The rodents (Cricetidae, Gliridae, Sciuridae) found in lacustrine, brackish marine and karstic sediments of Miocene age in Languedoc, assign the position of the different localities in the scale of "niveaux repères" used by mammalogists. Some detailed stratigraphical studies bring several correlations between this continental biochronological scale and the marine scale ; the most important results are the Aquitanian age of the "niveaux repères" of Coderet and Paulhiac, the Burdigalian age of Laugnac, Estrepouy, Vieux-Collonges, La Romieu and Sansan and the Langhian or Lower Serravallian age of La Grive M. The correlations between the Tethys and the Central Paratethys for the Lower Neogene profit also of these results, since the locality of Neudorf Spalte 1, 2 (Czechoslovakia) is shown to be younger than Sansan (France). The paleontological study has also several geological inferences for the Miocene of Languedoc ; with the calibration of this Miocene, we know quite precisely that the Lower Miocene is chiefly a time lacustrine sedimentation, and also that the marine Miocene sedimentation ends early in the Miocene Period, in Langhian or lower Serravallian times. 

The study of that locality allowed the description of a new Muridae : Paraethomys athmeniae n. sp. It reveals the existence of new rodent for Algeria : first, a Sciuridae, Atlantoxerus cf. rhodius, and second, a Gliridae, Eliomys truci. So, that work shows the presence of the genus Eliomys in North Africa before the middle of Pleistocene. Lastly, Paraethomys cf. anomalus gives an exact datation of that bed. 

Extensive sampling of the Siwalik deposits of the Potwar Plateau of northem Pakistan and from the Zinda Pir dome of central Pakistan has produced a fossil record of Miocene ctenodactylids that can be correlated with the paleomagnetic time scale. The early Miocene Prosayimys flynni (n. gen., n. sp.) is recognized as the first ctenodactylid in the Indian subcontinent. Prosayimys is ancestral to Sayimys. From the late early Miocene to the early late Miocene, there is an anagenetic succession of three species of Sayimys: S. cf. S. intermedius, S. sivalensis, and S. chinjiensis (n. sp.). Sayimys chinjiensis gave rise to the late late Miocene S. perplexus. A second lineage is represented by Sayimys minor, S. sp. A, and S. sp. B. 

Nyctereutes megamastoides (Pomel) from the Villafranchian of the Auvergne and from Saint-Vallier presents cranial and dental characters sufficiently close to those of the late Pliocene canid from Perpignan (Roussillon), described by Depéret under the specific name of Canis donnezani belonging to the same genus Nyctereutes. The extinction of the European "Nyctereutes" group seems due to the too great alimentary specialization of this canid, whereas the Asiatic lineage represented in the Villafranchian by Nyctereutes sinensis Schlosser and at present by Nyctereutes procyonider Gray was able to maintain itself probably by means of a profound change in its alimentary regime. 

L'ouvrage est divisé en trois grandes parties traitant successivement: I. l'anatomie ("Proboscidean flesh and bones"), en abordant la taxonomie, l'allure générale et l'éco-éthologie des proboscidiens actuels et fossiles; II. les causes de mortalité collective naturelle et provoquée chez les actuels; III. les documents fossiles et l'extinction des formes anciennes d'Amérique du Nord. 

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. 

Abstract not available 

We present here the preliminary results from a new nesting site "Sextius-Mirabeau", discovered close to the historical centre of Aix-en-Provence in Upper Cretaceous deposits. This extensive megaloolithid nesting ground, the first large scale excavation (3225 m²) in France, yielded more than 530 eggs, some organized in clusters. Their study reveals the reproductive strategy of the megaloolithid egglayer group which indicates nesting fidelity and gregarious behaviour.  

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. 

Reigechimys octodontiformis gen. et sp. novo and R. plesiodon sp. novo are described. They represent the frrst record of the family Echimyidae for the Cerro Azul Formation (Huayquerian Age, Late Upper Miocene) at La Pampa Province, central Argentina. Both species have hypsodont cheek teeth with an eight-shaped occlusal design. This dental morphology represents a noticeable case of convergence to octodontids and indicates that these echimyids inhabited open environments. 

