Middle Jurassic tracks of sauropod dinosaurs in a deep karst cave in France.

14 pages; International audience; Although the deep galleries of natural underground cavities are difficult to access and are sometimes dangerous, they have the potential to preserve trace fossils. Here, we report on the first occurrence of sauropod dinosaur tracks inside a karstic cave. Three trackways are preserved on the roof of the Castelbouc cave 500 m under the surface of the Causse Méjean plateau, southern France. The tracks are Bathonian in age (ca. 168–166 Ma), a crucial but still poorly known time interval in sauropod evolution. The three trackways yield sauropod tracks that are up to 1.25 m long and are therefore amongst the largest known dinosaur footprints worldwide. The trackm…

Étude des traces de pas de vertébrés du Permien et du Trias d'Ardèche. Enjeux et perspectives.

Le département de l'Ardèche estremarquable car il offre un accès privilégié auxroches sédimentaires permiennes et triasiques danslesquelles abondent les traces de vertébrés fossiles.Une vingtaine de localités et plus de 1500empreintes de pas ont déjà été recensées le longd'une succession sédimentaire affleurant entrePrivas et Les Vans. Ce patrimoine ichnologique,reconnu internationalement, documente le passagede grands groupes de reptiles en terres ardéchoises,incluant essentiellement des représentants basauxde la lignée des crocodiles (pseudosuchiens) et de lalignée des oiseaux (dinosauriformes et dinosaures),ainsi que quelques membres de la lignée des lézards/serpents (lépidosauromorphes)…

Lowermost Jurassic dinosaur ecosystem from the Bleymard Strait (southern France): sedimentology, mineralogy, palaeobotany and palaeoichnology of the Dolomitic Formation.

AbstractWe report the first Hettangian theropod tracksite (~200 Ma) yielding a rich accumulation of plant remains from the Bleymard Strait (southern France). It constitutes an excellent opportunity to reconstruct lowermost Jurassic ecosystems hosting dinosaurs and which are still poorly documented in this area. Two morphotypes of tridactyl tracks are distinguished. They share similarities with Grallator and Kayentapus. Plant-bearing beds yield abundant leafy axes (Pagiophyllum peregrinum), male cones (Classostrobus sp.), wood (Brachyoxylon sp.) and pollen of conifers (Classopollis classoides). Sedimentological, petrological and mineralogical analyses demonstrated that, in the Dolomitic Form…

Traces de pas de dinosaures du Jurassique moyen : bilan sur deux décennies de découvertes en Lozère.

8 pages; National audience; Depuis 1999, des découvertes fortuites ainsi que des campagnes de prospections menées en Lozère ont livré plusieurs sites à empreintes de pas de dinosaures d’âge jurassique moyen. Le nombre, la diversité et la remarquable préservation de ces traces constituent un patrimoine paléontologique exceptionnel. Les sites principaux sont localisés dans les Gorges du Tarn et de la Jonte. Leur récente étude a révélé (1) que ces empreintes ont été laissées par des dinosaures théropodes et sauropodes (2) que les écosystèmes parcourus par ces dinosaures correspondaient à des milieux tropicaux et littoraux tels que des marais côtiers, de vastes lagunes ou des baies bordées par …

100‐million‐year‐old ant–conifer associates inside French amber: a fortuitous or ecological association?

International audience; Ants exhibit a plethora of ecological interactions with terrestrial plants. These interactions are broadly surveyed in modern ecosystems, but are much more difficult to unveil in the fossil record. Here, we report a unique ant–conifer association preserved in an opaque piece of 100‐million‐year‐old amber from Charentes in Western France, revealed by propagation phase‐contrast X‐ray synchrotron microtomography (PPC‐SRμCT). Most legs of the ant encircle the conifer twig, and the arthropod harbours a hooked position onto the leafy axis. The conifer is assigned to Glenrosa carentonensis Moreau, Néraudeau, Tafforeau and Dépré, whereas the ant is ascribed to Gerontoformica…

