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 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.

  

Prolagus sardus is the last representative of the diverse lineages of European endemic ochotonids. It is also the most abundant in the collections. The previous studies made of this species have established rather well its dental morphology, its phylogenetic position, its geographic and temporal distribution, and its intraspecific individual variation. On the other hand, no osteologic study has fully utilized the superb material from Corsica and Sardinia  collected by Forsyth Major.
Nearly all of the parts of the skeleton are represented in this material; they are here described and figured. Comparisons are made with Ochotona, the only surviving genus of the family, as well as with the living leporids, in particular Romerolagus, Oryctolagus and Lepus. A brief examination of the dentition reveals some particular characters of the incisors. The osteologic study allows limited interpretations to be advanced concerning the posture, mastication. locomotion and some other adaptive features of P. sardus.
P. sardus appears as an incontestable ochotonid, but it differs from Ochotona by some characters which are found in leporids. Certain of the characters are here judged primitive for lagomorphs. The genus Ochotona therefore can no longer be considered as the image of a primitive lagomorph, because in spite of the lack of cursorial adaptations which differentiate it from leporids, it presents other specializations which are common to it alone. 

The principles and practices employed in establishment and recognition of South American land mammal ages are reviewed along with previous and present concepts of distinguishing time, rock, and faunal units. Previous chronological arrangements of South American Tertiary land mammal faunas are appraised on the basis of recent geological and paleontological data. Twelve South American Tertiary land mammal ages are here recognized [from oldest to youngest, Riochican (middle to late Paleocene); Casamayoran (early Eocene); Mustersan (middle Eocene); Divisaderan (late Eocene); Deseadan (early [to middle?] Oligocene); Colhuehuapian (late Oligocene); Santacrucian (early Miocene); Friasan (middle Miocene); Chasicoan (late Miocene); Huayquerian (latest Miocene); Montehermosan (early to middle Pliocene); and Chapadmalalan (late Pliocene)]. As all except the Friasian were originally defined on the basis of Argentine faunas, these are discussed first and at length, and each is reviewed with discussion of type locality, stratigraphy, type fauna, and faunal correlations. Non-Argentine faunas are then discussed country by country in alphabetical order.

     A review is given of radioisotope dates obtained on volcanic rocks (i.e., basalts, tuffs) associated with mammalbearing beds in Argentina. Based on these age determinations and on correlation of the late Tertiary land mammals involved in the interchange between North and South America, a chronology of South American land mammal ages correlated with North American land mammal ages and European marine stages is proposed.

It is concluded that South America was an island continent through most of the Tertiary Period (ca 65 to about 3 Ma). As a result, the land mammal fauna of South America developed in isolation and was dominated by autochthonous endemic groups. Toward the end of the Tertiary (i.e., middle Miocene) a unique faunal balance had been achieved by the descendants of the ancient inhabitants (notoungulates, litopterns, condylarths, astrapotheres, edentates, marsupials) and of later (late Eocene) waif immigrants (caviomorph rodents, platyrrhine primates). A prominent feature of this mammal fauna was the combination of carnivorous and omnivorous marsupials with native placental herbivorous ungulates, subungulates, and edentates.

Sometime during the late Miocene, a limited but important interchange of mammalian taxa between North and South America took place. Procyonids (raccoons and their allies), a group of North American origin, first appear in South America in strata of Huayquerian Age, while members of the extinct South American ground sloth families Megalonychidae and Mylodontidae first appear in North America in early Hemphillian time. These groups dispersed along island arcs before the appearance of the Panamanian land bridge in the Pliocene (ca 3.0 Ma). Cricetine rodents, a group of North American origin, are first known in South America in strata of Montehermosan Age. The known taxa are too advanced and diversified to be considered the first of this group to invade South America. lt is believed by some workers that these rodents arrived before the Montehermosan, possibly in the late Miocene or earlier, by waif dispersal from North America.

The isolation of South America ended with the appearance of the Panamanian land bridge, which provided a direct, dry land connection between the two Americas. Across this portal an extensive interchange of terrestrial faunas occurred, and the fossil record documents an intermingling of these long-separated land mammals faunas.