The few remains recently collected at Ste Néboule (upper Eocene) belong to three genera: the Testudinid Ergilemys, of which it is the oldest occurence in Western Europa, probably Palaeochelys and an unpublished genus, which is peculiar to the Phosphorites du Quercy. Some statements are made on the chelonian fauna as a whole in that région. After the study of some characters proper to the genus Ergilemys, some remarks are made concerning its antecedents and descendants. 

The Montredon local fauna yielded very rare bats, represented by damaged isolated teeth. Only a few documents are available for this period of the European Neogene. ln this poor state of knowledge, the material represents three undetermined species, a supposed molossid and two vespertilionids. 

A reconstruction of a multituberculate endocranial cast is made on the basis of a complete natural cast prepared from the skull of Chulsanbaatar vulgaris, and other less complete endocasts, all from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. The multituberculate endocast is of mammalian pattern but it has retained a therapsid-like lateral profile with a deep rhombencephalon and a shallow telencephalon. It is characterized by: a heart-shaped cross-section of the telencephalon; an extensive lissencephalic neocortex; a very prominent pons placed far anteriorly; a lack of cerebellar hemispheres, and very large paraflocculi. Its structure, very different from the brains of other mammals, suggests thats the Multituberculata branched very early from the main mammalian stock. This supports Simpson's (1945) idea that the Multituberculata should be placed in a subclass of their own: Allotheria MARSH. The endocast and braincase structure show that the Multituberculata had strongly developed senses of smell and hearing. The encephalization quotient of approx. 0.55 evaluated for Ch. vulgaris is relatively high for a Mesozoic mammal. 

The oldest european marsupials are described from some specimens (isolated upper molars) recently found from the Hainin sediment (Middle Paleocene of Belgium). These fossils document a new species of the Peradectes genus. They give evidence of a much older occurrence of the marsupials in Europe than it was assumed. They allow us to postulate a didelphid dispersal from South America towards the western-holarctic area operating in two phases : the first one of the Peradectes genus at the end of the Cretaceous; the second one of the Didelphíni tribe at the end of the Paleocene. A central american crossing is likely for the first one,  whereas a transafrican way is tentatively argued for the second one. 

Les Pistes de Vertébrés du Stormberg Supérieur ("Trias terminal à Rhétien"), ou Quthingien

Si les zones du Stormberg inférieur se sont révélées contenir de nombreuses traces, surtout dans les faciès dits "Molteno moyen et supérieur", représentant apparemment la base du Keuper, il est frappant de voir pratiquement l'ensemble de cette grosse faune "Molteno" disparaître avec la fin de cette période, que nous avons appelée le "Maphutsengien".

Dès les premières zones du Stormberg supérieur, que nous nommons le"Quthingien" la zoocénose et la phytocénose, en même temps que les données d'ensemble manifestées par l'environnement, sont modifiées. Nous ne verrons plus guère de dépôts marécageux à flore riche et variée, parfois même luxuriante. Les fougères elles-mêmes ont disparu. Elles sont remplacées par de maigres plantes, aux feuilles très souvent filiformes qui paraissent témoigner d'un climat continental. Le sol est devenu de plus en plus rouge, avec des variations latérales beaucoup plus accusées. Les fleuves amenant des galets des monts du "Grand Sud" ont tari. La faune va en subir les conséquences. Certaines des espèces se révèleront sautillantes ou coureuses, pour un grand nombre plus légères et pour la quasi-totalité d'apparence carnivore ou entomophages, les phytophages devant se contenter d'un régime ingrat,difficile ou à tout le moins irrégulier,les dépôts le montrent.