Albian flora from Archingeay-Les Nouillers (Charente-Maritime): comparison and synthesis of Cretaceous meso- and macro-remains from the Aquitaine Basin (southwestern France)

International audience; Over recent decades, diverse structures ascribed to angiosperms, bennettitaleans, conifers, cycads, ginkgophytes and pteridosperms have been reported from the Cretaceous deposits of the Aquitaine Basin (southwestern France). However, Albian macrofloras remain uncommon in Aquitania as well as in France. The clay from the Archingeay-Les Nouillers quarries is one of the rare deposits of the Aquitaine Basin to yield Albian plant meso- and macro-remains. Although Albian plant-bearing beds are not accessible any more in these quarries, samples collected from excavations conducted at the end of the XXth century were deposited in the collections of the University of Rennes 1…

Flore turonienne des silex fossilifères de Châtellerault (Ouest de la France)

International audience; Three new localities yielding fossiliferous flints are reported from the Châtellerault area (Vienne, western France). They include one archaeological site (La Grande Vallée) and two zones with alterite deposits (L’Aunas and Les Bariollières). Broken surfaces of flint nodules show co-occurrence of marine invertebrates such as bryozoans, echinoids (Micraster Agassiz, Orthopsis Cotteau), gastropods (Acteonella d’Orbigny), rudists, and sponges. The association of Acteonella, Micraster and Orthopsis confirms the Turonian age (Upper Cretaceous) of the fossil assemblage. The marine invertebrates co-occur with plant macroremains including fragments of conifer leafy axes such…

Trackways of Arthropleura from the Late Pennsylvanian of Graissessac (Hérault, southern France)

International audience; The Late Pennsylvanian deposits of the Graissessac Basin (southern France) are well known for their abundant and diversified plant remains. Here we report on seven trackways of giant millipede-like arthropods recently discovered from two surfaces. These traces are ascribed to Diplichnites cuithensis. The trackways are up to 200 cm long, up to 36 cm wide, straight to curved and consist of two parallel rows of numerous and elongated appendage imprints that are oriented perpendicular to the midline. Although body fossils of giant millipede-like arthropods remain unknown in sediments from this basin, the morphology and size of the trace fossils indicate that the trails w…

New Hettangian tracks from the Causses Basin (Lozère, southern France) complement the poor fossil record of earliest Jurassic crocodylomorphs in Europe

International audience; A new vertebrate ichnological assemblage is described from the Hettangian Dolomitic Formation of the Causses Basin, at Le Serre (Lozère, southern France). We report tracks that complement the poor fossil record of lowermost Jurassic crocodylomorphs in Europe. Tetradactyl pes and pentadactyl manus imprints form a unique trackway. Traces are ascribed to Batrachopus isp. and they represent the third occurrence of this ichnogenus in European Hettangian geological formations. This is the first report of Batrachopus in Hettangian deposits of the Causses Basin. The tracks share some similarities with Batrachopus deweyi previously described from the Sinemurian of the Causses…

Conifers from the Cenomanian amber of Fouras (Charente-Maritime, western France)

Fossil inclusions of arthropods and microorganisms are abundant in the Cretaceous amber from western France, but plant meso- or macroremains are scarce. Preserved remains are mostly tiny, very fragmented, and indeterminable. Only one amber locality in the Charente department has already provided conifer remains. Here, we report the first plant mesoremains ensnared in Cenomanian amber from Fouras – Bois Vert, in the Charente-Maritime department. They consist of three well-preserved leafy axes and one cone of Cheirolepidiacean conifers. Based on the helical arrangement of rhomboidal, longer than wide, and highly adpressed leaves, leafy axes are ascribed to the genus Pagiophyllum. The ovoid co…

Les pistes d’archosauriens : Kayentapus ubacensis nov. isp. (théropodes) et crocodylomorphes du Bathonien des Grands-Causses (France). Conséquences paléo-biologiques, environnementales et géographiques

