Didier Néraudeau

• University of Rennes

Il existe de nombreux ouvrages consacrés à la paléontologie et aux fossiles. Aucun n’avait encore traité des processus de fossilisation en abordant aussi bien la formation des fossiles les plus fréquents que les minéralisations plus exceptionnelles de restes d’animaux, de plantes, de micro-organismes, voire de molécules. Cet ouvrage propose une rev...

Il existe de nombreux ouvrages consacrés à la paléontologie et aux fossiles. Aucun n’avait encore traité des processus de fossilisation en abordant aussi bien la formation des fossiles les plus fréquents que les minéralisations plus exceptionnelles de restes d’animaux, de plantes, de micro-organismes, voire de molécules.Cet ouvrage propose une revu...

The Ediacaran–Cambrian deposits of Brittany (Brioverian series) contain both a few isolated pluricentimetric discoid structures, dome-shaped or “donut”-shaped, and a multitude of centimetric to infracentimetric more or less elliptical fossils or pseudofossils. The discoid and elliptical Brioverian structures are compared to similar fossils and pseu...

The coastline of Le Veillon (western France) has become a key tracksite for the study of Early Jurassic archosaurs from Europe since the second half of the 20th century. Amongst the thousand dinosaur footprints recovered from this locality, some tracks became historical and ichnotaxonomical comparative references in many studies. However, the type...

The Ediacaran-Cambrian evolutionary transition represents a complex, diachronic phenomenon, the understanding of which is still uncertain. Associated changes include the development of a vertical extension of bioturbation, the decline of microbial mats in shallow waters, and a renewal of organisms' faunas and lifestyles. Unfortunately, the fossil r...

We report lignitic fossil rich-beds from the Bathonian Castelbouc sauropod tracksite (Castelbouc Cave N �4, Causses Basin, southern France). Showing the co-occurrence of amber with plant, vertebrate and invertebrate remains, they are a precious tool to reconstruct Middle Jurassic dinosaur ecosystems. A multiproxy approach combining sedimentology, p...

The rise of morphological complexity and taxonomic diversity of trace fossils during the Cambrian Period has been a prominent focus to track the evolution and diversification of early animals. Here, we present a newly described trace fossil assemblage from the lower Cambrian Le Rozel Formation in Normandy (Northwestern France) composed of the follo...

Référence de cet article : COUTRET Baptiste, NÉRAUDEAU Didier, GENDRY Damien et POUJOL Marc (2023). Ichnofaune du Cambrien basal de Normandie (formation du Rozel) et diversification des premiers métazoaires. Actes du deuxième colloque de l'APVSM, « Paléontologie et archéologie en Normandie », 25-26 septembre 2021. Bulletin de l'Association paléonto...

A surface deposit with an exceptionally large number of bifaces was discovered on the Moragne hill, in Charente-Maritime, western France (fig. 1). The recent Prehistoric archaeology of the area has been widely studied, with the oldest human occupations dating to the Neolithic (Bouin, 1993, 1994; Kerdivel, 2009) and the Mesolithic (Favre, 2004; Mich...

Amber and plant remains were discovered in the lower Cenomanian lignitic clay from La Gripperie-Saint-Symphorien (Charente-Maritime, western France). The amber mainly consists of scarce and infracentimetric pieces showing a wide range of sizes and colours. The shape of the amber grains greatly varies, including more or less cylindrical fragments of...

Body fossils have been discovered in the Fortunian deposits of the Rozel Cape, in Normandy (NW France). The material consists of about 80 specimens preserved on a shale surface, recently observed at the base of a cliff at the Cap Rozel, in the Cotentin region. The fossils, centimetric in size, have an elliptical outline, with a peripheral bulge, ge...

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Taphonomy and mineralization of carbonated wood from the Purbeckian facies of l’Usine, Cherves-Richemont (Charente).

Plants and insects are the two dominant groups in terrestrial ecosystems, and insect damage on fossil plants is the only direct evidence documenting the past ecological history between these two, hyperdiverse groups. We describe, analyze, and interpret plant–insect interactions of a lower Cenomanian paleoforest from western France – the Puy-Puy Qua...

Ediacaran-Cambrian bioturbation on bedding planes provides physical and chemical data about the environmental conditions and biological activities of early metazoans. We propose a quantitative method to estimate horizontal disruption of the substrate using bedding-plane trace fossils from Brioverian deposits. This methodology provides the first qua...

Since the 1980s, the Upper Jurassic lithographic limestone of the Causse Méjean (southern France) has been known by local naturalists to yield fossils. However, until the beginning of the 21st century, this plattenkalk remained largely undersampled and scientifically underestimated. Here, we present the results of two decades of prospection and sam...

Premise: The 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...

Résumé Une nouvelle espèce d’Archiaciidae, A. ramitaensis nov. sp., a été découverte dans le Cénomanien supérieur de Syrie. Elle est décrite et comparée aux autres espèces d’Archiacia déjà connues. La distribution paléobiogéographique des Archiaciidae et leurs affinités paléoécologiques sont discutées.

