Saniwa is an extinct genus of varanid squamate from the Eocene of North America and Europe. Up to now, only one poorly known species, Saniwa orsmaelensis Dollo, 1923, has been reported from Europe. Diagnostic material was limited to vertebrae with only preliminary description and no figure provided, except of one dorsal vertebra that was designated as the lectotype. New specimens from the earliest Eocene of Dormaal, Belgium and Le Quesnoy, France, including recently recovered skull ma-terial, are described and illustrated here. These fossils representing the oldest varanid squamate allow further comparisons with the type species, Saniwa ensidens Leidy, 1870, from the early and middle Eocene of North America and to propose a new diagnosis for S. orsmaelensis. Its arrival in Europe is probably linked to rapid environmental changes around the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). The occurrence of S. orsmaelensis is restricted to the early Eocene of northwest Europe and paleogeographic considerations regarding the distribution of the genus Saniwa Leidy, 1870 suggest an Asian origin, but an African origin cannot be completely excluded.
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French Lower Devonian floras are rare, especially compared to certain other Western European countries. In this study, we reassess an assemblage collected in the 1930s in the Rebreuve quarry (Pas-de-Calais, northern France). We describe new features in several taxa and update taxonomic names from original descriptions. For instance, re-examination of vegetative remains previously described as Psilophyton princeps, led to the discovery of fertile structures allowing us to refer these specimens to Sawdonia. In total, this flora consists of 10 taxa, including up to four different Psilophyton species, such as P. parvulum. Other taxa include Danziella artesiana, Drepanophycus cf. spinaeformis, Sporogonites exuberans and some speci-mens of Taeniocrada and Sciadophyton, revealing a diverse Lower Devonian plant assemblage. The Rebreuve assemblage represents a typical Emsian flora from Laurussia and bears striking resemblance with coeval Belgian assemblages. Previous palynological investigations, in addi-tion to the similarities with well-dated Belgian floras, suggest an early Emsian age for this assemblage. The paleogeographical implications of findings are discussed.
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