A new genus and species of haplobunodontid artiodactyl, Hallebune krumbiegeli nov. gen. nov. sp., is described from the middle Eocene Geiseltal Fauna (Saxon-Anhalt, Germany). Its stratigraphic range is restricted to the MP 13 ("obere Mittelkohle") of the Geiseltalian. The material consists of seven fragments, representing both upper and lower jaws. It is indicated, that H. krumbiegeli was a small bunodont herbivore. The size and primitive character of the teeth suggest that the genus possibly is directly derived from Diacodexeidae.The new material forms the basis for reinterpreting the haplobunodontid phylogeny. 

Revision of ancient collections and study of new material from Provenchères-sur-Meuse (Rhaetian) lead to signíficant changes in the faunal list of this site. This bring to us important information about the effect of the rhaetian transgression on the evolution of the faunas at this period of time. However, study of
vertebrate microremains is always difficult and some points remain obscure, like the origin of the prosauropods which yield some remains at Provenchères-sur-Meuse and the survival in Europe during the Rhaetian of temnospondyl arnphibians different from the Plagiosauridae.

  

A new hypothesis for the phylogenetic relationships of recent anomalurids and graphiurids is proposed, based on information from evolutionary lineages of Paleogene European rodents, particularly Gliridae, and Eocene Algerian Zegdoumyidae. Differences in first occurrences, in paleogeography, and in infraorbital structure in glirids (protrogomorphy and pseudomyomorphy) and graphiurids (hystricomorphy) separate Graphiuridae from Gliridae (Graphiurinae is here raised to family rank). Similar considerations, and dental morphology, suggest that Anomaluridae (appearing in the late Eocene) and Graphiuridae (appearing in the Pliocene) are related to early Eocene Zegdoumyidae. 

An interpretation of the marine reptile fossil record, based on the existing litterature and complemented by the review of ancient collections and the study of new material, permits a better understanding of Mesozoic marine ecosystems. An inventory of the marine reptiles known from the Lower Triassic to the Paleocene is presented: 46 families, about 200 genera and 400 species have been recorded. This data base includes commentaries about systematics, stratigraphical ranges and geographical distribution of taxa. Marine reptiles include a mosaic of not necessarily closely related groups: ichthyosaurs, thalattosaurs, hupehsuchians, pachypleurosaurs, placodonts, nothosaurs, plesiosaurs, pliosaurs but also crocodiles, lizards, snakes, turtles. The diversity studies reveal that the fossil record of marine reptiles has been punctuated by two mass extinctions, during the Middle-Upper Triassic transition and at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. The Jurassic-Cretaceous and Cenomanian-Turonian boundaries (the latter marked by the disappearance of ichthyosaurs) are potential crisis periods, but current data are not sufficient to reach conclusions. The Ladinian-Carnian transition is characterized by the disappearance of 64 % of families and affects essentially coastal forms. This extinction coincides with an important regressive phase. During the Upper Triassic, a faunal reorganisation within marine reptiles leads to the progressive disappearance of near-shore forms and to the development of pelagic groups. During the Maastrichtian-Danian crisis, 36% of families died out. Large-sized pelagic forms such as mosasaurs and elasmosaurs were the most affected and their extinction seems to have been rather sudden. On the other hand, pliosaurs and protostegid turtles became extinct, but were already declining. The survivors were near-shore forms such as crocodiles, snakes and some turtles and they may have taken refuge in freshwater environments. A break in the food chain based on phytoplankton is proposed as an extinction scenario for pelagic forms.

