Two somewhat “odd” taxa of theridomyid rodents, one formerly known (Bernardia marandati Vianey-Liaud, 1991) and the other new (Idicia vidalenci gen. et sp. nov.) are discussed from a taxonomical and taphonomical perspectives. These two rodents were found at Lavergne, a late middle Eocene (MP16) “phosphatière” from the Quercy (Southwest France). The genus Bernardia, being preoccupied by a scale insect (Bernardia Ashmead, 1881), is here renamed Burgia. We benefit from this nomenclatural change to describe additional new dental specimens of this patriotheridomyine species, including a previously undescribed locus (P4). The other theridomyid from Lavergne, Idicia vidalenci gen. et sp. nov., so far documented by a mandible preserving two teeth (m2-m3) is a new taxon of peculiar occlusal morphology, and whose subfamilial affinities remain unknown. These two peculiar theridomyids recorded at Lavergne are found nowhere else, whether in coeval localities in Quercy or elsewhere in Western Europe. We discuss the possible causes of their unique presence at Lavergne.
  

Ornithocheirid pterosaurs were the largest of the toothed pterodactyloids and had a worldwide distribution, although their fossil record is fragmentary, with the exception of the north-eastern Brazilian Crato and Santana Formations (Aptian, ?Albian, Early Cretaceous). With Istiodactylidae, they were also the only toothed pterosaurs that survived into the Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous), becoming extinct at the end of this period. Here we report on an ornithocheirid metacapus from the Late Cenomanian laminated limestone of north-eastern Mexico discovered about 120 km north-west of Ciudad Acuña, northern Coahuila at the south banks of Rio Bravo. The specimen comprises a fragmentary distal syncarpal, a crushed but complete metacarpal IV, two fragmentary preaxial metacarpals and a possible fragmentary terminal left wing finger phalanx. It represents the geologically youngest known ornithocheirid worldwide. We suggest that ornithocheirid pterosaurs may have become extinct because of massive sea level fluctuations during the mid to late Cretaceous that may have obliterated their breeding sites on coastal plains and low lying islands. 

Sirenians are among the common marine fossil remains found in the Faluns deposits of western France. We describe new material of a Dugongidae sirenian from the middle Miocene Savignean facies of La Morfassière quarry (Indre-et-Loire, northwestern France) that includes a well preserved and almost complete skull associated with its mandible, several vertebrae and ribs. The cranial remains exhibit features that allow to attribute them to Metaxytherium medium, a species recorded from the middle and early late Miocene of European and Mediterranean coasts. The discovery of an associated skull and mandible of this species is unusual in this area and deserves to be reported, mostly because its preservation contributes to a better knowledge of the variable structure of its skull and teeth anatomy. For the first time the body size and weight of M. medium can be assessed through regression equations based on skull measurements. The particularly good condition of the material can be explained by the calm and deep marine environment in which it was deposited.
  

An increasing fossil record of dinosaur eggs and eggshells allows putting ootaxa within a chronostratigraphic framework, in order to study their distribution pattern leading eventually to their use as biochronological markers. For these purposes, high-quality data exists in four major regions; North America, South America, Europe and Asia (Central Asia and India). Most of the highly diverse dinosaur egg record has been dated as Latest Cretaceous in age (Campanian-Maastrichtian), reaching the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary closer than the dinosaur bone record. However, dating continental sections is problematic and need to be carefully verified, as it appears when comparing the European dinosaur eggshell record from two well-studied areas. Ootaxa distribution in both sides of the Pyrenees (Tremp and Aix basins) shows comparable oospecies successions, but different chronology. This disagreement probably indicates that one or both successions have a wrong chronostratigraphic calibration.  