Resume Deux sites a traces de pas tridactyles II–IV de theropodes et de « probables » sauropodes des Grands Causses, sommairement decrits en 2006, sont ici reetudies. Il s’agit des sites du Capelan (commune de Meyrueis, Lozere) et de la Garene (commune de La Roque-Sainte-Marguerite, Aveyron), tous deux d’âge Bathonien. En 2012, l’un d’entre eux (Le Capelan) a fait l’objet d’une fouille et d’un agrandissement, permettant la decouverte de nombreuses traces. Dans le site du Capelan, 102 epireliefs concaves, compris entre 11 et 36 cm de longueur, appartiennent a, au moins, 21 pistes; la plus longue etant visible sur 37 metres. Dans l’ensemble, ces empreintes sont presque aussi longues que large…

First record of early Aptian Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a from the Paris Basin (France) - Climate signals on a terrigenous shelf

Abstract In 2013, Andra (French National Radioactive Waste Management Agency) drilled boreholes to the south-east of the Paris Basin, to characterise Aptian and Albian clayey formations, including the ‘Argiles a Plicatules’ Formation dated as early Aptian. One of these boreholes intersected this formation with an excellent recovery allowing detailed biostratigraphy (ammonites), sedimentology, clay mineralogy, isotope geochemistry (δ13Corg) and Rock-Eval analyses to be performed. The base of the formation corresponds to transgressive dark-grey silty clays with iron oolites and plant debris indicating a coastal environment evolving up-section to upper offshore environments. Higher in the succ…

Biometric and morphometric approaches on Lower Hettangian dinosaur footprints from the Rodez Strait (Aveyron, France).

9 pages; International audience; Along the southern crystalline border of the Rouergue, the detrital Sandstones-variegated Mudstones Formation and the Dolomitic Formation yields numerous dinosaur footprints from the Earliest Hettangian. Among the 25 sites distributed along the 40 km-long transect between Marcillac-Vallon and Saint-Geniez-d'Olt, two of them, Puech de Castres and Le Bouyssou, have yielded abundant ichnites in various well-defined stratigraphic units. The combined analysis of these footprints with biometric and morphometric methods (Fourier analysis) warrants their identification to Grallator, Eubrontes and Dilophosauripus. The dual methodological approach also reveals two new…

Le site à ambre et plantes du Cénomanien de Neau (Mayenne, France)

International audience; A new Cenomanian amber- and plant-bearing deposit has been discovered at Neau, in the Mayenne department (France). The Cenomanian fossiliferous lignites are located in karst filling in a substratum of Cambrian limestones. The amber corresponds mainly to tiny millimetric grains, devoid of arthropod inclusions, but rich in microorganisms, especially the sheated bacteria Leptotrichites resinatus , and containing pollen grains ( Classopollis ) and wood fibers (Araucariacae or Cheirolepidiaceae). The lignites provide abundant conifer and ginkgoale cuticle fragments ( Frenelopsis , Eretmophyllum ) and a lot of palynomorphs ( e.g. Gleicheniidites senonicu s, Cyathidites , D…

Fossiliferous Holocene tufa of Mende (Lozère, southern France): implication for the Atlantic vegetation of the Causses Basin

International audience; Tufas bearing plant macroremains are uncommon in the Causses Basin (southern France). Here, we report anew fossiliferous tufa deposits at Mende, in Lozère. This palaeontological site is the first Quaternary tufa from thenorthern part of the Causses Basin that yields such an abundance of plant macroremains. The radiocarbon dating showsthat these Holocene deposits are related to the Atlantic period. Geomorphology and mineralogy show that theplant-bearing deposit is a calcareous tufa only composed by calcite, deposited near to an outlet of cool water, linked tothe karstic hydrological system of the Causse de Mende. The flora exposed in this article is dominated by angio…

A new ichnofauna from the Permian of the Zat Valley in the Marrakech High Atlas of Morocco

