Marcellin Boule et les types du Prodrome d'Alcide d'Orbigny

During its thirty first years, from 1906 to 1937, the Annales de Paléontologie included, at the instigation of Marcellin Boule, many articles apparently anonymous, devolved to the d'Orbigny's types of the Prodrome. In these articles, not easy to cite because the most part not signed and for some even not titled, are rediscribed and illustrated the species established by d'Orbigny in 1850 and 1852 in his Prodrome de Paléontologie stratigraphique universelle, but then briefly characterized and not figured. It is in fact a collective work, widely remained unfinished but which however totalizes 510 text pages and 139 photographic plates, in the course of which the authors, Armand Thévenin, Ferdinand Canu and Jean Cottreau, redefined more than one thousand species (molluscs, brachiopods, echinoderms, bryozoans, madreporaria and porifers) disposed from the Lower Silurian to the Neocomian, according to the stratigraphic levels then established by d'Orbigny. This redefinition of the d'Orbigny's types of the Prodrome makes up a comprehensive work, the interest of which being possibly evaluated by the numerous quotations referring to it in the former and also recent publications on invertebrate paleontology, this in spite of the questionable choice of some of the type specimens then proposed.     

Nouvelles données paléontologiques sur le genre Dissimilites Sarkar, 1954

A nearly complete specimen of a heteromorphic ammonite belonging to the genus Dissimilites Sarkar, 1954 (Ammonoidea, Ancyloceratina) has been collected in the Lower Barremian from south-east France. It is the first time that a such sample has been collected since the discovery by d'Orbigny in 1842 of the first specimens belonging of this taxon. Hypothetic until today, the existence of a spire in the first development of the shell is confirmed and a new diagnosis of the genus is given. Finally, the specific content of the genus is briefly analyzed as also its stratigraphical occurrence.     

Anglesites gen. nov. (Ammonoidea, Ancyloceratina), un nouveau genre d’ammonites hétéromorphes du Barrémien supérieur du Sud-Est de la France

The revision of the Crioceras puzosianum d’Orbigny, 1842 made during the revision of the Paléontologie Française of d’Orbigny, shows that this taxon belongs to a new genus: Anglesites gen. nov. This new genus, from upper Barremian age, is monospecific for the moment and is homeomorphic to the Leptoceratoides from the Lower Barremian. It is temporarily included in the subfamily of the Leptoceratoidinae. A neotype for the “Crioceras” puzosianum d’Orbigny, 1842 is herein designated.     

Nouvelles données sur le genre Imerites Rouchadzé, 1933 (Ammonitida,Ancyloceratina) ; réponses et précisions apportées au travail de Bert,Delanoy et Canut, 2009

This work is mainly an answer to the work of Bert, Delanoy and Canut, on the genus Imerites Rouchadzé, and we add also some points to the knowledge of this genus. An answer is given for the implication of one of the authors (J.V.) of this present work, about the origin of the genus Imerites Rouchadzé, and some significant bibliographic references, not named in the 2009 work, are specified and placed in their context. The characteristics of the ornamental stage “Pseudoshasticrioceras” mainly defined by an oval and compressed section of the whorls and by regular ventrolateral clavi, well marked, which frame the venter in a typical way (Bert et al., p. 181), don’t allow to affirm the presence of this stage during the ontogeny of all species of the genus Imerites Rouchadzé, contrary to what Bert, Delanoy and Canut (p. 30, 31) wrote. The type-species of the genus Imerites Rouchadzé is made clear by the application of the rules of the I.C.Z.N. code. The article 23, with the paragraph 23.1 of the I.C.Z.N. code, imply the senior synonymy of Imerites cristatus (Orbigny) on Imerites giraudi (Kilian), even if the Kilian's species is still the type species of the genus Imerites Rouchadzé. The taxinomical validity of the species Imerites cristatus (Orbigny) is confirmed. Its morphological variability is clarified by the distinction of four referential morphotypes, Cristatus, Giraudi, Favrei and Raricostatum. Consequently, the assumption of a shape-dimensional dimorphism into the populations of the genus Imerites Rouchadzé is rejected, awaiting irrefutable proof. A new species, Imerites stephaniae sp. nov., is described. It was collected in the Gerhardtia sartousiana Zone, in the uppermost part of the Gerhardtia provincialis Subzone, and it is a probable ancestor of the cogeneric species of the Imerites giraudi Zone.     

