A recent campaign of excavations (1965-68) undertaken by the Laboratoire de Paléontologie of Montpellier in pockets of the Quercy phosphorites, has permitted the dating of several localities thanks to the analysis of their micromammalian fauna.
The rodents of localities belonging to the middle Oligocene (La Sauvetat zone) are the object of this study. This rodent fauna has been compared to the forms coming from three stratified localities belonging to the biochronologic zone of La Sauvetat :  Balm, Montalban and Lovagny.
The abundance of material, notably of theridomyids and cricetids, permitted a summary statistical study to be effected and gave some precise details on the variability of the species (Theridomys varians in particular). Other details were provided on certain groups, notably on the upper teeth of Scíuromys cayluxi and on the milk teeth of theridomyids. Some specimens of «Sciurus» sp. and of Plesispermophilus angustidens were collected. By this means, it has been possible to establish, for the first time, a precise upper limit to the epoch of their appearance in Europe. 

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. 

A detailed comparative study of a complete skeleton of Bachitherium and a cladistic analysis of the sub-order Neoselenodontia lead us to propose a cladogram and a new classification of this group. The Tylopoda are the sister-group of the Ruminantia, which are chiefly defined by the fusion of the cuboid and navicular. Within this infra-order, Amphimeryx is the sister genus of a tetraselenodont group, in which the Hypertragulidae are well-separated group from a monophyletic group defined by the loss of trapezium, fusion of capitatum and trapezoid, and the isolation of the hypoconid on lower molars. The most primitive genera of this group, Lophiomeryx and Iberomeryx still have an open trigonid on the lower molars, but this is lingually closed in Archaeomeryx, sister-genus of the higher Ruminantia which have fused metatarsals and more evolved milk teeth. We divide them into two pan/orders : Tragulina (including the recent and miocene Tragulidae, and the North-American Leptomerycidae), and Pecora, with reduced lateral metacarpals and a new crest (telocristid) on the lower premolars. Within the Pecora, the upper molars of Gelocus are more primitive than those of Bachitherium (a genus with many autapomorphies in the dentition) itself more primitive than the group Prodremotherium + Eupecora, with fused metacarpals. We consider the Eupecora (including several genera without frontal appendages) to be monophyletic. 

Le matériel provenant de nouvelles fouilles dans les phosphorites du Quercy, soumis aux divers spécialistes, a conduit à la soutenance de plusieurs thèses d'état: sur les rongeurs (Hartenberger, Vianey-Liaud), les Chiroptères et Insectivores (Sigé), les Artiodactyles (Sudre), les Squamates (Rage) et, en partie, les Chéloniens (De Broin). Chacun dans son domaine, à côté des conclusions d'ordre évolutif, paléogéographique ou paléoécologique, a pu établir des successions stratigraphiques des gisements du Quercy qui se sont révélées largement concordantes. Ainsi la succession des faunes du Quercy est actuellement l'une des mieux établies. Dans ce contexte, les différents spécialistes ont décidé de conjuguer leurs efforts dans l'étude monographique de plusieurs gisements repérés le long de cette échelle, afin de rassembler l'information paléontologique sur des faunes bien précises et de tenter d'obtenir des indications d'ordre taphonomique. 

A comparative bone histological study of the three known genera of the endemic European ornithopod dinosaur family, Rhabdodontidae, is presented here in an ontogenetic context. Investigated specimens were assigned to different ontogenetic stages based exclusively on the histological indicators of osteologic maturation during diametrical bone growth; an entirely size-independent method as opposed to most previous studies. Qualitative comparison of bone histology of corresponding ontogenetic stages and elements among the three valid rhabdodontid genera, Mochlodon, Zalmoxes, and Rhabdodon, revealed some consistent patterns. Genus specific histological differences within Rhabdodontidae are most expressed between Rhabdodon and the Mochlodon-Zalmoxes clade. These indicate a prolonged phase of fast growth and a less constrained cyclicity in the growth dynamics of Rhabdodon, as opposed to the slower and more regulated growth strategy reflected in the bones of Mochlodon and Zalmoxes. These genus specific differences are consistent with the phylogenetic interrelation of the genera and are most probably related to the pronounced differences in body size. However, when compared to other ornithopods, most detected histological features in rhabdodontids do not seem to reliably reflect either phylogenetic relations or body size. A notable common feature of all rhabdodontid genera irrespective of body size is the ontogenetically early onset of cyclical growth and secondary remodelling; a pattern that more resembles the condition found in derived ornithopods than that described in more basal taxa which are closer relatives of rhabdodontids. The recognition of taxon-specific histological patterns as well as patterns indicative of ecological and thereby functional traits clearly requires more accurate, preferably quantitative evaluations.   

