The region of Porrentruy (Swiss Jura Mountains) is known for its rich and diverse assemblage of Late Jurassic coastal marine turtles (Thalassochelydia). Dominated by the “Plesiochelyidae”, this assemblage also includes representatives of the two other thalassochelydian groups, the “Thalassemydidae” and “Eurysternidae.” In this study, we present new shell-based material from Porrentruy referable to eurysternids. One specimen represents a juvenile individual or a relatively small taxon, and is notably characterized by a well fenestrated plastron exhibiting a wider than long central plastral fontanelle. Two other specimens are much larger and possibly represent the largest eurysternids known to date. The fourth specimen is characterized by a unique plastral morphology otherwise only known in very small juveniles. This is the first time this unique plastral morphology is known to persist in an adult or subadult. The new material described herein represents at least three distinct taxa, all of them probably new. However, we refrain from naming new species based on this incomplete material in order to avoid adding confusion to an already complex taxonomical situation. This study provides new insights into the great diversity of eurysternids during the Late Jurassic. 

Abstract not available 

In dilambdodont molars the primitive crest between paracone and metacone (centrocrista) is represented by a pair of crests that join the mesostyle (postparacrista, premetacrista). The cutting action of these crests against the crests of the hypoconid is described. Dilambdodonty is a derived adaptation for greater cutting efficiency. It has evolved several times and in more than one way. 

Tarsals that can be confidently attributed to Paschatheríum dolloi from Dormaal (Belgium) are described. The astragalus is short; its broad neck is set at an angle of 30 degrees to the trochlea. The trochlea is pulley-shaped and proximally extended. There is no astragalar foramen. The medial tibial facet extends distally in a cup deeply excavated in the neck and buttressed. The sustentacular facet extends toward the navicular facet but is not fully confluent with it. The calcaneum bears a proximo-distally extended proximal facet for the astragalus. A relatively large peroneal tubercle projects from the body, and is situated distally. Functionally, the trochlea indicates extensive flexion-extension movements of the foot. Calcaneo-astragalar facets indicate sliding and rotation between the two tarsals. The inclination of the navicular facet suggests frequent foot inversion. The peroneal tubercle reflects good muscular capacities for foot rotation. Overall morphology is interpreted as a scansorial adaptation similar to that of sciurids.Comparisons are made with the tarsals of Macrocranion vandebroeki from Dormaal and Hyopsodus paulus from the Bridgerian of Wyoming. Some similarities between the astragali of Paschatherium and Macrocraníon (trochlea) are interpreted as convergences for rapid locomotion. However absence of mobility at the lower ankle and midtarsal joints in M. vandebroekzi suggests that this species was cursorial, as is known for M. tenerum from Messel. Similarities in the calcanea of Paschatherium and Hyopsodus are probably the result of close phylogenetic relations, and confirm the placement of Paschatherium in the hyopsodontids. The differences in the calcanea of Paschatherium and Macrocranion underline that Paschatherium is distinct from erinaceomorph insectivores. The differences in astragalar morphology between Paschatherium and Hyopsodus show that a marked adaptive divergence separates the two genera. We speculate about the common occurrence of a deep tibial cup (“cotylar fossa”) and a pulley-shaped trochlea in Paschatherium and hyracoids, suggesting that an adaptive scenario similar to that having led to Paschatherium (scansoriality) might explain the acquisition of the peculiar hyracoid tarsal characters; such a scenario contradicts the concept of Pantomesaxonia. Other peculiar characters of Hyopsodus suggest that hyopsodontids might be given more consideration in the search for hyracoid (and tethythere) origins. 

When the first edition of Mike Benton’s Vertebrate Palaeontology came out in 1990, sauropods still dragged their tails on the ground, the closest relatives of whales were mesonychids, and Mesozoic birds consisted essentially of Archaeopteryx, Ichthyornis and Hesperornis. Twenty-five years later, the book, now in its fourth edition, is a third longer, in a larger format and sports fine colour plates – in addition to a companion website. 