Abstract A new ichnofauna from the Permian of Morocco is described in details: it is the first Palaeozoic ichnofauna from the Zat Valley in Marrakech High Atlas. The new tracksite was found in the Tighdouine region, in the middle-upper Permian of the Cham-el-Houa Siltstone Formation. An abundant and diverse ichnoassemblage composed of both protostomian (probably arthropods and annelids) traces and vertebrate tracks is recorded. The presence of protostomian burrows and traceways, associated with tetrapod tracks corresponds to the Scoyenia ichnofacies. Protostomian traces are ascribed to Diplichnites gouldi, Diplopodichnus biformis, Scoyenia cf. gracilis and Spongeliomorpha carlsbergi. Tetrap…

Rediscovery of the allegedly “destroyed” holotype of Weltrichia fabrei Saporta, 1891 from the Rhaetian?/Hettangian of Lozère (Southern France)

7 pages; International audience; A sandstone slab bearing plant macro-remains was rediscovered during recent investigations led in the buildings of the old Musée Ignon-Fabre (Mende) which were closed in 1995 and emptied in 2003. The study of the slab clearly allows it to be identified as the holotype of Weltrichia fabrei Saporta, 1891 which has been considered destroyed since the end of the 20th Century. Gaston de Saporta described this Bennettitalean fructification based on a cast and considered the type locality as Rhaetian in age. In the present paper, based on the holotype, W. fabrei was revised in order to describe and illustrate the specimen in detail. It consists of a cup with one wh…

TRACKING DINOSAURS IN COARSE-GRAINED SEDIMENTS FROM THE UPPER TRIASSIC OF ARDÈCHE (SOUTHEASTERN FRANCE)

ABSTRACT Coarse-grained sediments deposited in high-energy environments are usually considered unfavorable to the preservation of fossil tracks. Here we report dinosaur footprints showing good physical preservation, despite being found in coarse-grained sandstones of alluvial origin from the Upper Triassic of Ardèche, southeastern France. The ichnoassemblage, dominated by Grallator isp., raises questions about the processes leading to the formation and preservation of tracks in coarse-grained sediments. The track-bearing surface is a medium- to coarse-grained quartz arenite that is microconglomeratic locally. The tracking surface grain size ranges from 0.2 to 2 mm and numerous pebbles are p…

Découverte d’un nouveau site à traces de pas de Dinosaures dans le Bathonien des Causses (Le Gayrand, Gorges de la Jonte, Lozère, France).

7 pages; National audience

Flore du Jurassique basal de la ville de Mende (Lozère) : synthèse des gisements historiques, nouvelles données sédimentologiques, paléontologiques et paléoenvironnementales

Resume Au cours du XXe siecle, la majorite des sites a plantes fossiles (Hettangien–Sinemurien) de la ville de Mende ont disparu a cause d’une importante urbanisation ou bien sont tombes dans l’oubli. Cet article presente une synthese des gisements a vegetaux fossiles, depuis leur decouverte au XIXe siecle jusqu’aux campagnes de prospection recentes. De nouvelles donnees lithostratigraphiques et paleobotaniques sont apportees pour deux sites historiques (le Ravin del Pouset et le Petit Seminaire), ainsi que deux localites fossiliferes dernierement decouvertes (route du Causse-d’Auge et route de Gardes). Cette etude revele la diversite des lithofacies contenant les plantes (dolomudstone, mar…

Synthèse sur la diversité des préservations végétales du site d’Archingeay-Les Nouillers (France) : un Konservat-Lagerstätte pour les flores de l’Albien-Cénomanien

Since the end of the XXth century, the palaeontological site of Archingeay-Les Nouillers (Charente-Maritime, western France) continued to afford Albian-Cenomanian (ca 93–113 Ma) plant meso- and macroremains. The successive excavations provided numerous specimens useful for the reconstruction of mid-Cretaceous coastal forest ecosystems. However, one of the most remarkable features of this locality is the diversity of plant preservations. Unique in Europe from this point of view, the fossiliferous site of Archingeay-Les Nouillers yielded compressions with or without cuticle, impressions/imprints, and silicified permineralizations/petrifications. The quality of the silicified tissues and the c…

Paleohistology of the Cretaceous resin‐producing conifer Geinitzia reichenbachii using X‐ray synchrotron microtomography

