An ilium from the Upper Eocene (MP l7a) of Hordle, England, represents the first report of Rana from the Eocene of Britain. The ilium is similar to those of the water frog (Rana [ridibunda]) species group. 

A sample of 231 isolated teeth of lagomorphs from the upper Miocene of Montredon (southern France), identified as the ochotonid Prolagus crusafonii DOPEZ, 1975, is studied, comparing it with other populations of the same species as well as with its closest species P. oeningensis (KÖNIG, 1825).
The maintenance dining 5 m.y. of a high morphological variability in a group of non-selected features is interpreted as an evolutionary response. This may be related with the heterogeneity and probably too with the regression of the environment. 

Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology. In 19 parts ; Initiated by Prof. Dr. Oskar KUHN ; Edited by Dr. Peter WELLNHOFER, München. - Part. 17 A : Pelycosauria, by Dr. Robert R. REISZ, Erindael Campus, University of Toronto. 1986. VIII, 102 pp., 43 fig., 20,5 x 25,5 cm, soft cover : DM 140, - (Pref. - Price for subscribers to the whole series : DM 126, -). ISBN 3-437-30486-0. 

The revision of the old collections of fossil birds from the “Phosphorites du Quercy” and the study of new material give the following results (Gruiformes, Cariamae) :  The humeri and most of the carpometacarpi described under the name Filholornis belong in Elaphrocnemus. The ulnae ascribed to Fïlholornis belong in Idiornis. Most of the post-cranial elements of the genera Elaphrocnemus and Idiornis are described and show great similarities with recent Cariamidae and Opisthocomidae, and fossil Bathornithinae.  A new genus and a new species, Oblitavis insolitus, are created in the sub-family Idiornithinae; two new species are described in the genera Elaphrocnemus (E. brodkorbz) and Idiornis (I. itardiensis), and the species Elaphrocnemus gracilis is transferred to the genus Idiornis.  The genus Propelargus Lydekker is transferred from the family Ciconiidae to Cariamidae.  A new generic name, Occitaniavis, is created for the species Geranopsis elatus, which belong in Cariamidae, while the type-species of the genus, Geranopsis hastingsiae, is a member of the Gruidae.  The affinities between the Quercy avifauna and the Neotropical one is emphasized by the occurrence of Phorusrhacidae, previously known only from the Cenozoic of South America and the Late Pliocene or Early Pleistocene of North America. Thanks to the material collected during the new excavations, the stratigraphical position of most of the species is stated precisely, and evolutionary lineages are outlined. This study shows that the suborder Cariamae, presently restricted to two South American genera, was already extremely diversified during the Eocene, and widespread in Europe and North America. 

The classifications of the recent vespertilionine bats were made wihtout taking in account the teeth morphology; this resulted in a reduction of the possibilities of comparison with the available fossils. The generalized use of dental formulae was abusive: this contributed to the admission of artificial genera. These conditions have long delayed the consideration of characters able to frame the phylogeny of the sub-family. In the first part of the study, the teeth morphologies are described and analysed. morphological reference types are established for each upper and lower tooth: they should make an easier elaboration of criteria for the differentiation at generic level. The position of the species in view of these criteria allows one to group them into homogeneous genera, and to appreciate the degree of relationship that the latter have between them. The second part of the study (next publicationà will develop inferences dealing with systematics and phylogeny 

La taphonomie (science de l'enfouissement et de la fossilisation) des micromammifères a trop souvent été négligée par rapport à celle des grands mammifères. Or, pour expliquer les concentrations parfois très importantes de microfossiles dans les grottes et les sites préhistoriques il faut connaître les mécanismes qui concourrent actuellement à favoriser les accumulations de ces derniers. C'est le but de l'ouvrage de Peter Andrews qui se décompose en deux parties. 

The rodent faunas of five afghan localities found in 1976 and 1977 (Sherullah, Ghazgay, Pul-e Charkhi, Dawrankhel 14 and 15) are studied.
The rodents (Muridae, Cricetidae and Rhizomyidae) represent 8 genera and 10 species. The detailed description of the 2 new genera and 7 species diagnosed in 1979 is given. An other species is created : Pseudomeriones crapouilloti n. sp. These faunas precise the origin and diversification of Muridae and Cricetidae. A phyletic lineage known in Afghanistan is represented in East Africa by a ramus or a collateral lineage. The five localities are dated from Lower Turolian to Ruscinian. They constitute the frame of a chronologie scale for the Upper Continental Neogene of Afghanistan.
The study of afghan material brings new data to the biogeography of Old Word's rodents during the Upper Neogene; from Pakistan to Europe and Africa, a rather warm and damp province would have existed till Upper Miocene; after which (in the mio-pliocene epoch) it would have divided into 3 parts, by aridification of the central area. 

Etude sur les vertébrés inférieurs (VIIe Symposium International, Parc de Miguasha, Québec, 9-22 Juin 1991), édité par Marius ARSENAULT, Hervé LELlÈVRE & Philippe JANVIER, 1994. Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 4e Série, T. 17, Section C, n° 1-4, 529 p.

Ce volume spécial du Bulletin du Muséum réunit les actes du congrès international sur les Vertébrés inférieurs qui s'est tenu au Québec en 1991. 

ATLAS OF MESOZOIC AND CENOZOIC COASTLINES, par Alan G. SMITH, David G. SMITH & Brian M. FUNNELL, 1995. Cambridge University Press, 99 p., 31 cartes, 3 tab!., 2 fig. ISBN 0-521-45155-8.

L' "Atlas of Mesozoic and Cenozoic coastlines" succède avec bonheur aux "Mesozoic and Cenozoic paleocontinental maps" de Smith & Briden, publié en 1977. 

