Arranged in strings, the plastic clay deposits from Andenne are fillings of cryptokarsts of white and colored clays associated with three layers of Dinantian Frasnian limestone oriented EW. Sands, brown coal and Tertiary (Neogene) clays have accumulated according to thekarstic dissolution forming a pocket of up to 100m deep. The sulphuric acid stemming from the oxidation of sulphides of brown coals is the main responsible for the formation of kaolinitic clays at the expense of clay minerals and the feldspathic sands. The circulation of water induced the leaching of the iron and their accumulation in certain horizons. White clays rich in alumina and of low iron and alkali content were the most looked for their refractory properties. Exploitedat first on surface then in subterranean galleries, the extraction reached its maximal development around the 19 and 20th centuries to stop definitively in 1970. The clay and the white sand were used in the industries of fire: glassware, crystal, metallurgy... and fed the pottery, brick, tile, earthenware factory, porcelain factories, pipe factory and the industrial refractories. The white clay first and then the final products have been exported since the Middle Ages in Holland, Germany and France, contributing to the international reputation of the clays from Andenne. Depressions generated by the subsidence as a consequence of the underground extractions form a string of pools and ponds, sources of biodiversity. Finally, the Ceramics Museum preserves the traces of this remarkable geological, mining, industrial and artistic with its outstanding collections of pottery, porcelain and pipes. Living museum holder of memory, it provides educational and cultural functions from its exhibitions.
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The Ypresian Cambay Formation at Vastan Mine in Gujarat, western India, has yielded a rich herpetological fauna including snakes, lizards and amphibians, but strangely, lizards are only represented by Acrodonta. Here we describe the acrodontan assemblage based on numerous, diverse and well-preserved dentaries, premaxillae, and maxillae. Among the five taxa described one new genus and species characterised by a short splenial represents the youngest occurrence of the extinct family Priscagamidae. The other four taxa belong to the extant family Agamidae. Two of them previously known, Vastanagama susanae and Tinosaurus indicus, are here revised. The two other taxa are new. The first one, Suratagama neeraae gen. and sp. nov., is characterised by the presence of six small pleurodont teeth with a nearly cylindrical shaft and an obtusely pointed apex. The second one, Indiagama gujarata gen. and sp. nov., has rectangular teeth in lateral view, unicuspid crowns forming a nearly horizontal cutting edge, and wear facets on both the lingual and labial sides of the dentary. Our results confirm that Acrodonta is the only lizard group present in Vastan, whereas many other groups are already present from the beginning of the Early Eocene on the other continents. The diversity of the agamids in Vastan and the absence of non-acrodontan lizard in India tentatively support the Out-of-India hypothesis for agamids.
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