International audience; PremiseThe conifer Geinitzia reichenbachii was a common member of the Cretaceous Laurasian floras. However, the histology of G. reichenbachii leafy axes was never described in detail, and our knowledge of its paleoecology remains very limited. Using new and exquisitely preserved silicified material from the Upper Cretaceous of western France, we describe G. reichenbachii from the gross morphology to the cellular scale, then discuss paleoecological and taphonomical implications.MethodsWe examined specimens from two localities in western France (Claix and Moragne) using propagation phase-contrast X-ray synchrotron microtomography.ResultsThe cuticle and the inner tissue…

Étude paléobotanique d’une lentille argileuse cénomanienne de la carrière de Hucheloup, Maine-et-Loire, NO France : implications taxonomiques, stratigraphiques et paléoenvironnementales

International audience; A Cenomanian clay lens in Hucheloup Quarry (Maine-et-Loire, north-western France) has yielded 82 foliar compressions and impressions, of which 62 were identified at several taxonomic levels. The plants are ascribed to diverse Pinales (27%), ferns (27%), Ginkgoales (26%), angiosperms (19%) and Cycadales (1%). The most abundant species in the assemblage are Frenelopsis alata (K. Feistmantel) E. Knobloch emend. J. Kvaček (Pinales) and Eretmophyllum obtusum (Velenovský) J. Kvaček (syn. E. andegavense Pons, Bourreau et Broutin) (Ginkgoales). Wood fragments, along with very well-preserved cuticles, have also been recovered and identified. The specimens are usually very fra…

Lower Aptian climate and recording of the oceanic anoxic event 1a on the terrigenous shelf of the Paris Basin.

Terrestrial plants and marine algae from the Late Jurassic lithographic limestone of the Causse Méjean (Lozère, southern France)

International audience; A new Late Jurassic flora was discovered in the fossiliferous lithographic limestone of the Causse Méjean, Lozère (southern France). It consists of the first Kimmeridgian/Tithonian plants from this area. Fossil plants are represented by megaremains preserved as impressions. This flora shows a co-occurrence of terrestrial plants and marine algae. The land plants include vegetative remains ascribed to bennettitaleans (Zamites Brongniart, 1828), conifers (Brachyphyllum Brongniart, 1828), and pteridosperms (Cycadopteris Zigno, 1853). Marine algae were ascribed to dasyclads (Goniolina D’Orbigny, 1850). Lithological and palaeontological features suggest preservation in a f…

Des empreintes de dinosaures dans les karsts des Grands Causses : grottes de Malaval et Castelbouc IV.

National audience; La préservation de traces de dinosaures dans les grottes des Grands Causses fait de ces karsts des sites d'intérêt patrimonial et scientifique majeur. Pourtant, ces lieux remarquables n’avaient jusqu’ici jamais fait l’objet d'une étude paléontologique poussée. Les premiers travaux scientifiques viennent de révéler un patrimoine ichnologique insoupçonné dans les grottes de Lozère : la grotte de Malaval et la grotte de Castelbouc IV. Des empreintes de dinosaures théropodes d’âge Jurassique inférieur ainsi que des pistes de grands dinosaures sauropodes d’âge Jurassique moyen ont respectivement été découvertes dans ces deux cavités.

Les empreintes de dinosaures de Mende : de la fouille à l'étude paléontologique.

International audience; Disparus il y a près de 65 millions d’années, les dinosaures fascinent petits et grands, amateurs et scientifiques. Cependant, ces « terribles lézards » suscitent encore aujourd’hui beaucoup d’interrogations. C’est notamment le cas des dinosaures qui peuplaient l’Aveyron et la Lozère il y a 200 millions d’années, au Jurassique inférieur. Les ossements de dinosaures étant extrêmement rares dans les roches de cette époque, l’étude de leurs empreintes est primordiale. La région des causses est d’ailleurs un des plus importants secteurs d’Europe pour l’étude des traces de pas. C’est dans ce contexte qu’une nouvelle dalle à empreintes a récemment été découverte à Mende, e…