New Dendromus species (Rodentia, Muroídea) from Langebaanweg (Pliocene, South Africa). Stratigraphical and paleoecological consequences.

Two new species of Dendromus are described from the Langebaanweg site which precises the evolutionary trend among this genus in South Africa and gives further paleoenvironmental indications. Two evolutionary stages are described: D. darti nov. sp. shows low-crowned molars with bunodont cusps and its more closest relative would be D. melanozis from the Cape region. On the contrary, D. averyi nov. sp. is more lophodont and is better related with the modem D. melanotis. Both species are at a less evolved stage than the Dendromus sp. from Laetolil Beds at Laetoli. The Langebaanweg deposits cannot still be dated by biostratigraphy but they clearly cannot be older than the basis of Pliocene times. The association of Dendromus and Mystromys in the same levels indicates a grassland environment with woodland patches as well as probable swamps. 

Crocodilians are represented in the Upper Eocene of Sainte·Néboule (Lot) by an isolated parietal and a dorsal scute, bath from young individuals. They are refferred to Diplocynodon sp. Predators (mammals and birds) are probably responsible for the occurrence of remains of small crocodilians (belonging to the genera Allognathosuchus and Diplocynodon) in the phosphorltes of Quercy. 

Suite à la récente publication d'une révision systématique des Chiroptera Vespertilioninae, conduite sur la base des morphologies dentaires comparées (Menu 1987), une remarque bienveillante du Dr. V. Aellen (Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de Genève) a attiré l'attention de l'auteur sur un point précis du Code International de Nomenclature Zoologique. 

The rodent-fauna (Cricetidae and Gliridae) recently found at Castell de Barbera (Spain) is similar to those from the other locslities of the Valles - Penedes - Can Ponsic 1 and Can Llobateres - : same composition and similar evolutionary level of the different species. On the other hand this fauna is different from those of Upper Vindobonian and Vallesian localities of the Calatayud - Teruel area. Castell de Barbera has an intermediate chronological position between the localities of Anwil (Switzerland) and Can Ponsic 1. It is still not possible to validate or invalidate the initial attribution based on absence of Hipparion of Castell de Barbera to the Upper Vindobonian. 

Functional morphology invertebrate paleontology, édité par Jeffrey J. THOMASON, 1995. Cambridge University Press, xi + 277 p. ISBN 0-521-44095-5, f. 45,00 ($ 69,95).

La morphologie fonctionnelle appliquée aux fossiles demeure un sujet à la fois passionnant et important. Passionnant, car elle s'adresse à des êtres disparus, aux combinaisons de caractères parfois inattendues et sans contrepartie chez les formes actuelles. Sujet important, car il faut, au delà de la constatation classique de l'adéquation de la forme des organes à leur fonction, expliquer l'origine des structures par évolution. L'évolution ou descendance avec modification, implique que les êtres vivants sont reliés les uns aux autres et qu'i! est possible de tenter à l'aide d'un raisonnement par inférence, la caractérisation des ancêtres en fonction des traits des formes auxquelles ils ont donné naissance. Mais il faut ajouter que par sa fonction, la structure relie immédiatement l'animal à son milieu puisqu'elle assure un rôle biologique. 

The study of dental variations in Landenodon from Dormaal (early Eocene, Belgium) shows that only one
species is present in this locality : L. woutersi QUINET, 1968 (Condylarthra, Arctocyonidae, Arctocyoninae). A high morphological variability is described, especially concerning the metaconid of P/4, the paraconid of M/2, and some characters of M1/ which have been found to be independant of each other. This variability is discussed. 

The numerical importance of the Condylarths in the Cernaysian fauna is discussed. The Condylarth family, Tricuspiodontidae, is reviewed in the light of new material and its close relationships to the Phenacodontidae is suggested ; one new species is recognized : Tricuspiodon sobrinus. European Arctocyonidae are reviewed and the recentclassification of Van Valen is briefly commented on. Also,  the arctocyonine Landenodon is described for the first time in Thanetian (Late Paleocene) sediments ; two new species are proposed : T. lavocati and T. phelizoni. 

Two steps can be distinguished in the history of the first invasion of western and south western Europe by the arvicolines. The first step corresponds to the installation of these rodents with the immigration of Promimonys inxuliferus Kowalski, then of Mimomys stehlini Kormos and of Mimomys gracilis (Kretzoi). The second is characterized by the establishment of a geographic differentiation in the arvicoline fauna between the south of France and Spain, from where are described new species of Mimomys (Mimamys cappettai, Mimomys septimanus, Mimonys medasensis), and the rest of France, where are found only elements already known from central Europe or England (Mimomys polonicus Kowalski, Mimomys pliocaenicus F. Major, Mimomys reidi Hinton, or forms very close to the latter). This geographic differentiation, which is very certainly the consequence of the division of Europe into distinct climatic provinces, one of them being the southern province comprising at least Spain and southern France, could result from a cladogenetic evolution of Mimomys stehlini and Mimomys gracilis after their immigration. The present work is also a contribution to the search for correlations between the diverse micromammal localities of the latest Pliocene (or early Villafranchian) and of the early Quaternary of Europe. 

L'ouvrage rassemble vingt contributions présentées lors d”un colloque organisé par l'éditeur en avril 1979, à Newcastle upon Tyne. Ce sont différents aspects du problème de la << sortie des eaux ›> qui ont été abordés lors de cette réunion. Par son volume, la qualité des communications, l”abondance des illustrations, nul doute que ce livre est appelé à devenir un ouvrage de référence pour les paléontologistes qui s'intéressent de près ou de loin à ce problème : enseignants et cher cheurs y trouveront leur compte. ll est un peu regrettable toutefois qu'aucun tenant de <<l”école suédoise» n'ait eu l`occasion d`y présenter ses thèses.

  

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.