Situated in the Cape region of the Republic of South Africa (RSA), the paleontological site of Langebaanweg is dated to 5.1 Myr and is famous for having yielded an abundant vertebrate assemblage, including numerous rodent species from the Mio-Pliocene transition. Based on molar morphology and skull anatomy, the single Gerbillinae taxon identified at Langebaanweg and described in this paper is allocated to Desmodillus, which is a modern monotypic South African endemic genus. It is significant in being the oldest representative of the genus in Africa. We describe here a new species of this genus which is larger than the modern D. auricularis, but nevertheless retains some of its main characteristics, namely the shape of the maxilla and mandible, the presence of poorly fused alternating cusps, and no longitudinal crest. This taxon differs from modern South African Gerbilliscus representatives in some mandibular and maxillary characters, in the m1 prelobe cusp, and in having less fused cusps. Two fossil Gerbillinae discovered in the Upper Miocene of Africa and Asia, Abudhabia and Protatera, have been compared with the new species. We discuss their relationships with modern and Plio-pleistocene Gerbillinae and conclude that Abudhabia could be the sister taxon of Desmodillus and that around 6-5 Myr a vicariance event allowed Gerbillinae to diversify into modern Desmodillus in South Africa, and Gerbilliscus in East Africa. The murine/gerbilline ratio, which is a good indicator of rainfall, supports other proxies which suggest that at 5.1 Myr the climate in the Langebaanweg region was more humid than today. 

New faunal and stratigraphical data on the vertebrates localities from the early Paleogene of the Ouarzazate Basin (Adrar Mgorn 1, Adrar Mgorn 1 bis et N'Tagourt 2), Morocco, are presented. A magnetostratigraphical study, the first for such early Paleogene Arabo-African mammal localities, and the discovery of probable remains of the nannofossil Discoaster support the Thanetian age of the Adrar Mgorn 1 site. The magnetostratigraphy suggests a slightly later age than was thought for the Paleogene formations of the local series of Tinerhir and for the vertebrate localities: late or latest Thanetian for Adrar Mgorn 1 and Adrar Mgorn 1 bis, middle Ypresian for N'Tagourt 2. It also indicates a lower position of the KT boundary in the series. Two tons of matrix recovered in the vertebrate sites have vielded new data on the micromammals. A damaged lower molar from N'Tagourt 2 is referable to Khamsaconus bulbosus  and supports the proboscidean affinities of this species and especially possible relationships with bunolophodont taxa such as elephantiforms. A lower molar from Adrar Mgorn 1 bis belongs to a new form which can be identified as a plesiadapiform or an euprimate close to Altiatlasius koulchii though significantly larger. A new material from Adrar Mgorn 1 illustrates a new dilambdodont adapisoriculid species which is referable to Garatherium : ?Garatherium todrae n. sp. Another species referred to Garatherium is known in the locality (?Garatherium n. sp.). Garatherium is a new lineage from the Ouarzazate basin which crosses the Paleocene-Eocene boundary together with Palaeoryctes, Didelphodontinae gen. and sp. 2, Todralestes, and Afrodon, and it is the first Paleocene-Eocene lineage identified outside of this basin (Garatheríum is based on a species from El Kohol, Algeria). Among the Paleocene-Eocene lineages from the Ouarzazate basin, it should be also mentioned a new possible carnassial form (carnivoran or creodont; Adrar Mgorn 1), and an upper molar of Cimolestes cf. incisus (Adrar Mgorn 1 bis). The upper molar THR 168 previously reported as from an indeterminate didelphodontine is here identified as the M1/ of Afrodon chleuhi. The micromammal faunas from the Ouarzazate basin are positioned in the global chronological framework of the mammal localities from the Paleogene of the Arabo-African domain. 

The origin and early evolutionary history of the dinosaurs is a topic that has recently gone through a period of renewed interest and academic debate. For 130 years, one way of classifying the various dinosaur subgroups persisted as the accepted model, with increasing levels of research in the past quarter-century also providing evidence for the hypothesis that dinosaur origination occurred in the Southern Hemisphere, particularly in South America. It is, after all, from within the Late Triassic strata of countries like Argentina and Brazil that we get some of the very best early dinosaur specimens; many of these specimens are the earliest known representatives of some of the major dinosaur subgroups, such as the theropods and sauropodomorphs. However, some recent analyses have brought about a shift in terms of what is currently accepted and what is now disputed regarding the origin of dinosaurs – the Southern Hemisphere origination hypothesis was questioned (although this was based upon observations and not with quantitative analysis techniques), as has the shape of the dinosaur tree. Responses to the new hypothesis were numerous; many further supported a Southern Hemisphere point of origin. Whilst the interrelationships between the major dinosaur clades remains to be resolved, the current data does seem to comprehensively answer the question of where the dinosaurs first originated. However, it is arguable whether the current data that is being used in such palaeobiogeographical analyses is sufficient to provide an answer to the question of where specifically the dinosaur clade first appeared. This short communication urges a degree of caution about the current consensus and what steps may need to be taken to ensure that more meaningful results are produced in the future. 

