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Inproceedings Reference New earliest Eocene mammal fauna from Clairoix, France: first definitive Dormaal (reference level MP7) equivalent outside of Belgium
The rich earliest Eocene mammal assemblage of Dormaal in northeast Belgium has yielded most of the earliest modern mammals of Europe and is the the reference-level for MP7 in the Mammalian Biochronological Scale of the European Paleogene. Despite the fact that several other localities in Europe, such as Silveirinha in Portugal, Le Quesnoy, Pourcy, Sotteville-sur-Mer, Rians, Palette, and Fordones in France, and the Suffolk Pebble Beds in England, contain faunas that have been correlated to Dormaal, none of them preserve the same fauna as Dormaal with the exception of Erquelinnes in southwest Belgium. Here we describe the new vertebrate site of Clairoix, located only 13 km from Le Quesnoy in the Paris Basin, France, but 225 km southwest of Dormaal. About 150 kilograms of sandy matrix has produced a collection of about 400 vertebrate specimens including 118 isolated mammal teeth. The fauna is composed of the following typical MP7 species: the herpetotheriid marsupial Peratherium constans, the amphilemurid erinaceomorph Macrocranion vandebroeki, the hyaenodonts Arfia gingerichi and Prototomus minimus, the carnivoraforms Dormaalocyon latouri and Gracilocyon solei, and the omomyid primate Teilhardina belgica. Besides these index taxa, the arctocyonid Landenodon woutersi, the louisinid “condylarths” Paschatherium dolloi and Paschatherium yvetteae, a perissodactyl, and several rodents also are present at Clairoix. As in Dormaal, the relative abundance analysis of the species from Clairoix indicates that P. dolloi and P. yvetteae are the most abundant species, followed by M. vandebroeki and T. belgica, respectively. In term of number of specimens, Paschatherium represents more than 50% of the fauna, which corresponds to the acme of Paschatherium defined across the Paleocene–Eocene boundary in continental Europe. The composition and relative abundance of the mammal fauna of Clairoix are very similar to those of Dormaal and Erquelinnes and suggest a similar or very close age. The results of this work also suggest that the mammal assemblage of these three localities does not only correspond to a different paleoenvironment than that of other MP7 correlated faunas but also to an older age closer to the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. Fish, frog, lizard, crocodilomorph, and snake remains were also collected and support a fluvial paleoenvironment at Clairoix. Grant Information This research was supported by the BRGM ‘Régolithe’ Scientific Program and the Belgian Science Policy Office (project BR/121/A3/PalEurAfrica).
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Inproceedings Reference New Early Eocene mammal assemblage from Tadkeshwar Lignite Mine, Western India
The Ypresian Cambay Formation at Vastan and Mangrol mines in Gujarat, western India, has yielded a rich vertebrate fauna with a large proportion of small to middle-sized mammal taxa of European affinities. Here we report a new, approximately contemporary mammal assemblage from the nearby mine of Tadkeshwar. Two fossil layers have been discovered. The older one is a grey clayey sand situated a few meters above the lower major lignite seam and represents a fluvial deposit. The younger layer is a lenticular dark clayey silt, lignitic and rich in organic remains situated just below the upper major lignite seam. This younger layer is sedimentologically similar to the famous fossiliferous lenses known from Vastan. These two fossil layers have yielded a mammal fauna similar to that of Vastan with the co-occurrence of the perissodactyl-like cambaytheriid Cambaytherium thewissi, the adapoid primates Marcgodinotius indicus and Asiadapis cambayensis, and the hyaenodontid Indohyaenodon raoi. The presence of these species in both mines and at different levels suggests that the deposits between the two major lignite seams represent a single mammal age. Apart from the aforementioned classic species there are at least two new species. A new smaller but abundant cambaytheriid is represented by upper and lower jaws, many isolated teeth and postcranial bones. A new esthonychid tillodont is described based on a dentary with m3, an isolated m2, two upper molars and two lower incisors. This new fauna from Tadkeshwar also contains the first large early Eocene vertebrates from India including an unidentified perissodactyl-like ungulate, a mesosuchian dyrosaurid-like crocodiliform and a giant madtsoiid snake. This latter group is particularly diversified in Tadkeshwar. Among the Tadkeshwar vertebrates, several taxa are of Gondwanan affinities attesting that the early Eocene was a crucial period in India during which Laurasian taxa of European affinities coexisted with relict taxa from Gondwana before the India-Asia collision. Grant Information Fieldwork and research supported by National Geographic Society, Leakey Foundation, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Belgian Science Policy Office.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inbook Reference New excavations in the Mesvin terrace (Belgium): implications for the appearance of Middle Palaeolithic
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inproceedings Reference New facts on the history of the first Asian dinosaurs.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inproceedings Reference New finds of goniatite anaptychi from the Frasnian (Upper Devonian) of Belgium.