      The beginning of this interchange by land route in South America is marked by the appearance of mammals which evolved from North American emigrants in the Chapadmalal Formation of Argentina. These include a mustelid (Conepatus), a tayassuid (Argyrohyus), and four genera (Akodon, Dankomys, Graomys, Reithrodon) of cricetine rodents. The appearance of this contingent of northern animals favors the existence of the Panamanian land bridge by this time. Likewise, a large number of terrestrial vertebrates of South American origin appear in North America in beds of late Blancan Age date around 2.7 Ma. Among the mammals are Neochoerus, Erethizon, Glyptotherium, Glossotherium, Kraglievichia, and Dasypus. 

Revision of ancient collections and study of new material from Provenchères-sur-Meuse (Rhaetian) lead to signíficant changes in the faunal list of this site. This bring to us important information about the effect of the rhaetian transgression on the evolution of the faunas at this period of time. However, study of
vertebrate microremains is always difficult and some points remain obscure, like the origin of the prosauropods which yield some remains at Provenchères-sur-Meuse and the survival in Europe during the Rhaetian of temnospondyl arnphibians different from the Plagiosauridae.

  

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. 

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 early gnathostome genus Mesacanthus is well represented in both Lower Old Red Sandstone and Middle Old Red Sandstone assemblages of northern and central Scotland. This ‘acanthodian’ taxon is currently thought to comprise two valid species: M. mitchelli and M. pusillus. Although the whereabouts of the holotype of M. mitchelli (NHMUK PV P560) is known, the syntype material for M. pusillus has long been thought lost. Here we identify at least one specimen that formed part of the original syntype material for M. pusillus, albeit in a slightly different condition than when it was originally figured. This specimen is ROM 25872, which is here designated as the lectotype. A second specimen – ELGNM 1978.191.1 – could represent another of the syntype specimens, but poor preservation quality makes it impossible to be certain. 

The discovery of new hippopotamid material from the late Miocene Baynunah Formation (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates) has prompted the revision of the existing material of this as yet unnamed fossil taxon. The Baynunah hippopotamid appears to be distinct from all other contemporary and later species in having a relatively more elongate symphysis, a feature similar to the earlier (and more primitive) Kenyapotamus. Yet, the Baynunah hippopotamid presents a dentition typical of the Hippopotaminae. It is therefore a distinct species attributed to the later subfamily, described and named in this contribution. This species provides further evidence for a ca. 8 Ma evolutionary event (termed “Hippopotamine Event”) that initiated the spread and ecological significance of the Hippopotaminae into wet habitats across Africa and Eurasia. The morphological affinities of the new species from Abu Dhabi suggest that the Arabian Peninsula was not a dispersal route from Africa toward southern Asia for the Hippopotamidae at ca. 7.5 Ma to 6.5 Ma. 

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 

This paper describes the first hexanchid tooth from the Tithonian (Late Jurassic) of New Zealand. For the moment, this tooth represents the earliest representative of the fossil genus Notidanodon in the world and one of the most ancient neoselachians in the Southern Hemisphere. Despite the perfect state of preservation of the unique tooth, the species is left in open nomenclature, pending the discovery of additional specimens. Few nominal species have been assigned to the genus Notidanodon. Four from Cretaceous deposits: N. antarcti Grande & Chatterjee, 1987, Notidanodon dentatus (Woodward, 1886), Notidanodon lanceolatus (Woodward, 1886), Notidanodon pectinatus (Agassiz, 1843) and only two from Paleocene: Notidanodon brotzeni Siverson, 1995, and Notidanodon loozi (Vincent, 1876). Considering the important morphological variations observed between some of these species, it seems obvious that the genus Notidanodon is not monophyletic and will need a revision in the future. 
  