Révision de Cibaster bourgeoisanus (d'Orbigny, 1853) et de la position du genre Cibaster Pomel, 1883 au sein des Holasteroida

The genus Cibaster Pomel, 1883, with its type species Cibaster bourgeoisanus (d'Orbigny, 1853), has poorly diagnostic characters. So, authors comprise this genus as Cardiaster Forbes, 1850, or as Offaster Desor, 1858. The study of numerous specimens of Cibaster bourgeoisanus, from the Coniacian of the “Craie de Villedieu” in the stratotypical region, demonstrates that this species is paedomorphic compared to Cardiaster, with juvenile pore-pairs and a shallow frontal groove. The plastron structure is derived from the pattern found in Pseudholaster Pomel, 1883. A close relationship between Pseudholaster and Cibaster is probable, with Protocardiaster Smith and Wright, 2003 as intermediate. Cibaster is clearly distinct from Offaster, because this last genus have a meridosternal plastron.     

Claviradulomyces, a new genus of Odontotremataceae from West African rainforest

A new genus, Claviradulomyces, morphologically typical of Odontotremataceae, is proposed to accommodate the new species Claviradulomyces dabeicola. The genus is characterised by its ornamented periphysoids, and long-cylindric, sigmoid, acuminate ascospores. Genetically, C. dabeicola falls within the Ostropales, but the Odontotremataceae have been very poorly sampled genetically and their phylogenetic relationship within the order is unclear. C. dabeicola has been collected consistently and exclusively on the rainforest tree Erythroxylum mannii in the Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, where it is associated with bark abnormalities on branches and stems of living trees.     

Les Bryozoaires de la formation d'âge paléocène (Danien probable)du Mont Aimé (Marne,Bassin parisien)

The Mont Aimé Formation, of doubtful age, likely paleocene and probably danian, yielded an association of 7 bryozoan species. Two of them are new: Plagioecia bibensis and Beisselina bigeyae. The stratigraphic conclusions are reduced because the other occuring species, among which are of great importance Planicellaria sp. aff. oculata d'Orbigny and Nellia sp. aff. stricta Labracherie, are probably new. The Bryozoans, which lived in an environment with strong terrigenous discharges, resisted to the mud invasion by means of the high number of their avicularia or respectively of the flexibility of their jointed zoaria or of their substratum.     

Revised classification and phylogeny of an Afrotropical species group based on molecular and morphological data,with the description of a new genus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Onthophagini)

The worldwide distributed Onthophagus genus comprises at present more than 2000 species, that often show a complicated and uncertain systematic history. In particular, the many Afrotropical species included in this genus have never been entirely reviewed after the division into 32 species groups proposed by d’Orbigny in 1913, although subsequent researches focusing on some of these species suggested that Onthophagus constituted a nonmonophyletic taxon. In order to highlight their phylogenetic relationships, the various Afrotropical species groups of d’Orbigny must thus be examined, and it would be advisable to study them separately to avoid misunderstanding. In this framework, the taxonomic position of the three species currently included in the 21st d’Orbigny group was examined. Both morphological and biomolecular analyses contributed in confirming that these species (i.e., Onthophagus caffrarius d’Orbigny, 1902; Onthophagus quadraticeps Harold, 1867; and Onthophagus signatus Fåhraeus, 1857) constituted a well-defined monophyletic group that cannot be maintained within the genus Onthophagus. Therefore, the Kurtops gen.n. is here described to accommodate these Afrotropical species, that are nevertheless always included within the Onthophagini tribe. On the basis of the phylogenetic relationships here elucidated, it was also emphasized that the new genus is strictly related to Digitonthophagus and Phalops; thus, it was proposed to include the three genera into a single clade of suprageneric rank naming it as Phalops complex.     