  

The Late Triassic locality of Saint-Nicolas-de-Port (Meurthe-et-Moselle, France) has yielded numerous isolated teeth belonging to archosauriform reptiles. The following tooth groups can be identified: heterodont phytosaurs, the pterosaur Eudimorphodon, the prosauropod dinosaur Plateosaurus, three types of putative ornithischian teeth and 13 types of carnivorous Archosauriformes indet. Apparent venom-conducting teeth belonging to a new taxon of ?Archosauriformes (Graoullyodon hacheti nov. gen. nov. sp.) are also described. From a palaeogeographical point of view, the ornithischian teeth from Saint-Nicolas-de-Port (if their attribution is confirmed) are the oldest fossils of this group in Europe. The biostratigraphic distribution of the tooth forms mostly suggests a Late Norian or Early Rhaetian (depending on current interpretations) age of the deposits, but do not provide more precisions than fossils previously described from the area. The dietary habits and, consequently, the palaeoecological relationships of the different vertebrate groups discovered at Saint-Nicolas-de-Port are tentatively established: the ornithischian and prosauropod teeth reflect a herbivorous diet, whereas the other archosauriform teeth are probably from camivores or omnivores.

  

The Paleogene faunal assemblage from Antofagasta de la Sierra (Catamarca, Argentina), is here presented, both in its geological and systematic aspects. The fossil bearing levels are referred to the Geste Formation (Pastos Grandes "Group"). The described specimens belong to the Classes Reptilia (Orders Crocodylia, Serpentes and Chelonii) and Mammalia (three taxa from the Superorder Marsupialia, representatives of the Orders Edentata, Condylarthra, Pyrotheria and Astrapotheria, and six families of the Order Notoungulata). This fauna is referred to the Mustersan Age, which in Patagonia represents the Middle Eocene. Such chronologic assignment is based on the presence of characteristic taxa, their evolutionary stage and on stratigraphic evidence. Finally, a brief comparison with other faunal assemblages from the Early Tertiary of Argentina and Chile, is presented. 

Extensive collecting in previously known and new Middle Eocene rodent localities in the Subathu Group of the Rajauri and Reasi districts, Jammu and Kashmir (northwest Himalaya, India) has yielded over 500 isolated cheek teeth, numerous incisors and cheek tooth fragments, and two mandibular fragments with M/1-M/3. An analysis of this additional material and a restudy of that reported earlier from the Metka (Rajauri) area has revealed the presence of diverse Middle Eocene ctenodactyloid rodents in India. The assemblage comprises six genera and twelve species, viz.., Bírbalomys woodi, B. ibrahimshahi, B. sondaari, Basalomys vandermeuleni, B. ijlsti, B. lavocati, Chapattimys wilsoni, C. debruijni, Gumbatomys asifi, cf. Advenimus bohlini, cf. Petrokoslovia sp. indet. 1 and cf. Petrokoslovia sp. indet. 2. Most species of this assemblage are endemic to the Indian subcontinent and are referred to the Family Chapattimyidae. However, at least three taxa, viz.., cf. Advenimus bohlini, cf. Petrokoslovia sp.indet. 1 and cf. Pezrokoslovia sp. indet. 2 show close affinities with their Central and Eastern Asiatic contemporaries and are attributed to the Family Yuomyidae. The dentitions of most of the Middle Eocene rodents from India are described here in better detail thus providing more precise characterization than was available earlier. The taxonomie status of Basalomys, formerly a subgenus of Birbalomys has been raised to that of a genus. Basalomys vandermeuleni is here designated as the type species of Basalomys in place of B. ijlsti. The rodent assemblage from the Subathu Group is specifically similar to that from the coeval Kuldana Formation of Pakistan. The absence of Birbalomys ibrahimshahi and cf. Advenimus bohlini in Pakistan is related to sampling bias. The identifications of the Early Eocene rodents from Barbara Banda, Pakistan have been reexamined and the familial assignments of some of the Early and Middle Eocene rodents from Central and Eastern Asia have been discussed and reviewed in the light of recent discovery of early rodents in Mongolia.

