the skillful crochet needle of Tamara Karan Žnidaršič swam to the O-Bazaar @ ISO19 in Lyon.
Mechanocythere, an epistemological side-blow
The caption reads: Fig. 2. The compleat ostracode, Mechanocythere. Drawn for Richard H. Benson by L. B. Isham and reproduced with the kind permission of Dr. Benson.“The purpose of this drawing“, writes Dr. Benson (personal communication, 1969) „was to underline the mechanistic thinking that most zoologists use. I think the analogy is quite appropriate and scientifically reasonable, but I’m not sure that this is frankly admitted by most of our colleagues.“
Figure from Gould 1970: Evolutionary Paleontology and the Science of Form. Earth-Science Reviews, 6, 77-119. Publication on this website authorized by Elsevier License # 280203143422
The Christmas Greeting Cards by Dietmar Keyser
Dietmar Keyser, retired ostracod worker from Hamburg’s Zoological Institute and Museum, uses to create very atmospheric Christmas cards from ostracod SEM images.
We particularly like the environmental friendly recycling of some celebratory details!
Our thanks go to Dietmar for this likeable tradition and for allowing us to show a selection of cards here on the IRGO website.
The Ostracod Artwork by John C. „Jack“ Holden
John C. „Jack“ Holden, geologist, graphic artist and bon vivant created many drawings that feature ostracods. John digged out the drawings below – memories of times, when he investigated these critters as a palaeontologist. One of them (happy ecdysis) is the drawing on which the new IRGO logo was based.
We thank John for the permission to present them here.
If you want to learn more about John C. Holden’s work, check out this interview.
The Ostracod Comics by Haelita
French comic artist Haelita was inspired by the fact that ostracod spermatozoa are among the longest in the animal kingdom and were reported from as early as the Cretaceous period. Since these fossil sperms were found in an ostracod embedded in amber, she also had some ideas about ostracods and amber…
Proposed IRGO Logos
The IRGO community voted on its logo in December, 2010. The winner-logo is based on a piece of art by John C. „Jack“ Holden and is now decorating this website on the top left corner.
Logos of conferences and meetings of ostracodologists
The drawn ostracod valves shown on the header and footer of this page were created by G. W. Müller for his 1908 publication Die Ostracoden der deutschen Südpolar-Expedition 1901-1903. Ed. Erich von Drygalski. 10. Band, Zoologie 2. Band, Heft 1