Palaeotis weigelti, from the Middle Eocene of central Europe, is a flightless, paleognathous bird. It appears to be a member of the ostrich lineage on the basis of trivial derived characters. It is a very primitive ratite, however, and does not possess any of the highly specialized cursorial adaptations that characterize the modern steppe -and savanna- dwelling ostriches. 

Isolated elasmobranch teeth (sharks and rays) from the middle Eocene (Bartonian) Bandah Formation in the Jaisalmer District of Rajasthan, India are described. The remains improve our knowledge of the environment represented by this lithostratigraphic unit and the ecology preserved therein. Seventeen unequivocal taxa were identified, including Nebrius sp., Striatolamia aff. S. macrota, Brachycarcharias atlasi, B. lerichei, cf. Jaekelotodus sp., Carcharhinus mancinae, Rhizoprionodon sp., Physogaleus sp., Galeocerdo clarkensis, G. eaglesomei, Odontorhytis aff. O. pappenheimi, “Rhinobatos” sp., “Dasyatis” sp., Coupatezia sp., “Aetomylaeus” sp., “Rhinoptera” sp., and Ouledia aff. O. lacuna. Of these, “Aetomylaeus” sp., B. atlasi, C. mancinae, G. clarkensis, G. eaglesomei, cf. Jaekelotodus sp., Nebrius sp., Odontorhytis aff. O. pappenheimi, Ouledia aff. O. lacuna, and “Rhinoptera” sp. are reported from the middle Eocene of India for the first time. The Bandah Formation elasmobranch palaeofauna has close affinities to the Palaeocene-Eocene Tethyan/Paratethyan faunas of Africa, Madagascar, Asia, and Europe, and some taxa indicate a western hemisphere influence from North America. The Bandah Formation palaeofauna indicates that deposition occurred in a moderately shallow marine environment. The Bartonian age is primarily based on foraminifera but is corroborated by the presence of elasmobranch taxa that also occur in contemporaneous deposits elsewhere. The marine regression started during the early Palaeogene, and our study indicates that the sea completely withdrew from the Jaisalmer Basin after the deposition of the Bandah Formation. This event may have been synchronous with the middle Eocene uplift of the Himalayan-Tibetan Plateau. 

The dentition of Welcommia bodeuri nov. gen. nov. sp. from the Valanginian of Southem France is described and reconstructed. Species and genera of Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous Hexanchiformes are reviewed and discussed.
The genus Notidanoides MAISEY, 1986 must be restricted to the single Nusplingen Upper Jurassic specimen, whose attribution to the species muensteri AGASSIZ, 1843 remains doubtful.
The genus Paranotidanus WARD &THIES, 1987 that does not rest on any type-species nor on any precise dental characterization must be rejected.
The genus Eonotidanus PFEIL, 1983, based on a very poorly preserved and heterogeneous type-material must also be rejected.
Teeth from the Lower Cretaceous, with a peculiar morphology, previously assigned to Eonotidanus or to Notidanoides, are to be ranked in the new genus Pachyhexanchus. 

Eosimiid and amphipithecid primates document a long and significant history of primate evolution throughout the Eocene in Southeast Asia. Despite the absence of a comprehensive post-Eocene fossil record, it was generally hypothesized that both families left no descendant in Asia. Recently, two new small-bodied taxa, Bugtipithecus and Phileosimias, have been recovered in early Oligocene coastal deposits from the Bugti Hills (Balochistan, central Pakistan) and referred to the families Amphipithecidae and Eosimiidae, respectively, on the basis of dental fossil remains. In this paper, we provide more exhaustive description, comparison, and discussion of these taxa. As for tarsiid and sivaladapid primates, the persistence of eosimiids and amphipithecids into the Oligocene clearly demonstrates that low latitudes of South Asia provided a continuous access to tropical refugia during the climatic deterioration characterizing the late Eocene-early Oligocene interval, which was seemingly lethal for primate communities elsewhere across the Holarctic continents. As a contribution to the ongoing phylogenetic debates regarding the position of eosimiids and amphipithecids on the primate family tree, we have performed a cladistic analysis in a high-level primate systematic context in order to assess the position and the role of these new taxa in that phylogenetic issue. Our results support the view according to which eosimiids and amphipithecids (and by extension Phileosimias and Bugtipithecus, respectively) are stem anthropoids. These fossils from Pakistan document an unsuspected Oligocene phase of the evolutionary history of anthropoid primates in southern Asia, which clearly enhances the extent of the anthropoid radiation in this province during the Paleogene. Several phylogenetic and paleobiogeographic aspects are discussed, notably the intra- and inter-relationships between Paleogene Asian and Afro-Arabian anthropoids, and the resulting potential dispersal models between both land-masses during the Paleogene. 