C'est dans ces conditions que s'inaugure notre Etage nouveau,quelque peu discordant sur les zones A/5, A/6 ou A/7 du Stormberg inférieur (Maphutsengien). Le Stormberg supérieur (ou Quthingien) commence avec le paléopaysage remarquable dit de Moyeni, que nous allons maintenant étudier, typologiquement, avec ses homologues du même âge. Quelques 38 types d'animaux tous nouveaux vont défiler à nos yeux lors de la zone de base de cet Etage, ou zone B/1.

L'on nous avait proposé d'intituler ce Ile Tome de la série : "La grande Dalle de Moyeni et ses homologues. Paléo-spectacles, scènes et paysages animaux au Lesotho à l'approche du Trias finissant". Nous avons préféré garder le sous-titre plus haut, peut-être plus prosaïque.

Un llle Tome est en préparation : "Les développements ultérieurs et terminaux de la faune du Gondwana".

  

The revision of the Lutetian chiropterans from Messel, first described by Revilliod in 1917, is based on the anatomy of the teeth and the skeleton.  A figuration or refiguration of thematerial utilized accompanies the new description, which goes beyond that of the original monograph.
The study shows a certain variability of the dental structure within the genera Palaeochiropteryx Revilliod and Archaeonycteris Revilliod,  as well as a general resemblance of the two forms. The morphology of the teeth permits, however, the verification of the validity of the different species: Palaeochiropteryx tupaiodon Revilliod, P. spiegeli Revilliod, Archaeonycterís trigonodon Revilliod, and Archaeonycteris revilliodi, n. sp.
Some differences of the skeletal and dental anatomy tend to indicate a stage of evolution less advanced for the genus Archaeonycteris.
The comparison of the chiropterans of Messel with the principal groups of living chiropterans, as well as with different Eocene fossíls (notably Cecílionycteris Heller and Icaronycteris Jepsen) leads to a more precise idea of the anatomy of primitive chiropterans. This comparison also permits the proposition that the oid forms so far described by integrated in a superfamily, the Palaeochiropterygoidea and allows   a general phylogenetic hypothesis to be advanced for the order Chiroptera. 

Fossils of the Trionychidae, Bataguridae or Emydidae, Palaeophis and Crocodylia from Chattahoochee, NW Florida, USA, represent the first report of an Eocene reptile fauna from Florida. 

The mammalian fauna (represented only by isolated teeth) from the early Cretaceous of Morocco includes a number of non-'therian' specimens, characterized by the antero-posterior alignement of the main molar cusps. This assemblage is very heterogenous, including forms (among them Gobiconodon palaios sp. nov.) that can be related to Laurasian triconodonts and several forms so far known only in this part of Gondwana (among them Kryptotherium polysphenos gen. et sp. nov.). The latter, in particular, exemplifies the diversity of the mammalian dental morphology in the Mesozoic, often largely underestimated. In the last part of this paper, the 'therian' affinity of the 'amphilestids' is discussed, on the basis of the arrangement of molar cusps, the interlocking mechanism and the occlusal pattem. 

Revision of the Tayassuidae from the old collections of the Quercy leads to interesting facts about taxonomic and phylogenetic problems. It could not have been well done without constant comparison with contemporaneous Tayassuidae from stratified series, as well as with European Miocene Tayassuidae and Hyotheriinae. The result is that only three species are present in the Phosphorites of Quercy: Doliochoerus quercyi FiLHOL (represented by two sub-species: the older, D. quercyi quercyi and the more recent, D. quercyi aquensis), Palaeochoerus gergorianus CROIZET et BLAINVILLE and Palaeochoerus purillus nov. sp. The two former species disappeared with Stampian time, while the third is the direct ancestor of the Aquitanian Palaeochoerus typus POMEL, which became extinct before the beginning of Burdigalian.

The comparison with Hyotheriinae brought to light new criteria for determinations, based on the study of lower premolars. These observations are condensed in a table of keys for determinations.

As a result of these studies, it came to light that the Suoidea of the Oligo-Miocene of Europe have never given rise to, except in rare cases, very long lineages. The different forms of pigs are replaced constantly in Europe by the simple game of extinctions and migrations. The reason of that discontinuity is considered here. 

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.