Poster
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inproceedings Reference New fossils at the "Troisième caverne" of Goyet (Belgium) and the mortuary practices of Late Neandertals
Neandertal discoveries in Belgium have played an important role in the history of European paleoanthropology. Late Neandertal fossils within the collections of the "Troisième caverne" of Goyet (Gesves, Belgium) have recently been identified by our multidisciplinary team. These fossils provide an opportunity to assess the variability of Late Neandertal mortuary practices. The "Troisième caverne" of Goyet, excavated at the end of the 19th and early 20th century, yielded a rich archeological sequence ranging from the Middle and Upper Paleolithic to historical times. In 2008 we began documenting the Paleolithic occupations of the "Troisième caverne" by reassessing the collections from the site, which heretofore had only een partially studied. The updated inventory of human remains was accomplished by conducting a detailed sorting of the paleontological collections in order to identify human remains that may have been overlooked thus far. As a result, the collections from the "Troisième caverne" now include nearly 200 human bones/bone fragments and isolated teeth that correspond to various materials from different periods. The morphometric study of the human specimens from Goyet, completed by direct radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analysis, reveals that they represent two main samples: a large and fragmentary series of Late Neandertal remains (Rougier et al. 2012) and a set of modern human specimens from the Upper Paleolithic (Rougier et al. 2013). The Neandertal remains include elements from the cranial and infra-cranial skeleton which represent at least 3 different individuals. The Neandertal specimens of Goyet also present numerous anthropogenic traces that are similar to those found on the fauna remains from the site. We have interpreted them as evidence of cannibalism and will discuss our observations in terms of mortuary behavior variability among Late Neandertals.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Inproceedings Reference New fossils of paroxyclaenids (Placentalia, Mammalia) from the early Eocene of France shed light on the origin and evolution of these endemic European mammals
Paroxyclaenidae is an enigmatic archaic group of middle size placental mammals. They are known only from Europe, and are recorded from the early Eocene (Ypresian) to the middle Eocene (Bartonian). Paroxyclaenids are divided into two distinct subfamilies: Paroxyclaeninae and Merialinae. They have been variously placed by different authors in Carnivora, Creodonta, ‘Condylarthra’, and Insectivora, but are considered since 1970’s as members of Pantolesta. The dentition of paroxyclaenids is complete (4 premolars, 3 molars); it is highly specialized, with relatively enlarged posterior premolars, spaced out cheek teeth, but primitive, for instance, in the absence of hypocone on upper molars. The molars decrease in size from M1/m1 to M3/m3; the M3 and m3 are sometimes well reduced. A particularity of the dentition of some paroxyclaenids is the tendency to enlargement and molarisation of the third and fourth upper and lower premolars, generally exceeding the succeeding molars in size. We recently studied unpublished fossils from the first half of the Ypresian: these fossils originate from the French localities of Le Lien (Hérault), Pourcy, Mutigny, Avenay (Marne), and Condé-en-Brie (Aisne). They allow to describe new specimens of Merialus martinae (the oldest paroxyclaenid) and three new species – the oldest paroxyclaenine and two merialines. Their study is the opportunity to review the evolution of this family – the last extensive and comprehensive review of the paroxyclaenids has been published in 1988. The two paroxyclaenid subfamilies – Paroxyclaeninae and Merialinae – are rarely recorded together: this case only occurs in the Paris Basin during the early Eocene (Mutigny, Avenay, Condé-en-Brie). Half of the merialines are present in the Southern European Province, while the paroxyclaenines are only recorded in Northern European Province. The two subfamilies reach their maximum size (+/- 3-4 kg) (e.g., Spaniella, Kopidodon) around the early/middle Eocene boundary (47.8 Myr). However, some smaller paroxyclaenids (body mass around 1 kg) have co-existed together with the larger ones. The small middle Eocene paroxyclaenids, which are as small as the taxa found in the early Eocene, have been the last representatives of the group (Bartonian). The maximum of diversity of the Paroxyclaenids occurred during the Lutetian (middle Eocene). Finally, because the new fossils provide information on the morphology of the earliest paroxyclaenids, their study is the opportunity to question the origin of this group and its relationships among Placentalia. Grant Information: This abstract is a contribution to the project BR/121/A3/PALEURAFRICA funded by the Belgian Science Policy Office.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Inproceedings Reference New Geological Evidence of Past Earthquakes and Tsunami Along the Nankai Trough, Japan.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Conference Reference New Geological Evidence of Past Earthquakes and Tsunami Along the Nankai Trough, Japan
The east coast of Japan is prone to tsunamigenic megathrust earthquakes, as tragically demonstrated in 2011 by the Tōhoku earthquake (Mw 9.0) and tsunami. The Nankai Trough subduction zone, to the southwest of the area affected by the Tōhoku disaster and facing the densely populated and heavily industrialized southern coastline of central and west Japan, is expected to generate another megathrust earthquake and tsunami in the near future. This subduction zone is, however, segmented and appears to be characterized by a variable rupture mode, involving single- as well as multi-segment ruptures, which has immediate implications for their tsunamigenic potential, and also renders the collection of sufficiently long time records of past earthquakes and tsunami in this region fundamental for an adequate hazard and risk assessment. Over the past three decades, Japanese researchers have acquired a large amount of geological evidence of past earthquakes and tsunami, in many cases extending back in time for several thousands of years. This evidence includes uplifted marine terraces, turbidites, liquefaction features, subsided marshes and tsunami deposits in coastal lakes and lowlands. Despite these efforts, current understanding of the behaviour of the subduction zone still remains limited, due to site-specific evidence creation and preservation thresholds and issues over alternative hypotheses for proposed palaeoseismic evidence and insufficiently precise chronological control. Within the QuakeRecNankai project we are generating a long and coherent time series of megathrust earthquake and tsunami recurrences along the Nankai Trough subduction zone by integrating all existing evidence with new geological records of paleo-tsunami in the Lake Hamana region and of paleo-earthquakes from selected lakes in the Mount Fuji area. We combine extensive fieldwork in coastal plain areas and lakes, with advanced sedimentological and geochemical analyses and innovative dating techniques.
Located in Library / No RBINS Staff publications
Article Reference New insight of the Early Cretaceous Pinaceae diversity from Belgium.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021