  

Murids and gerbillids (Rodentia, Mammalia) recovered from four Upper Siwalik localities; Moginand (around 3.5-4.5 m.y.), Kanthro (around 2.5 m.y.), Ghaggar (around 2 m.y.) and Nadah (around 1.8-2 m.y.) are described herein. A comparison of Mus linnaeusi sp. nov. reveals its close relationship towards the house mouse Mus musculus. In contradiction to earlier proposals that Golunda migrated to the Indian subcontinent from Africa sometime during Late Pliocene, it is suggested here that Golunda (in the form of Golunda tatroticus sp. nov.) evolved from Parapelomys robertsí of Late Miocene deposits of Siwaliks. Golunda tatroticus sp. nov. exhibits a progressive relationship to the extant Indian Bush Rat Golunda ellioti through Golunda kelleri and Golunda sp. Tatera pinjoricus sp. nov. is considered here to be a link between the extinct Abudhabia kabulense and the extant Tatera indica.

  

The present research deals with the remains of a lagomorph found at Valdemino cave and comes to the conclusion that it is a rabbit with peculiar characteristics in comparison with the other known species Oryctolagus laynensis, O. lacosti and 0. cuniculus. We studied other fossil remains of rabbit populations from Villafranchían and middle Pleistocene deposits and compared them with data from the literature and with recent material. The analysis leads us to maintain two phylogenetic hypotheses about the history of Oryctolagini. The ñrst one, already formulated by Lopez Martinez, suggests that 0. cuniculus derives from O. laynensis,while the origin of O. lacostí is unknown; according to the second hypothesis 0. laynensis would be the common ancestor of two phyletic lineages, 0. lacosti and 0. cuniculus. In both cases the lagomorph from Valdemino would be the form derived from 0. lacosti, from which however it differs in peculiar characteristics. Since the rabbit from Valdemino survives until the beginning of Postgalerian, its disappearance may coincide with the retreat of 0. cuniculus from western Europe in Spain and, perhaps, in south-western France, before the last glaciation. O. cuniculus survived in Spain, from where it spread once again over western Europe as a result of man.

  

An assemblage of micromammals is reported from California Wash, a fossil bearing continental deposit in the San Pedro Valley, Arizona, late Blancan in age. Cricetid and Arvicolid rodents are richly represented, including four and two species, respectively. This study mainly focuses on Sígmodon, the most abundant form. The sample of Sigmodon is compared to samples of the same genus from other localities of the San Pedro Valley of comparable age, and some inferences on the taxonomy of the genus are attempted. The specimens are referred to Sigmodon minor and Sigmodon cf. S. curtisi. Other cricetids (Onychomys pedroensis and Baiomys brachygnathus) and arvicolids (Mictomys vetus and Ondatra ídahoensis) are also recognized and described. 

The Zanclian marls from Papiol provided otoliths belonging to 53 teleost taxa; nine of those are new for the Mediterranean Pliocene. The association reflects a bathymetry between 150 and 350 m, but it is likely that such depths only existed at the initial stage of flooding of the Llobregat bay. A compilation of the available data for the whole Mediterranean realm at Zanclian time provided a list of 163 taxa, of which 105 could be identified at species level. This last group provides the most useful data for evaluating the composition and affinities of the Mediterranean Zanclian fauna, which appears to be significantly different from the Recent Mediterranean fauna. The Zanclian fauna counts 68 % of Recent species: 12,5 % were already represented in the Mediterranean Miocene, 37 % appeared there at the Zanclian, and 18 % are extra-Mediterranean today. This last group is essentially composed by oceanic fishes, living in the warm parts of the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Oceans. It is evident that a non neglectable number of Recent species only penetrated very recently in the Mediterranean, which stresses the differences between the more oceanic Zanclian Mediterranean fauna and the present one.