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.

  

Micro-CT imaging is an increasingly popular method in paleontology giving access to internal structures with a high resolution and without destroying precious specimens. However, its potential for the study of hypoplasia defects has only recently been investigated. Here, we propose a preliminary study to test whether hypoplastic defects can be detected with micro-CT (μCT) scan and we assess the costs and benefits of using this method instead of naked eye. To do so, we studied 13 fossil rhinocerotid teeth bearing hypoplasia from Béon 1 (late early Miocene, Southwestern France) as positive control and 11 teeth of the amynodontid Cadurcotherium (Oligocene, Phosphorites du Quercy, Southwestern France), for which enamel was partly or totally obscured by cement. We showed that all macroscopically-spotted defects were retrieved on 3D reconstructions and selected virtual slices. We also detected additional defects using μCT scan compared to naked eye identification. The number of defects detected using μCT was greater in the Cadurcotherium dataset (paired-sample Wilcoxon test, p-value = 0.02724) but not for our control sample (paired-sample Wilcoxon test, p-value = 0.1171). Moreover, it allowed for measuring width and depth of the defects on virtual slices (sometimes linked to stress duration and severity, respectively), which we could not do macroscopically. As μCT imaging is both expensive and time consuming while not drastically improving the results, we recommend a moderate and thoughtful use of this method for hypoplasia investigations, restricted for instance to teeth for which enamel surface is obscured (presence of cement, uncomplete preparation, or unerupted germs). 

A new genus, Eppsillycteris, is erected for Adapisorex? allglicus COOPER, 1932, from the earliest Eocene Blackheath Beds of Abbey Wood, London, England. Various derived character states indicate that it belongs to the order Chiroptera (bats) rather than to the extinct "insectivore" family Adapisoricidae. Other derived character states are shared with fossil and modern members of the family Emballonuridae. Placement of the new genus in this family extends the record of the Emballonuridae back in time by about 10 million years. It is the earliest record of a modern bat family and one of the earliest bats. This implies that the differentiation of at least some modern bat families took place in the Palaeocene, where no authenticated records of bats yet exist. The primitive characters of the earliest bats make the family Nyctitheriidae an unlikely stem group for the order Chiroptera. A tentative plausible alternative exists in some unnamed upper molars from the Palaeocene of Walbeck, Germany. Wyollycteris chalix, described as a bat from the Late Palaeocene of Wyoming, U,S.A., fits better in the family Nyctitheriidae. 