Fourteen distinct phyletical lineages which belong at least in three families: Ischyromyidae ALSTON, 1876, Gliridae THOMAS, 1896 and Theridomyidae ALSTON, 1876, have been identified after the study of more than 3600 rodent dental remains from about twenty Early and Middle Eocene european localities. A systematical and phylogenetical revision of these rodents has been achieved. Nearly all the specific and generic diagnosis are emended. Several new combinations and synonymies are proposed. Four new species and two new genera, Euromys nov. (Ailuravinae) and Hartenbergeromys nov. (Microparamyini), are named and described. Euromys nov. gen. is known by three distinctive ypresian (MP 7 to MP 10 european reference levels) chronospecies. This new lineage is thought to be the direct ancestor of Meldimys MICHAUX, 1968 and Ailuravus RUTIMEYER, 1891. A new species of the genus Plesiarctomys BRAVARD, 1850, Pl. lapicidinarum from Condé-en-Brie (MP 8-9 reference level), allows to relate the Plesiarctomys lineage to the Pseudoparamys MICHAUX, 1964 one. The taxa Sparnacomys HARTENBERGER, 1971, Pantrogna HARTENBERGER, 1971, and Corbarimys MARANDAT, 1989 are erected to genus rank; the last one is not thought to be an Ischyromyidae. A new chronospecies of Pantrogna, P. marandati nov. sp. from the locality of Prémontré (MP 10 reference level), is described. This lineage is at the origin of two others, namely Masillamys TOBIEN, 1954, including M. mattaueri (HARTENBERGER, 1975) nov. comb. (MP 10 reference level), and Hartenbergeromys nov. gen., known from MP 10 (H. hautefeuillei nov. sp.) and MP 11 (H. parvus TOBIEN, 1954) reference levels. The phylogenetical position of Hartenbergeromys nov. gen., at the origin of the european family Theridomyidae, is discussed. The systematical and phylogenetical status of two probable Paramyinae, "Paramys" woodi MICHAUX, 1964 and an unnamed genus and species, are discussed. New populations of the primitive Gliridae Eogliravus HARTENBERGER, 1971 and of the primitive Theridomyidae Protadelomys HARTENBERGER, 1968, are described and assigned to previously known species.

  

The late Cretaceous Auca Mahuevo nesting site (Neuquén Province, Argentina) has produced a large number of sauropod eggs, many of them containing the remains of embryos. Research at this site has generated important information about the development of the embryos, the morphology and eggshell microstructure of the eggs, and the reproductive behavior of sauropod dinosaurs. Cranial features present in the embryos have allowed their identification as those of titanosaurian sauropods. Differences in the texture of the sediments that contain some of the egg-clutches have illuminated their nest architecture. Microstructural studies of eggshells have expanded our knowledge of their variability and the incidence of pathologies within a reproductive titanosaurian population. Maps showing the spatial distribution of eggs and clutches. the stratigraphic distribution of the egg-beds, and the sedimentological context in which they are contained, have provided the basis for several inferences about the nesting behavior of these dinosaurs. 

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.

  

Six orders of birds adapted to aquatic life are represented among the numerous avifauna of "Saint-Gérand-le-Puy": Gaviiformes, Procellariiformes, Pelecaniformes, Ciconiiformes, Phoenicopteriformes, and Anseriformes. The present study of this avifauna proposes several changes in systematics:- Procellariiformes: Puffinus arvernensis does not belong in Procellariidae but in Diomodeidae, and it is transferred to the fossil genus Plotornis previously described in the Middle Miocene of France. - Pelecaniformes: Phalacrocorax littoralis remains in Phalacrocoracidae; P. míocaenus is different from the modern species, and is transferred to the new genus Nectornis. Empheresula arvernensis, described in the Oligocene deposits of Gannat, seems to be present in Saint-Gérand-le-Puy too. Pelecanus gracilis shows many differences from the modern species, and belongs to the new genus Miopelecanus, - Ciconiiformes: Ardea formosa nom. oblit. is a synonym of Proardeola walkeri. - Anseriformes: a new species closely related to swans is described, and belongs to the fossil genus Cygnopterus, of the Middle Oligocene of Europe; this species is called C. alphonsi. The ecology of each species is suggested by comparison with that of its nearest living relatives, and by study of osteological adaptations. 

Investigations of the Clinchfield Formation (middle Eocene, upper Bartonian) exposed at the Hardie Mine (Wilkinson County, Georgia, USA), produced 4,768 actinopterygian otoliths representing 14 taxa and increased the number of bony fishes threefold from the site. The somewhat limited richness was characterized by bonefishes, mud eels, conger eels, sea catfishes, cusk-eels, snooks, grunts, drums and croakers, and porgies. The assemblage had a relatively even distribution with Ophidiidae, Congridae, and Sciaenidae most common. Included in the otolith taxa was a new sciaenid genus and species, Eosciaena ebersolei, with unknown relationships to other Sciaenidae. The Clinchfield otoliths were compared to other middle and late Eocene in age otolith assemblages in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana utilizing percentage similarity measurements. Analysis indicated that the Clinchfield otoliths were not greatly similar or greatly unlike the Moodys Branch and Yazoo Clay otolith assemblages. However, the Clinchfield showed little relationship to the slightly older Lisbon Formation in adjacent Alabama and is postulated to be related to global climatic and plate tectonic events. Biostratigraphically, the Clinchfield otolith taxa are essentially the same as the other formations except for the Lisbon, which has at least ten unique species. Abundances of Clinchfield otolith taxa indicate a possible sub-bioprovince in the eastern Gulf Coastal Plain. The Clinchfield otoliths indicate a tropical to perhaps subtropical, soft substrate, mainly normal marine to slightly reduced salinities, inner shelf (0–20 m) paleoenvironment with indications of proximal continental coastlines. This investigation represents an initial step in addressing the immensely understudied Paleogene otolith assemblages in Georgia.
  