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 St-Dézéry local fauna (3 reptile-, 4 mammal species) is approximately of the same age as the La Débruge or the Ste-Néboule faunas. It conduces to a better dating of the limestones underlying the Célas sandstones. A large part of a mandible of Amphimeryx was found there, which documents the record of this family of small artiodactyls 

The presence at Silveirinha of one of the earliest, ? Late Paleocene or Lowermost Eocene, european representatives of the genus Diplocynodon is based mostly on isolated bones and teeth (often from juveniles). This small-sized form is the only crocodilian so far recognized in this site. The longevity of Diplocynodon in Portugal becomes much extended; the genus survived there until the Middle Miocene at least. A discussion on the possible affinities with other eocene Díplocynodon and especially those from Cubillos-Valdegallina (Zamora, Spain) is presented. On the other hand, differences have been detected in comparison with: Díplocynodon tormis, from the middle Eocene of the Douro basin in Spain, which may belong to another phyletic line; and the aff. Diplocynodon from Dormaal (Belgium) and Le Quesnoy (France), nearly contemporaneous of Silveirinha. The Silveirinha Diplocynodon and many other data strongly suggest moist, subtropical, quite limited in space environments related to an alluvial plain crossed by small, meandering channels. 

The teeth and the astragale of the Creodonta from Ste-Néboule (Lot) are referred to Hyaenodon brachyrhynchus. Isolated teeth fit morphologically the material from La Débruge (Middle Ludian). However, biometric analysis suggests an Upper Ludian age. 

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. 

There are very few birds in the site of Sainte-Néboule. They belong to three species already known in the "Phosphorites" : Paraortyx brancoi, Aegialornis broweri, Cypselavus gallicus, and to one new species, Recurvirostra santaeneboulae. The comparison of some different bones of the genus Cypselavus with some Apodiformes and Caprimulgiformes shows that this genus must be classified in the order Apodiformes. 

Seventeen species of cricetid rodent are recognized and described from lower and middle Siwalik deposits in the Potwar Plateau of Pakistan. These species are grouped in three categories, characterized as subfamilies (e. g., Megacricetodontinae, Myocricetodontinae, and Dendromurinae); an additional and more abundant category of rodents from these deposits, the Democricetodontinae, is excluded from this study, and will be described in a later study. Fifteen of the species are new, and four new genera are described. The Siwalik cricetid taxa are : Megacricetodon aquilari, n. sp.; Megacricetodon sivalensis, n. sp.; Megacricetodon daamsi, n. sp.; Megacricetodon mythikos, n. sp.; Punjabemys downsi, n. gen. & n. sp.; Punjabemys leptos, n. gen. & n. sp.; Punjabemys mikros, n. gen. & n. sp.; Myocricetodon sivalensis, n. sp.;  Myocricetodon sp.; Dakkamyoides lavocati, n. gen. & n. sp.; Dakkamyoides perplexus, n. gen. & n. sp.; Dakkamys asiaticus, n. sp.; Dakkamys barryi, n. sp.; Dakkamys sp.; Paradakkamys chinjiensis, n. gen. & n. sp.; Potwarmus primitivus, n. gen.; and Potwarmus minimus, n. gen. & n. sp. This diverse record of middle Miocene small mammals illuminates a profound radiation of cricetid rodents in southem Asia, the effects of which were felt in Europe and Africa as well as the rest of Asia. 

