Sur un nouveau gisement fossilifere du Miocene superieur (Tortonien-Turolien moyen) de Cucuron (Vaucluse)

The fossiliferous layer is located in tortonian fresh water marls with “Helix” christoli within Durance basin.Micromammals, molluscs and ostracodes are yielded. The fauna analysis get to place it in Middle turolian (MN 12 zone) and to give an Upper Turolian age (MN 13) to the Luberon red limes and gravels formation. It appears clearly that the lacustrine biotop with Paralimnocythere bouleigensis spread more and more late southward in the Rhône valley. At the Tortonian, the sea stopped longuer in the Durance basin than in the Valréas one.     

Les Hipparions (Mammalia,Perissodactyla) du gisement turolien des Mistrals pres Valreas (Vaucluse,France)

Two species of Hipparion coexist in the Turolian layers of “Les Mistrals”. The most frequent form is belonging to H. prostydum GERVAIS (the same than in Mont-Luberon deposits); the other one seams to be put near H. truyolsi SONDAAR.     

Santonian Angiosperm-dominated leaf-assemblage from Piolenc (Vaucluse,Sud-Est de la France)

Lower Santonian sandy to coaly-clayey beds, collected near the village of Piolenc (Vaucluse) contain amber bearing insects and extremely well-preserved leaf cuticle compressions of Corystospermales, Cycadales, Bennettitales, Gymnosperms and mostly Angiosperms. The sedimentological and taphonomic studies indicate that the clays bearing the fossil cuticles were deposited along the Alpine Sea shore into supratidal ponds or marshes around which the plants studied herein grew. Moreover, the ‘nearest living relative’ and ‘foliar physiognomy’ methods, and the sedimentological and palaeontological studies agree with the occurrence of a warm and humid, tropical climate, including a dry season. To cite this article: B. Gomez et al., C. R. Palevol 2 (2003).     

Observations sur la Presence de Certains Lamellibranches Lithophages Fossiles du Miocene dans le Sud-Est de l'Europe et dans la Mer Noire

Dans le Miocène moyen du Sud-Est de l'Europe on rencontretrès rarement des exemplaires fossiles de lamellibrancheslithophages, quelques-uns de ceux-ci appartenant au genre Lithophagaet d'autres au Pholas, Clavagella, Saxicava, Petricola, et Barnea.Certaines especes de Pholas et de Barnea sont rélativementsouvent rencontrees non seulement dans le Miocène moyen(etage Tortonien), mais aussi dans le Miocène supérieur(étage Sarmatien). En génèral ces espèces se rencontrent surun substrat calcaire. Å la fin du Miocène les espècesde lamellibranches fossiles lithophages disparaissent du basinde la Mer Noire, a cause que celui-ci est devenu un basin d'eaudouce. Mais, dans le temps actuel trois espèces de lamellibrancheslithophages vivent aussi dans la Mer Noire, venues dans le Quaternairede la Mer Mediterranee. C'est-à-dire: Pholas dactylusL., Barnea Candida var. pontica Mil., qui vivent sur un substratformé surtout de marnes argileuses ou de marnes calcaires.Sur un substrat de grès dures calcaire se rencontre presqueexclusivement Petricola lithophaga Retzius, sur la plateformerocheuse du sud de Constantza (Roumanie).     

Galets aménagés en provenance des terrasses supérieures du Rhône au sud de Lyon (Sud-Est de la France)

Between 1990 and 1993, we found 175 pebble-tools and two flake-tools on the western high-terrace south of Lyon (Southeast, France) at two different levels (290 m and 235 m NN). Most of them show the classical spectrum of choppers and chopping-tools, joined by six protobifaces. They all belong to the developed Olduvan (Olduvan II). On the lower terrace, corresponding with its younger age, we met a more progressive pebble-tool culture. Both stocks are secondary sites, brought from the East by the most extreme tongue of the Rhône glacier and, therefore, cannot be dated exactly.     

Presence de pollens d'Hamamelis (Hamamelidaceae,Angiospermae) dans le pliocene du Sud de la France

Pollen-analysis shows the presence of the genus Hamamelis in the pliocene flora of southern France. It contributesto the knowledge of the past distribution of taxa which are now extinct in western Europe.     

Biostratigraphie des Terebratulidae et des Zeilleriidaedu lias et du Dogger de la region toulonnaise (Var,France)

A lot of brachiopods have been sampled in stratigraphically well-defined beds of Liassic and Dogger periods in the region of Toulon (South of France). Now, numerous terebratulid and zeilleriid species are studied (in progress), the main biostratigraphic results of which are developed here in (fig. 1).     

Pollens d'angiospermes modernesdans du Cretace superieur des Charentes (S-W France)

Samples from Upper-Cretaceous outcrops of the classical type area (Charentes, S-W France) have yielded palynofloras.Because of the presence of many pollen types of extant families, problems of contamination are considered. But the main sources which are generally suggested fail to explain yet the total number of palynofloras.     

Decouverte d'un gisement de mammiferes du Miocene moyena Collet-Redon,pres Saint-Cannat (Bouches-du-Rhone,France): Liste faunique,implications stratigraphiques et paleogeographiques

The rich fauna from Collet-Redon (B.d.R.) has yielded together big and small mammals of an astaracian age, which enables us to reconsider the age of the containing geological formation. The little species show some affinities with those of the Swiss and South-German deposits and demonstrate the filter effect of the Rhodanian Miocene sea, which was permitting only the crossing of the big mammals.     