The earliest North American rodents occur in basal Clarkforkian beds of the Fort Union Formation at Big Multi Quarry near Bitter Creek, northern Washakie Basin, Sweetwater County, Wyoming, and in closely correlative Fort Union beds formerly accessible in the Eagle Coal Mine near Bear Creek, northern Clark's Fork Basin, Carbon County, Montana. Two new species of early Clarkforkian rodents, Paramys adamus and Alagomys russelli, are described from Big Multi Quarry. Paramys adamus is represented by virtually complete upper and lower dentitions, which demonstrate that this species is one of the most primitive North American paramyids yet discovered. These specimens form the basis for a reevaluation of the content and stratigraphic range of P. atavus, which is known with certainty only from Bear Creek. Alagomys russelli is the first North American record for the enigmatic rodent family Alagomyidae, otherwise known from ?late Paleocene-early Eocene localities in Mongolia and China. Phylogenetic analysis of dental and gnathic traits suggests that Alagomyidae form the sister group of all other undoubted rodents. At least two rodent clades, alagomyids and basal paramyids, seem to have invaded North America from Asia at the beginning of Clarkforkian time, but only the paramyids persisted to undergo a significant evolutionary radiation in North America. 

Near "la Lieude", in the Lodève basin, more than a thousand of footprints are distributed in a twenty of trackways which amounts to 220 m length. They have been found on calcareous siltstone level in the B site named also "Réserve Naturelle Volontaire". This last is located in the Saxonian summit dated Upper Permian. "La Lieude" tracks are described by using statistical methods then they are compared with others from the world Permian. What allows to distinguish 4 following ichnotaxa: Lunaepes ollierorum nov.ichnosp., Merifontichnus thalerius nov. ichnogen. and nov. ichnosp., Planipes brachydactylus nov.ichnosp. and Brontopus circagiganteus nov. ichnosp. All these traces are attributed with possibility or probability to Therapsida or to Therosauria, except Brontopus circagiganteus nov. ichnosp. that could be due to Caseamorpha. All these animals whose sizes have been estimated between l and 5 m lived probably in a playa environment.The biological and sedimentological data from "la Lieude" footprints levels compared with informations provided by the tracks orientations, suggest the following scenario. Animals coming from the North have crossed a sandy channel bank with plants zones by directing to the South for the majority. Maybe, they were going to the lacustrine part of the playa, close to "la Lieude" footprints that they have just trampled on. 

The middle Palaeocene of São José de Itaboraí (State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) has yielded a very rich and diverse snake fauna which includes Madtsoiidae, Aniliidae s.l., Boidae, Tropidophiidae s.l., Booidea incertae sedis, and Russellophiidae. The present article (part I) deals with Madtsoiidae and Aniliidae s.l. Madtsoiidae are represented by many vertebrae and a few skull bones. They comprise one new species assigned to the genus Madtsoia (M. camposi sp. nov.). However, the definition of the genus Madtsoia is unsatisfactory and the generic allocation might be provisional. A few elements, vertebrae only, belong to the Aniliidae s. l. Two taxa are referred to this latter group: Coniophis cf. C. precedens and Hoffstetterella brasiliensis gen. et sp. nov. The forthcoming part II will deal with Boidae.

  

The description of original material of anthracothere and proboscidean in the new locality of Bir el Ater 3 from East Algeria, and a thorough review of early Libycosaurus remains of Bir el Ater 2 allows us validating L. algeriensis as the smallest and earliest species of Libycosaurus and probably the earliest migrant of the genus from Asia. The presence of a Tetralophodon in the Neogene Nementcha formation might represent the earliest occurrence of the genus in Africa. These original fossil remains allow us to discuss the age of the Neogene part of the Nementcha formation close to the Serravalian/Tortonian boundary.