Anthracotheres from the Pondaung Formation, Myanmar, are considered as one of the most primitive artiodactyl groups and they represent the oldest known record in the world. Thus, the understanding of this group has numerous implications for evolutionary biology and biochronological correlations. However, the systematlcs of these mammals has been interpreted in different ways, and the main debate focuses on the number of taxa represented in the Pondaung Formation. The revised taxonomy proposed here is mainly based on the relative development of the upper molar W-shaped ectoloph, system of crests and stylar cusps, and on body size. On the basis of these characters, they are classified into four genera including six different species. Two well-known genera, Anthracotherium and Anthracokeryx, are validated and more precisely diagnosed. Anthracokeryx possesses a better developed W-shaped ectoloph, system of crests and stylar cusps than Anthracotherium, which displays notable differences with the more derived representatives of this genus. Both of these Pondaung genera show evidence for sexual dimorphism. However, the incompleteness of fossil material fueled a debate concerning the status of two additional Pondaung anthracotheres, Siamotherium and Anthracohyus. The latter genus is of uncertain affinities, but it has been considered as a hippopotamid ancestor. Despite new material attributed to these two forms, additional discoveries are still required to establish their taxonomic status. The hypothesis that Southeast Asia was the centre of origin of Anthracotheriidae is supported by the retention of numerous primitive dental characters in these taxa and by the antiquity of the Pondaung Formation, to which an age of 37 My is now generally accepted. 

Pour la première fois un spécimen de lagomorphe a été récolté en Quercy. L'intérêt de ce fossile tient surtout à son âge géologique inattendu, qui recule considérablement la date de première apparition en Europe de cet ordre de mammifère, Ceci nous paraît justifier une nouvelle réflexion sur la « grande coupure» oligocène, 

Systematische Zoologie by A. REMANE, V. STORCH, and U. WELSCH.
1986, Edition 3. Cloth and paperbound. Stuttgart and New York : Gustav Fischer Verlag.
xvi + 698 pp. DM 86. (Geb.) & DM 72 (kart.). 

Fossils of the endangered sturgeons and peddlefishes are widely distributed. We here report for the first time the presence of one of the extinct osteichthyes genus Cylindracanthus (Liedy 1856a) from the Early Eocene lignite-bearing successions of the Kutch Basin, India. The present well preserved rostrum is characterised by numerous wedge-shaped components encircling the central canal that runs along its length, paired at the base and each wedge contributing to the formation of a ridge. The rostrum lacks teeth. The present find extends the palaeobiogeographical distribution of Cylindracanthus considerably and supports its Eocene age as dental remnants preserved in Cylindracanthus sp. shows a decrease in remanent dentition and tooth bases from the Cretaceous to the Eocene. Cylindracanthus is an useful palaeoenvironmental indicator as it has been found associated typically with deposits of nearshore marine environments. 

This paper proposes a systematic revision of the Oligocene Mongolian Ctenodactylidae, on the basis of abundant material obtained by screen/washing operations in stratified localities of the Ulantatal area (Inner Mongolia) (UTL1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 6 & 8). A Chinese-German team has collected several thousands of isolated rodent teeth, and a number of fragmentary jaws. A new genus is identified (Alashania nov. gen. tengkoliensis nov. sp.), and eight former species are reevaluated, Karakoromys decessus, Tataromys sigmodon, T. minor, T. plicidens, Yindirtemys ulantatalensis, Y. bohlini, Y. deflexus, with several synonymies. A new Yindirtemys species is described: Y. shevyrevae nov. sp. and another one close to that: Y. aff. shevyrevae nov. sp. Four new species, which are rare in the localities, remain in open nomenclature because they are not well-represented. Yindirtemys differs from the other genera by the permanence of crescentic structures, while the other genera show a general reduction of the trigonoid area (= anterior valley). We define a range of size variation for each well documented population. Although the dental morphology shows a wide range of variation, given that transitional morphologies occur in a single locality, it is possible to provide a clear definition for most species. We show that dental patterns of the different genera can be derived from the pattern of Karakoromys. As a number of Tataromyinae have been determined in several localities from China, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, usually on the basis of scarce material, or surface collections, the present study would be used to re-evaluate their attribution inasmuch as the taxa are now placed in the Oligocene stratigraphy. The diversity of sizes and forms reflects the adaptive radiation of the family during the Oligocene, within a forested environment where the vegetation was probably abundant. 

The stapes is the last of the middle ear ossicle chain and the smallest bone of the mammalian skeleton. Because it rests on the membrane of the fenestra vestibuli during life, the stapes may often fall within the bony labyrinth cavity when soft structures decay after death. In this work, we highlight the unexpected role that the bony labyrinth plays in the preservation of the stapes. Systematic investigation of the bony labyrinth of 50 petrosal bones of extinct and extant artiodactyls led to the discovery of eight cases of “intralabyrinthine” stapes. Three dimensional reconstructions of these stapes allow documenting stapes morphology of four extinct artiodactyl taxa: Microstonyx erymanthius (Suidae), Elomeryx borbonicus (Hippopotamoidea), ?Helohyus plicodon (Helohyidae), and an undetermined Cainotheriidae; and four extant ones Choeropsis and Hippopotamus (Hippopotamidae), and Tayassu and Phacochoerus (Suoidea). ?Helohyus plicodon from the Middle Eocene documents the oldest stapes known for the order Artiodactyla. Morphological study and metric analyses of our sample of artiodactylan stapes show that stapes are likely to carry relevant phylogenetic characters/signal within artiodactyls, and a potential Euungulata signature. 