The tooth morphology of the Thalattosuchia (marine crocodilians from the Jurassic and the Early Cretaceous) is analysed. The Callovian from Poitou and the Kimmeridgian from Quercy have yielded many remains of Metriorhynchus, Steneosaurus and Machimosaurus. These remains allow us to study the variations of tooth morphology during ontogenic growth, tooth replacement and the location of the teeth. We have defined different tooth types for these genera. In Metriorhynchus, the two tooth types defined do not coincide with the two groups recognized in the Callovian (broad-skulled and narrow-skulled metriorhynchids) but reflect the prey preferences of these forms. In Steneosaurus and Machimosaurus the five tooth types deñned are in agreement with the main taxa known from the Bathonian to the Early Cretaceous. This study allows to precise the function and the prey preference of the Thalattosuchia during the Jurassic and the Early Cretaceous.

  

The study of endocasts, or casts of the endocranial space, have played an important role in shaping understanding of mammalian, and particularly primate, brain evolution. Recently, the reconstructions of three-dimensional virtual endocasts from high-resolution computed tomography images have allowed for the visualization and quantification of endocasts in several Paleocene and Eocene primate species. Here we present the virtual endocast of MaPhQ 289 (informally known as the Montauban 9 skull), a specimen of Necrolemur antiquus Filhol 1873, a middle to late Eocene European primate of the family Microchoeridae. The virtual endocast of MaPhQ 289 reveals a lissencephalic surface morphology with expanded temporal poles and minimal overlap of the cerebellum or olfactory bulb by the cerebrum, which closely resembles the morphology of the endocast of its contemporary relative, Microchoerus erinaceus (Primates, Microchoeridae). MaPhQ 289 yields an endocranial volume (ECV) of 2.36 cm3, about 60% smaller than the volume of the most commonly cited ECV of N. antiquus. Thus, the size of the brain of N. antiquus relative to its body size is likely to be smaller than has been reported in previous literature, highlighting the importance of corroborating older ECV estimates with new evidence using 3-D imaging techniques. 

This study describes four taxa of Gliridae from the Oligocene mammal locality Gröben 3: Gliravus tenuis BAI-ILO, 1975, Bransatoglis micio (MISONNE, 1957), B. planus (BAHLO, 1975) and B. heissigi n. sp. Gliravus tenuis from Gröben 3 is somewhat more advanced than the type population found in Heimersheim. This confirms previous research suggesting that Gröben 3 should be dated earlier than Heimersheim (MP 24). The first documented occurrence of B. mício around level MP 24 was found in Gröben 3. An abundance of tooth material from B. planus in Gröben 3 makes it possible, for the first time, to observe evolutionary stages within this species from MP 21 until MP 28. B. heissigi n. sp. is restricted to level MP 24. This species is located between B. mísonnei (MP 20 - 23) and Microdyromys praemurinus (MP 25 - 28). Within the lineage Bransatoglis bahloi - B. misonnei - B. heissigi, a decrease in size is noticeable.

  

A short review of the genera and species of snakes from the Quercy's phosphorites described by former authors is followed by the study of specimens recently collected. Most of these latter specimens belong to the Aniliidae, Boidae, Colubridae and to the Scolecophidia; the precise systematic position of some of them is not defined yet. The following genera and species are described: Eonilius europae nov. gen. and nov. sp., Platyspondylia lepta nov. gen. and nov. sp., Coluber cadurci nov. sp. and Dunnophis cadurcensis nov.  sp.; a species described by de Rochebrune (Palaeopython filholi) is revised. One of the most important conclusions of this study is that the Colubridae appear as early as the Upper Eocene. The stratigraphic repartition of these snakes shows that the rich Upper Eocene fauna is followed by the very reduced fauna of the Lower Oligocene; then the oligocene «Grande Coupure» corresponds to a very important faunistic renewal. The fauna remains poor and little diversified during the beginning of the Middle Oligocene after which there is a new faunistic explosion. 