The anatomy of Norselaspis glacialis n.g., n.sp., a primitive kiaeraspidian from the Lower Devonian of Spitsbergen, is described on the basis of spécimens studied by grinding sections or prepared with dilute formic acid. This study yielded some new anatomical details, including the presence of a canal prolonging posteromedially the canal alloted to the facial nerve by Stensiö. This posterior prolongation of the « facial canal ›› into the posterolateral part of the labyrinth cavity is consistent with the hypothesis put forward by Allis, Lindström, Jefferies and Whiting, that this canal housed the glossopharyngeus nerve. Furthermore, in N. glacialis, the foramen usually referred to as the foramen for the œsophagus opens posteriorly into a cavity in the postbranchial wall, referred to here as the intramural cavity, and which is interpreted as having housed the heart. Consequently, the œsophagus probably accompanied the dorsal aorta through the aortic canal. Finally, the foramen generally interpreted as having transmitted the ventral afferent arterial trunk is here considered as having housed the hepatic vein, which emptied into the venous sinus of the heart. The ventral afferent arterial trunk may thus have passed through the former «œsophageal ›› foramen.
The problem of the position of the dorsal nerves in the Osteostraci is discussed, and it is suggested that the three foremost nerve canals opening into the oralobranchial cavity housed the maxillary ramus of the trigeminus, the facial nerve and the glossopharyngeus nerve respectively. The mandibular ramus of the trigeminus must have accompanied one of the two foremost nerves, but for the moment it is impossible to decide which.
The problem of the nature of the interbranchial crests of the Osteostraci is briefly discussed. Comparison with the branchial apparatus of the Petromyzontida does not support the hypothesis that the interbranchial crests are part of the branchial arches, incorporated into the endoskeletal shield. A different hypothesis is proposed, that the branchial skeleton of the Osteostraci was situated entirely inside the oralobranchial cavity, and was attached to the endoskeletal shield only by the ventromedial processes. The grooves classically allotted to the efferent branchial arteries would thus have housed extrabranchial arteries, branching off from the dorsal aorta, and irrigating the ventral branchial musculature.
A phylogeny and a classification of the kiaeraspidians are proposed. The evolution of this monophyletic group is characterized by, e.g., reduction of cornual processes, shortening of the abdominal division of the shield, subdivision of the lateral fields, and enlargement of the supraoral fossae.
The phylogenetic position of the kiaeraspidians within the Osteostraci remains uncertain. Their sister-group may be either the benneviaspidiens or the thyestidians, or Thyestes alone (in which case they would have to be included within the thyestidians). 

The re-examination of six fossil selachian species has involved the creation of six new genera: Squatiscyllium, Protolamna, Parotodus, Abdounia, Physogaleus, Hypolophodon and of one new species : Prozolamna sokolovi. The modification of the generic statute of these species allows to clarify their systematic position and to define their relationships at a familial level. 

The Mont-Hélène's fauna [Pyrénées-Orientales, France], includes 15 species of rodents with a new one, Occitanomys montheleni n. sp. among the 9 species of the Murids which are listed. The uncommon Cricetid, Blancomys neglectus, is well represented in the fauna. Peculiarities of the population referred to Slephanomys cf. donnezaniare discussed. The locality a fissure filling may be the oldest one of Tabianian age known in Southern France. The diversity of the Murids gives evidence of a subtropical climate and of a diversified environment which may be linked to the spreading of the coastal plain following the filling up of the Roussillon Neogene Basin. 

Valverde's cenogram method is used to analyse mammalian communities from the late Eocene to late Oligocene of southern France, mainly from the "Phosphorites du Quercy". Cenogram analysis involves plotting the size of each component species in a fauna on a semilog diagram in rank order, permitting fossil faunas to be compared with Recent ones. The configurations of Recent communities serve as models for establishing the general environmental characteristics of fossil mammalian faunas. This method of analysis applied to faunal sequence can reveal major and sudden ecological perturbations. The paleobiogeographical event (i.e. the mammalian immigration wave) at the Eocene-Oligocene Boundary in western Europe, known as the «Grande Coupure", is here shown to represent a drastic and sudden ecological change: late Eocene tropical environments in Europe deteriorated rapidly turning to subdesert or desert environments al the beginning of the Oligoccne. 

The dentition of selachians is characterized by an often very pronounced heterodonty involving a great morphological diversity. Despite this fact, the dentitions of selachians can be grouped in a rather reduced number of dental types corresponding to trophic adaptations: grasping, tearing, cutting, crushing, grinding and grasping-grinding type. The numerous exemples of convergence and parallelism that can be observed in fossil selachians and between Recent and fossil ones is the result of this reduced number of dental types. These dental specialisations allow to try a reconstruction of the way of life of fossil forms. 

The first good skeletal remains of Homogalax protapirinus from the Wasatchian of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, indicate that this primitive tapiromorph was more plesiomorphic in many features than primitive equoids including Hyracotherium. Compared to Hyracotherium, Homogalax more closely resembles Phenacodonta (the closest outgroup of Perissodactyla for which postcrania are known) in various details of articular surfaces, muscle attachments, and proportions of the humerus, manus, and pes.Among known taxa, Homogalax most nearly approximates the plesiomorphic postcranial skeletal anatomy of Perissodactyla.