Interets du dosage de l'ensemble des nucleotides adenyliques pour l'estiimation de la biomasse des populations phytoplanctoniques lacustres (Lac Pavin, France)

Three methods for phytoplanktonic standing crop estimationshave been used during ecological successions in a meso-oligotrophiclake (Le Pavin, France). In this study, it appears that cellcounting and pigment concentrations overestimate the biomassof pioneer population, by taking into account a high numberof dead cells. It seems preferable to estimate biomass fromATP concentrations, to measure living phytoplanktonic standingcrop and to calculate activity coefficients. However, continuousrearrangements exist between ATP, ADP and AMP in the pool ofadenine nucleotides. These rearrangements, which are revealedby energy charge variations, indicate changes in intracellularATP concentrations. Consequently it is desirable to integrateenergy charge variations in standing crop estimates from ATPconcentrations.     

Première datation du Turolien à la base de la formationde Guadix (secteur d'alba,Almeria, Espagne)

In the North of Abla (Almeria), SE of the Guadixbasin some bones of Hipparion gromovae granatenseAguirre have been found this has allowed us to date, for the first time, the bottom of the Formation of Guadix as upper Turolian.     

Equus mosbachensis tautavelensis nov. subsp.,un nouvel Equidae (Mammalia,Perissodactyla) du gisement pleistocene moyen ante-rissien de la Caune de l'Arago (Tautavel,Pyrenees Orientales,France)

The horse discovered in the upper sediments from the middle pleistocene site of La Caune de l'Arago, attributedin 1968 to Equus caballus mosbachensis, constitutes a particular sub-species: Equus mosbachensis tautavelensis nov. subsp.     

Description de Artareites landii nov. (Ammonoidea) du Barrémien supérieur de Majastre (Sud-Est de la France) et discussion sur les Helicancylidae Hyatt, 1894

In the Majastre area (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, South-Eastern France), the hemipelagic domain of the Lower Cretaceous is exposed to the favour of the “Décrochement du Poil”. This palaeogeographical and paleotectonic position allowed the harvest of a diversified ammonite-fauna in the level with “small Barremites”. It is precisely dated here for the first time, and takes place between the base of the Barremense subzone and the base the Breistrofferi biohorizon of the Vandenheckei biozone (base of the Upper Barremian). Within this fauna, Artareites landii nov. sp. is considered here as a possible descendant of the genus Dissimilites Sarkar due to its characteristics and stratigraphic position. The genus Artareites nov. gen. is certainly an important milestone of the Helicancylidae towards the Toxoceratoides genus morphology. In this case, in agreement with the morphological, ontogenical, stratigraphical and paleobiogeographical parameters, some North American species could be considered as potential intermediate. Due to their characteristics and their joint origin, genus of small size included in the Helicancylidae represent a coherent set with the rank of a family, and is independent of the Ancyloceratidae. Its content is revised and limited to the genus phyletically associated around the main axis of Acrioceras-Dissimilites-Artareites nov. gen. and Toxoceratoides-Helicancylus, whose elements are connected by a number of forms. In this case, Monodites nov. gen. is created for the Hauterivian and Lower Barremian very specific forms Monodites crevolai (Vermeulen et al.) and Monodites trumpyi (Kakabadze et Thieuloy) which does not seem to be integrated in the taxa already recognized in the literature. The family Monoditidae nov. fam. is proposed to mark this uniqueness.     

Une faune de petits mammiferes d'age turolien moyen(Miocene superieur) a Cucuron (Vaucluse); donnees nouvelles sur le genre Stephanomys (Rodentia) et consequences stratigraphiques

A small mammal fauna, including rodents and a new species of Murid, Stephanomys stadii n. sp., has been found in a continental formation underlying the deposits with the famous big mammal fauna of Mont Luberon. This fauna of small mammals is a little younger than the fauna of Los Mansuetos (Spain), so, the Pikermian fauna of Mont Luberon, which is said to be of the same age as the fauna of Pikermi is younger than the fauna of big and small mammals of Los Mansuetos.     

Sur la presence de vegetaux a structure conservee du Viseen dans le poudingue mosaique du Stephanien du bassin de Saint-Etienne (France)

Upper Visean plant-bearing cherts have been discovered in association with others yielding a Stephanian A flora, in conglomerates (poudingue mosaïque) from the base of the Stephanian B at Grand'Croix. It confirms the distant source, from the Roanne region, of the Dinantian elements during the initial basin sedimentation and constitutes an excellent example of complex reworking of fossil plant material.     

Analyse de la structure fine des chromosomes du Gorille (Gorilla gorilla)

Summary Prometaphasic chromosomes of Gorilla, Homo and Pan are compared, using R, Q, T and H-bands techniques in complement of a previous work (Lejeune et al., 1973). Various mechanisms of chromosomal rearrangements are demonstrated with particular reference to heterochromatic segments. Some phylogenic conclusions are proposed.

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Zusammenfassung Prometaphase-Chromosomen von Gorilla, Mensch und Schimpanse werden mit hilfe der R-, Q-, T- und H-Bandentechnik verglichen; frühere Arbeiten (Lejeune et al., 1973) werden dadurch ergänzt. Verschiedene Mechanismen von Chromosomen-Rearrangements werden dargestellt; dabei finden die Heterochromatin-Segmente besondere Beachtung. Einige phylogenetische Folgerungen werden gezogen.

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Travail de l'E.R.A. n^o 47 du C.N.R.S.     

Les Colubridae (Reptilia,Serpentes) du Neogene francais. Le probleme des especes du Miocene de Sansan (Gers)

Thus far, four colubrid snakes from the French Neogene have been named. Three of them, that come from the Miocene of Sansan (Gers), are revised. Scaptophis miocenicus is probably not a miocene fossil, it is considered a nomen dibium. The species sansaniensis LARTET is referred to the genus Natrix and the species pouchetii DE ROCHEBRUNE is transfered to Coluber.