The 14th International Ichnofabric Workshop was held successfully in Taiwan University of China from April 29th to May 2nd.From the oral presentations,posters,intra-and post-workshop field trips,and workshop discussions,a few promising aspects of ichnological study can be outlined:(1) Ichnotaxonomy is,and will be the major endeavour of ichnologists,supplying important behavioural information for palaeontological studies,and also providing reasonable,objective,and convenient taxonomical framework for further sedimentological and palaeoecological exploits;(2) Ichnofabric analysis is widely applied to in-depth sedimentological studies,offering a wealth of biological information that cannot be properly obtained from traditional sedimentological and geochemical analyses;(3) Study of trace fossils in the context of evolutionary palaeoecology sheds light on some intriguing issues in the biological responses during certain critical events in Earth's history;(4) Work on combining geomicrobiology and ichnology is under way;(5) Particular fossil behaviour such as stalking is first reported,expanding the range of fossil behavioural patterns;(6) Quantitative morphological characterisation and statistic approaches have become increasingly useful in grasping the finer ingredients of functional morphology,and it is urgently needed that quantitative description and analysis of environmental parameters based on ichnofabric analysis be proposed in the near future.%第14届国际遗迹组构专题研讨会于2017年4月29日至5月2日在中国台北台湾大学顺利召开.从会议口头报告、展板、会间和会后野外地质考察以及交流讨论可以看出遗迹学热点与前沿:(1)遗迹化石的系统分类将一直是遗迹学家努力的方向,旨在为古生物学研究提供丰富的行为学资料,并为沉积学、古生态学等研究提供科学、客观和简便的遗迹分类学框架;(2)遗迹组构分析在沉积学中的深入应用,能提供大量传统沉积学、地球化学分析所无法揭示的生物学信息;(3)重大地质事件的遗迹学响应以及遗迹化石的演化古生态学为地质—生命突变期研究提供了独一无二的新素材;(4)地微生物学与遗迹学的结合进行了初步有益尝试;(5)特殊化石行为如求偶行为的报道扩大了深时行为类型;(6)定量形态表征和统计分析是遗迹学研究精细化和定量化的重要途径,通过遗迹组构分析来定量刻画沉积环境因子是遗迹组构研究的重要前景方向.
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