  

A strong lophodonty, an extreme heterodonty, some hypsodonty and regular overlayings of coronal cement are prominent features of the genus Leptolophus (Palaeotheriinae = Palaeotheriidae s.s.). The histological pattern of the teeth unusually joins type II enamel prisms, characteristic of advanced ungulates, together with archaic features, such as an almost complete lack of Hunter-Schreger zonation and a weak expanse of peritubular dentine. The skull is narrow and slender, with an elongated ante-orbital facial region, a moderately notched nasal aperture, a rather elongated post-canine diastem, parallel zygornatic arches and a fairly dorsally located squamoso-mandibular joint.The functional analysis brings to light "ectolophodont" masticatory cycles with two phases, in which maximum power was applied, contrary to equíds, on hindmost teeth; likewise, skull accomodations to increasing height of the teeth are quite different. This study leads to the assumption that Leptolophus may have been light mammals, living in rather open surroundings, browsing on herbaceous plants or leaves cropped close to the ground. Moreover, it appears that it could have been some inadequacy of dental structures to the dietary, which leaded to quick wear of the teeth and to many enamel notches, but had been somewhat balanced by the early increase of hypsodonty, not induced in such a case by a biotop deterioration (as it will happen at the end of the Eocene). This ínadaptation might account for the short duration of the genus Leptolophus, whose the 3 species, L. stehlini, L. nouletí and L. magnus n. sp. are indeed confined in the level MP 16. Its geographical spreading (as far as known, South of western Europe) and the morphological pattern of its dentition suggest that this genus would have been related to early upper Eocene endemic spanish forms.





  

Carolocoutoia ferigoloi gen. et sp. nov. is the largest of protodidelphid marsupials, known from Middle Paleocene levels at Itaboraí Formation, southeastern Brazil. It differs from other members of this family in having molars with low cusps which are basally inflated, rounded crests without cutting edges, and a thick enamel layer which is wrinkled, specially at the labial half. A comparative analysis among representatives of this family led us to recognize only three genera undoubtely assignable to it:  Protodidelphis PAULA COUTO, 1952, Robertbutleria MARSHALL, 1987, and Carolocoutoia gen. nov. Protodidelphids lack the basic derived features diagnostic of Polydolopimorphian marsupials, while most of its derived features agree with its belonging to the Didelphimorphia. Protodidelphids comprise a specialized clade of opossum-like marsupials adapted to frugivorous or frugivore-omnivorous feeding habits. They differ from other didelphimorphians in having very large, spire-like entoconids, reduced and antero-posteriorly compressed paraconids, absence of stylar cusp C and of para- and metaconules, large stylar cusps B and D which are proximate to each other, short postmetacristae, eccentric protocones, and molars that increase rapidly in size from M/ml to M/m3.
  

Le Mémoire Extraordinaire 1988 de PALAEOVERTEBRATA regroupe dix articles consacrés au gisement à mammifères du Miocène supérieur de Montredon (Hérault), connu et classique depuis la fin du siècle dernier, et auquel est lié le nom du savant paléontologue lyonnais Charles Depéret.
Cette monographie vient normalement à la suite de celle parue en 1982 dans PALAEOVERTEBRATA, dont les différents articles traitaient de la stratigraphie du gisement, et faisaient l'étude des différents groupes de micromammifères représentés dans la faune (insectivores, chiroptères, rongeurs). 

The locality of Montredon has provided 8 species of camivores, often little documented, that are discribed and depicted. All the remains are fragmentary and generally badly preserved which lowers very much the possible precision of the taxonomic study; this one has however allowed the creation of a new subspecies. The most richlypdocumented forms are an ursid (Indarctos) and a felid (Machairodus). Issuing often from a westem Europe evolution, the carnivores are well inserted between those of the better known faunas of the "Classical Pontian" and of the lower Vallesian and this situation fits also well with their stratigraphic level, that cannot however be more accurately defined with them alone.
  

The species diversity of the mammalian fauna from Montredon (Hérault, France, late Miocene) is examined in terms of richness and abundance. A cenogramic analysis of the fossil mammalian community suggests the prevalence of open habitats, with the presence of marshes and of a poorly developed galery forest, and a climate rather warm and dry. 

Afin d'étudier la magnétostratigraphie de la colline de Montredon, j'ai prélevé en Avril 1982, 93 carottes orientées réparties sur 29 sites. J.-P. Aguilar et I. Loridant m'ont aidé durant cette opération. Pour la stratigraphie de la coupe échantillonnée et pour le contenu faunique des deux gisements de mammifères de cette colline, voir J.-P. Aguilar & J.-Y. Crochet (1982).
[...] 