Révision des rudistes crétacés (Bivalvia) de la Paléontologiefrançaise d’Alcide d’Orbigny

In the volume IV of the “Paléontologiefrançaise”, A. d’Orbigny deals in particular with Cretaceous rudists. Numerous type specimens of Hippuritidae, Caprinidae, Radiolitidae, Caprotinidae, Requieniidae belonging to his collection and deposited in the Muséumnationald’histoirenaturelle, Paris. Among the 78 species that he has studied, A. d’Orbigny introduced 41 as new ones. This review presents a picture of all types with a comment on the original definition, and set the statute, and the precise stratigraphical level of illustrated forms. The present work gives rise to the designation of 40 lectotypes, two syntypes and three neotypes.     

Phylogenetic relationships and taxonomy of Altiplano populations of Biomphalaria (Gastropoda: Planorbidae): inference from a multilocus approach

Isolated closed basins provide a natural laboratory to study the differentiation among wild populations. Here we examined the phylogenetic relationships of the Southern Altiplano populations of Biomphalaria, a genus with medical importance, using nuclear (ITS1, ITS2) and mitochondrial (16S) ribosomal gene markers and a species of Helisoma as outgroup. Phylogenetic trees based on separate and combined analyses show that these populations form a particular lineage within Biomphalaria along with Biomphalaria peregrina (d'Orbigny, 1835) and Biomphalaria oligoza Paraense, 1974. The origin of this clade was estimated to have occurred in the middle Pleistocene. Molecular analyses showed that the nominal species Biomphalaria crequii ( Courty, 1907 ) from the Salar de Ascotán and Biomphalaria costata (Biese, 1951) from the Salar de Carcote, previously synonymized with Biomphalaria andecola (d'Orbigny, 1835) and B. peregrina, respectively, are distinct taxa. Molecular data did not resolve the relationship of Biomphalaria aymara Valdovinos & Stuardo, 1991 from the Isluga swamps to other Biomphalaria species, but confirm that the populations from the Lauca and Huasco basins may represent a distinct undescribed species of Biomphalaria from the Southern Altiplano. Snails examined for trematodes were found to be positive in some Altiplano localities. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 165 , 795–808.     

Some New Species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Crassatella</Emphasis> (Bivalvia) from the Upper Eocene of Ukraine

Three new bivalve species of Crassatella (C. necopina sp. nov., C. personata sp. nov., C. singulata sp. nov.) from detrital sand of the Rybal’sky quarry of Dnepropetrovsk are described. Based on the study of additional material, the subspecies C. (C.) parisiensis Orbigny duplex Berezovsky, 2004 is ranked species (Upper Eocene; Ukraine Dnepropetrovsk, Rybal’sky quarry, Mandrikovka Beds).     

Fimbria lohani (Mollusca : Bivalvia) nomen novum pro Fimbria subpectunculus (d’Orbigny, 1850) du Lutétien (Éocène moyen) du bassin de Paris,nom préoccupé

Fimbria lohani (Mollusca: Bivalvia) nom. nov. pro Fimbria subpectunculus (d’ Orbigny, 1850) from the Lutetian (Middle Eocene) of Paris basin, name preoccupied. The names Fimbria magna ( Anton, 1838) and Fimbria subpectunculus (d’ Orbigny, 1850) are nomenclaturally invalid to designate the species from the Lutetian (Middle Eocene) of the Paris Basin. Fimbria lohani nom. nov. is proposed here as a replacement to correct the homonymy Corbis subpectunculus d’ Orbigny, 1850 non d’ Archiac, 1850.     