Three new fossiliferous localities, two of karstic origin, Castelnou 3 and Font Estramar, respectively Late Upper Miocene and Lower Pliocene, and one of lacustrine origin, Thuir, Lower Pliocene, add data about the transition between Miocene and Pliocene faunas of rodents in southern France. An unexpected association of taxa was present in the late Upper Miocene, including between others, Myocricetodon, Hispanomys, Ruscinomys, Cricetus barrierei, Promimomys and a new species of Stephanomys, S. dubari nov. sp. Myocricetodon is still known in the Lower Pliocene. It is shown that the large field-mice known since the Late Upper Miocene belong to two different lineages, on one side, A. jeanteti, on the other side, A. gudrunae followed by A. gorafensis. Biochronological and biogeographical implications are discussed. 

The fossil mammals collected from the Eocene of Hammada du Dra (northwest Sahara. Algeria) and two fragmentary teeth from the Lutetian of M'Bodione Dadere (Senegal) are described.
The fossils from the northwest Sahara come from a lacustrian deposit dated by charophytes (Raskyella aff. pecki, Raskyella n. sp.. Maedleriella lavocati, Maedleriella sp. et ? Peckichara sp.) as Middle Eocene or perhaps Lower Eocene (Gevin, Feist and Mongereau, 1974). Several hyracoids (3 or 4) identified from this formation extends the age of the family Pliohyracidae Osborn in Africa. Three forms appear to belong in the genera Megalohyrax, Titanohyrax and perhaps Bunohyrax which have been know until now only from the lower Oligocene of the Fayum (M. gevini n. sp. ; T. mongereaui n. sp.. ? Bunohyrax or Megalohyrax indet.). Another hyracoidof small size is referred to a new genus, Microhyrax (M. lavocati n. sp.).
Helioseus insolitus n. g. n. sp. is described without ordinal assignment. Azibius (Sudre, 1975) which has been the subject of questions and interpretations is reviewed.
Only one tooth from the Lutetian of M'Bodione Dadere is complete enough to interpret. lt probably belongs to a condylarth and demonstrates for the first time, the presence of the order in Africa. The second tooth is too fragmentary for comment.
In conclusion., the paleobiogeographic role of Africa at the end of the cretaceous and the beginning of the Cenozoic is discussed. 

We present here a new updated counting of the perissodactyls of Robiac, the type locality of the MP 16 level of the biochronological scale of paleogene mammals and that of the Robiacian stage of Eocene Land Mammals Ages in Western Europe.
The outcrop of Robiac consists actually of two 500m apart loci, Robiac-Nord and Robiac-Sud, considered of the same age according to the current discriminating power, and is dated from -38,7 MA after the last faunal, magnetostratigraphic and climatic calibrations.
It has yielded a very abundant and rich of 21 taxa perissodactyl fauna, topped by the giant Lophiodon lautricense, last representative of the family Lophiodontidae, of which it is the last proved deposit. The Palaeotheriidae are much diversified with 5 genera and 9 species of "Pachynolophinae", 3 genera and 10 species of Palaeotheriinae. Nine taxa have been defined from Robiac: Chasmotherium depereti n. sp., Palaeotherium castrense robiacense Franzen, 1968, the genus Leptolophus Remy, 1965 with the species L. stehlini Remy, 1965 and L. magnus Remy, 1998, Anchilophus (Paranchilophus) jeanteti Remy, 2012, Metanchilophus chaubeti Remy, 2012, Lophiotherium robiacense Depéret, 1917 and Pachynolophus gaytei n. sp.
The faunal Robiac cenogram with the associated flora testify to a hot, wet and forestal environment, likely corresponding to a short warming climatic phase; the broken up fossil bones should have been carried away and then gathered in swamp areas along the banks of a meandering river.
The swarm of mammals of Robiac, the richest of contemporaneous deposits, has been followed by a drastic drop in perissodactyl diversity at the MP 17A level; a crisis which could have originated in a renewal of the global Eocene cooling. Fons 4, the type-locality of this level, is largely scarcer in perissodactyls and its cenogram testifies to a less diversified fauna, with on the whole smaller species, that likely means a cooler and drier climatic environment; a new perissodactyl diversification occurred but later.
  

There is only one suid known in the Upper Miocene of Montredon (Hérault): Microstonyx (Limnostonyx nov. subgen.) antiquus (KAUP). It is differenciated from Microstonyx major by the presence of upper and lower canines which are considerably longer and biger. Its presence at Montredon corroborates the palustrine habitat for the species.