Since the 19th century, thousands of footprints were observed in the geological series of the French Mesozoic. All are located in the Triassic and Jurassic. After a promising beginning, in France, it is only a few papers which will be published in the first half 20th century, unlike the USA and of others countries of Western Europe. One ought to wait about 1950 for a revival and now they are nearly 200 papers which were devoted to the ichnofossils. The literature abundance and the renewed interest of the naturalists for the palichnologic studies decided to us to write a synthesis work. This one begins with a stratigraphic inventory in which, localisation, age and paleontological contents of about 180 fossiliferous sites are specified. After having pointed out the followed methods, the footprints paleontological interpretation is then approached in detail and the results obtained are replaced in stratigraphy to deduce the fauna evolution during the Mesozoic. So, it appears that Ichnologic data, more varied and rich in the Triassic and Liassic than those relating to the bones, very rare for the considered periods, are very informative. The middle Triassic (Anisian-Ladinian), thus reveals Cotylosauria, Lepidosauria, Crurotarsi with Rauisuchia, Ornithosuchidae, Crocodylia and Dinosauromorpha more the "Prodinosauria": Dinosamiforme whose skeletons are known in Argentina but only in Ladinian. The rather fast domination of Dinosaurs during Norian is also as well shown. The almost exclusive presence of their footprints, up to fifty cm long, in the Lower Hettangian indicates their supremacy in the environments. Footprints characterise not very deep life places located between inter-supratidal limits and often out of water. Sedimentologic and Palaeontologic studies showed that they were great coastal spaces during Middle Triassic, flood-plain with sebkhas while Upper Triassic, and a large !!coastal marsh!! in Grands-Causses during Liassic in which, mainly, fine stromatolithic layers were deposited. During the same periad, bay beaches spread in Vendée. During the Middle Jurassic, they are also brackish to lacustrine environments and recifallagoons in- the Upper Jurassic. Numerous measurements of the footprints and trackways directions showed that the animaIs moved there in weil defined directions, for long periods. They seem due to the palaeotopography of the life environments relatively stable. Also, the discovery of vegetal radicular networks and small footprints far away from the continental borderlands has suggested that the animals continuously lived in these palaeoenvironnements, belonging to large ecosystems, where the sedimentation rate was weak. This explains that thebadies could not fossilize there but only their footprints through the cyanobacterian action in main cases. From the vertical distribution of different ichnospecies, defined with adapted statistical methods, explained in this work, a palichnostratigraphy was established for the Middle Triassic. Although the footprints are also abundant in Hettango-Sinemurian of "Grands-Causses" and the Vendée, it was not possible, up to now, to establish any zonation in this series; Probably because the palichnofauna is too little diversified there, currently reduced to a majority of Theropods II-IV tridactyl traces.
  

The genus Plagiolophus is documented, almost solely in Western Europe, from the middle Eocene up to the mid Oligocene (MP 12 to MP 25), i.e. more than for 15 MY. Seventeen species are now recorded whose two of them are new, P. ringeadei nov. sp. and P. mamertensis nov. sp. Some anatomical variations and the deflection of certain evolutionary trends justify the distinction of three subgenera, Paloplotherium, Fraasiolophus nov. and Plagiolophus s.s. The genus displays a wide range in size and weight (between 10 and 150 kg). The detailed description of the skull of several species is here given for the first time.
Despite important evolutionary drifts during this long time span, the dentition shows a great structural homogeneity, which renders difficult the determination of fragmentary specimens or isolated teeth. It is characterized by a great heterodonty; premolars are little molarized and present a certain regression through time with paradoxically some progress in the molarization. The hypsodonty increases: the first Plagiolophus are hardly less brachyodont than Propalaeotherium, and the last ones are nearly as hypsodont as Merychippus from the early Miocene. The upper molars change from a wide crown pattern, with an open occlusal surface, lightly oblique transverse lophs and rounded internal cusps, to a narrower pattern, with a frontally constricted occlusal surface and internal lophs aligned parallel to the ectoloph. The M3/3 become always longer.

The dental enamel displays horizontal Schreger-bands with imprecise limits occupying only the middle part of the enamel layer. The dentine is remarkable by its high rate of pericanalicular dentine. The crown cementum, lacking in earlier forms, increases to the point where it fills the occlusal valleys of the
teeth.