Le présent volume traite des lagomorphes, carnivores, artiodactyles, périssodactyles et proboscidiens de la faune de Montredon (Hérault). Il clôt la monographie de ce célèbre gisement d'âge miocène supérieur du Languedoc, dont la première partie, relative aux rongeurs, insectivores et chiroptères, fut publiée en 1982.
[...] 

Enamel microstructure in the incisors of Old- and New World hystricognath rodents:

The incisor enamel microstructure in more than 100 genera of fossil and Recent hystricognath and sciurognath rodents was studied. A multiserial schmelzmuster is present in the Hystricognathi, the Ctenodactylidae, advanced Chapattimyidae, and in Pedetes. A redefinition of pauciserial and multiserial HSB is given that makes the two enamel types unambiguously distinguishable which apparently represent well defined evolutionary levels. In the pauciserial Schmelzmuster the IPM is thicker than in the multiserial one. In pauciserial HSB the IPM always surrounds each prism, and the crystallites of the IPM run parallel to prism direction; transition zones between HSB are lacking; the inclination of the HSB is normally very low and the prism cross sections are not flattened but somewhat irregular. The number of prisms per HSB is no good distinctive character for pauciserial and multiserial HSB, since there exists a wide overlap. The pauciserial schmelzmuster is primitive, the multiseiial derived because: 1. the pauciseiial schmelzmuster appears earlier in the fossil record in the most primitive rodents (Paramyids s.l. and Ctenodactyloids); 2. the Eocene Ctenodactyloidea show pauciserial HSB but the Oligocene and younger ones are characterized by multiserial HSB; 3. in the outgroup comparison, the Eurymylidae (Mixodontia) show pauciserial HSB; 4. biomechanically, multiserial HSB strenghten the enamel better than pauciserial HSB, since their IPM runs nearly always in an angle of 45° or more to the prisms.

In multiseríal HSB three subtypes can be distinguished which are differentiated by the IPM orientation. Primitive is a (rarely strict) parallel or acute angular, anastomozing IPM, and derived is an interrow sheet-like ("plattenartige") IPM. This evolutionary polarity is indicated by enamel evolution in the Ctenodactylidae which show an acute angular IPM in the Oligocene and a rectangular interrow sheet-like IPM since the Miocene. Among the Caviomorpha a rectangular interrow sheet-like IPM is restricted to the Octodontoidea; therefore they must be considered derived in terms of their enamel structure. The first multiserial HSB in rodent incisors appear in phiomyids or chapatrimyids from the Upper Eocene of Algeria. The IPM is acute angular and anastomozing. The worldwide next younger multiserial HSB are found in Lower Oligocene phiomyids of Fayum, Egypt There already a rectangular interrow sheet like IPM is present (in Metaphiomys) besides the acute angular anastomozing IPM.

The first Caviomorpha from the Deseadan (Oligocene-Miocene) likewise show already acute angular anastomozing IPM (e.g. Scozamys) and rectangular interrow sheet-like IPM (Platypittamys). Therefore the first Caviomorpha cannot be positioned close to a transition from pauciserial to multiserial HSB. In none of the potential caviomorph ancestors from southern North America multiserial HSB or transitional stage between pauciserial and multiserial HSB could be found. The similarities between the enamel types of the Fayum rodents and the rodents from the Deseadan of South America make a derivation of the Caviomorpha from Paleogene North African phiomorph rodents or their direct ancestors most probable. This supports at the same time a descent of the platyrrhine Primates from North African anthropoids.
  

More than 400 paleontological type-specimens housed in the Montpellier University collections have been inventoried in this catalogue which includes charophytes, Paleozoic plants, brachiopodes, molluscs, arthropodes and vertebrates (selachians, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals). The vertebrates have been treated exhaustively in the catalogue and one can consider that it includes most of the type specimens deposited in the Montpelier II collections.