Contribution à la connaissance des bivalves du Turonien d’Owendo dans le bassin côtier nord gabonais

The study of bivalves collected from Turonian deposits of Owendo region, within Gabonese coastal north basin, allows to identify 9 species belonging to 9 genera: Aphrodina dutrugei (Coquand 1862), Brachidontes eoexustus Klein and Ferreira 1979, Crassatella cf. pyrenaica d’Orbigny 1843, Entolium exilis (Reuss, 1854), Exogyra sp., Lopha sp., Mytilus cf. lineatus d’Orbigny 1844, Pholadomya adversa Riedel 1932 and Rastellum sp. Excepted A. dutrugei and P. adversa, which are known in Turonian localities of Gabon, other species are found here for the first time in Gabonese coastal basin. This is the same for genera named Brachidontes Swainson 1840, Entolium Meek, 1865 and Mytilus Linnée 1758. In Gabonese coastal basin, the stratigraphic and geographic ranges of the Crassatella genus are extended in Turonian and Owendo region respectively. The bivalve assemblage is dominated by specimens of Aphrodina genus. The bivalve specific diversity of Owendo region increase from 3 to 12 species.     

Ichnologic Note A New Ichnospecies of Cardioichnus from the Cretaceous (Albian) of New Mexico

A new ichnospecies of Cardioichnus, Cardioichnus biloba isp. nov., is described and documented from shallow marine strata of Cretaceous (Late Albian) age in southern New Mexico, USA. It is a heart-shaped resting trace which, unlike all other ichnospecies of Cardioichnus, is epichnial and increases in width to a bilobate trace, often with a raised anterior terminus. Only the posterior end of this trace is associated with Bichordites burrows, and the anterior end is bilobate and undisturbed. This represents a resting position which differs from other known species of this cubichnium, which are hypichnial and subquadrate in symmetry. The tracemaker is a spatangoid echinoid, most likely Heteraster d'Orbigny, 1853.     

A review of the buprestid genus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cochinchinula</Emphasis> Volk. With description of new taxa from Thailand,and notes on the composition and classification of the tribe Acmaeoderini (Coleoptera,Buprestidae, Polycestinae)

A review of the Oriental genus Cochinchinula Volk. (Coleoptera, Buprestidae, Polycestinae, Acmaeoderini) comprising three species is presented. The new species C. thailandica and C. bilyi spp. n. and the new genus Thaichinula gen. n. (type species T. ohmomoi sp. n.) from Thailand are described. A key to species of the genera Cochinchinula and Thaichinula is provided. The Nearctic genus Paracmaeoderoides Bellamy and Westcott is transferred from the subtribe Nothomorphina to the subtribe Acmaeoderoidina, and the South African genus Richtersveldia Bellamy is transferred from the subtribe Nothomorphina of Acmaeoderini to the tribe Ptosimini. The generic status is restored for another South African genus, Brachmaeodera Volkovitsh and Bellamy. The main evolutionary trends are discussed, and the taxonomic composition and classification of the tribe Acmaeoderini are clarified.     

Une nouvelle espèce de Podocnemis (Pleurodira, Podocnemididae) provenant du Néogène de la formation Solimões, Acre, Brésil

A Neogene turtle from Brasil is described. It represents the first find of a new species close to the extant Podocnemis sextuberculata. Both species constitute a new clade in the genus. The synapomorphies they share and the differences between them are given. P. negrii nov. sp. is the second fossil species of the genus, after P. bassleri from the Neogene of Peru, which constitutes another clade with the extant P. expansa. The relationships between these two clades and the other species of the genus are not determinate.     

The heteromorph ammonite genus Ancyloceras (Ancyloceratidae) in the Paris Basin (lower Aptian,Lower Cretaceous,NE France)

In the present work, we examine a sample of 54 specimens of the heteromorph ammonite genus Ancyloceras d’Orbigny, 1842 from the Argiles à Plicatules Formation (lower Aptian, Lower Cretaceous) of the eastern Paris Basin (NE France). The results are as follows: (1) the sample is regarded as monospecific and assigned to the well-named species Ancyloceras varians d’Orbigny, 1842; (2) its variability is continuous and concerns as well as adult size, coiling and shell ornamentation. Adult size varies by a factor of two from one individual to another. The angle between the proversum and the retroversum is variable. The ornamentation on the spiral and the proversum varies between robust morphotype with trituberculate strong ribs separated by few smooth intercalaries ribs and slender morphotype with feebly tuberculate ribs. There are no arguments in favor of sexual dimorphism in Ancyloceras varians.