The masticatory musculature shows a increasing prominence of the temporal, with probably an important role devoted to the pterygoid muscles in lateral movements related to a two-phase type of chewing.

The evolution of the dentition, of the masticatory musculature and of the repartition of masticatory forces indicate that the Plagiolophus have known different diets through their long evolutionary history; at first browsers they became mixed feeders and finally grazers. Their relatively long neck allowed these animals to reach different vegetal layers. The strength of the nuchal crests also suggests that they were able to have strong backwards movements of the head to pull up their food.

This evolution of diet seems related to the slow degradation of environmental conditions attested during this period in western Europe, with the generalization of more open landscapes, increasing aridity and more marked seasons.

Besides, a remodeling of the face is ontogenetically and along time observed, in relation with the evolution of the masticatory apparatus and especially with that of the mandibular lever arm. The postcanine diastemata become longer in the course of evolution; the free extremities of the nasals are always relatively long which contradicts the hypothesis according to which Paloplotherium may have had a trunk. At last the lineage Fraasiolophus can be distinguished by the presence of a deep malar fossa, probably related to a strong development of the maxillo-labialis superior muscle.

The orbit is always large and tends to increase in size, which indicates a good development of the vision and its increasing role in the life relations. A peculiar type of epitympanic sinus could have been used as a resonance chamber insuring a certain amplification of sounds before their transmission to the eardrum. The endocranial cast reveals a relatively large brain with an advanced degree of gyrencephaly. Beside the role eventually played in food research and social relations, these neurophysiological abilities, also related to an advance in cursorial fitness, could have contributed to the survival of these animals facing the predation pressure of the first fissipede carnivores and the competition with new immigrant herbivores after the "Grande Coupure".
On the basis of some shared apomorphies with the Pachynolophinae, which prevent from considering the latter as Equidae (molarization of the premolars, reduction of the premaxilla dorsal apophysis, peculiar epitympanic sinus, splitting of the jugular process), the hypothesis of an autochthonous origin of Plagiolophus issued from a form near Propalaeotherium, is once again proposed and discussed. Finally, intra-generic relationships are taken into consideration. 

Tetraceratops insignis is known from a single, crushed skull from the Lower Permian of Texas. Its unique proportions and osteological details gained central meaning in the question of the origins of Therapsida since this early synapsid has been determined as the oldest and less derived therapsid. Apart from Tetraceratops, the ‘mammal-like’ Therapsida and their sister, the pelycosaur-grade Sphenacodontidae, are separated by one of the longest ghost lineages in tetrapod fossil record. However, the minor, though well justified critique faced insistent publication regarding the therapsid hypothesis. A carefull re-evaluation of the holotypic skull reveals that therapsid traits cannot be supported, including a rejection of the formerly supposed adductor shelf in the temporal fenestra. Increased understanding of ‘pelycosaur’ character variation underlines a haptodontine-grade or, less likely, sphenacodontid position for Tetraceratops. 

Remarkable association of a small infraorbital foramen, similar to that in recent Heterocephalus, and of a strong muscular print on the dorsal anterior part of the zygomatic plate and on the premaxillary. Several anatomical structures to be compared with those of Heterocephalus suggest relationships with this genus. Richardus supports the ancestrality of the hystricomorph character in the bathyergids 

Abstract not available 

Abstract not available 

New and hitherto unpublished mammals from the stratigraphical levels Unterkohle, Untere Mittelkohle and Obere Mittelkohle of the Geiseltal near Halle, GDR, are described (= biochronological levels MP 11-13, Geiseltalian sensu Franzen & Haubold 1986a, b). The marsupial taxa Amphiperatherium aff. maximum (MP 12), A. goethei (MP 12), and Peratherium aff. monspeliense (MP 12 and 13) are recorded for the first time. A lectotype for Amphiperatherium giselense is designated, and the alleged primate Microtarsioides voigzi is assigned to Marsupialia, incertae sedis. A new insectivore species, Saturninia ceciliensis n. sp., is described (MP 13). The anteater Eurotamandua joresi is recorded for the first time outside its type locality, Grube Messel, FRG (MP 11). The present humerus and ulna display the autapomorphic features of the myrmecophagids. 

Re-evaluation of the small collection of mammal fossils from the Changxindian Formation near Beijing, China indicates the following taxa are present: Eutheria, Hypsimilus beifingensis, cf. Miacis sp., Anthracotheriidae and Forstercooperia grandis. The presence of Forstercooperia grandis indicates an Irdinmanhan age and does not support previous assignment of a Sharamurunian age to the Changxindian Formation. 

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.