In northwestern France, the Brioverian series is a thick siliciclastic succession deposited during the Cadomian cycle (c. 750–540 Ma). In the uppermost Brioverian beds, previous studies unravelled an assemblage dominated by simple horizontal trace fossils associated with microbially stabilized surfaces. Here, we report Spirodesmos trace fossils – o...

The presence of “geological” amber (or “succin” in old French monographs) has been reported for several centuries in Provence in the Mesozoic deposits of Provence, southeastern France. Diverse amber-bearing sites have been inventoried but their location and precise age remained unclear for most of them. In the past decades, various data concerning...

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 t...

The global palaeobiogeography of early marsupialiform mammals is still poorly understood due to a meagre fossil record outside western North America. Here, two isolated teeth of a marsupialiform mammal from the lowermost Upper Cretaceous (lower Cenomanian) of southwestern France are described and referred to Stagodontidae, a dentally specialized gr...

The Puy-Puy quarry at Tonnay-Charente (Charente-Maritime, SW France) is a sand quarry exposing a 9-m-thick series of latest Albian–earliest Cenomanian (mid-Cretaceous) age. The uppermost Albian deposits consist of lignitic clay containing fossiliferous amber. The lowermost Cenomanian sand deposits alternate with clay intercalations containing plant...

The origin of the diatom still remains enigmatic. Their fossil record is scarce until the Late Cretaceous and great divergences exist between molecular data and the early fossil evidences. While molecular data indicate an origin during the Triassic or Lower Jurassic, early fossil evidences are only from the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous. The disco...

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 meso...

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 b...

Fragments of filled wood‐borings were recently discovered from the Eocene–Oligocene Conglomerate and Sandstone Formation of the Malzieu Basin (Lozère, southern France). Propagation phase‐contrast X‐ray synchrotron microtomography (PPC‐SRμCT) was used to characterize their hidden inner structures. Virtual 2D sections and 3D reconstructions show that...

The Ediacaran-Cambrian transition is the place of striking changes in Earth ecosystems, with a diversification of life recorded by a complexification in animal behaviors. In a series of classic papers, Crimes (1974, 1987, 1992a, b) compiled worldwide data on trace fossil distribution from that time period, evaluating their potential as biomarkers a...

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...

A palynological analysis of 45 samples from six mid-Cretaceous amber-bearing outcrops from Charentes has been carried out. A total of 227 taxa have been recorded in the studied palynofloras. Palynological data support earlier evidence and indicate an early Cenomanian age for the assemblages. The heterogeneous compositions of the palynofloral assemb...

Further to the work published by N?raudeau et al. six years ago, palynological matter recovered from the lignitic bone bed of Angeac in Charente (south-west France) has been re-examined in order to provide more evidence of its age, the previous Hauterivian?Barremian interpretation being regarded as controversial. The samples come from four sediment...

The Ediacaran–Fortunian ichnofauna from Central Brittany (NW France) is revised for the first time since the pioneering work by Lebesconte at the end of the 19th century. The study is based on fossils from the type-localities of the historical Brioverian taxa Montfortia (traces from Montfort-sur- Meu) and Neantia (wrinkle surfaces from Néant-sur-Yv...

Body fossils are described for the first time from the Upper Brioverian (Ediacaran-Fortunian) deposits of Central Brittany (NW France). The material consists of a dozen of specimens preserved on two slates, recently collected in a quarry in Saint-Gonlay. The fossils, centimetric in size, have an elliptical and acuminated outline, with a peripheral...

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 qua...

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 assembl...

Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous charophyte assemblages from the northern part of the Aquitaine Basin in south-west France are reviewed here to understand their palaeoecological, palaeobiogeographical and biostratigraphic features. Three sites were studied: the Tithonian-lower Berriasian of Chassiron, and the Berriasian of Cherves-de-Cognac and A...

A new dinosaur tracksite was recently discovered in the Upper Jurassic deposits from the Oléron Island (Atlantic Ocean, western France). Tracks are located along the coastline in the tidal area of La Morelière near “Pointe de Chassiron”. They were observed in situ in an evaporitic interval from the “Purbeck beds” Unit. Sediments consist of calcite...

The Ediacaran–Fortunian ichnofauna from Central Brittany (NW France) is revised for the first time since the pioneering work by Lebesconte at the end of the 19th century. The study is based on fossils from the type-localities of the historical Brioverian taxa Montfortia (traces from Montfort-sur- Meu) and Neantia (wrinkle surfaces from Néant-sur-Yv...

Résumé Un nouveau genre et une nouvelle espèce d’échinide de la famille des Archiaciidae sont décrits dans le Cénomanien de la Sarthe (Basin de Paris, France). Le genre Ulphaceaster nov. gen. se distingue des autres Archiaciidae par son ambulacre impair qui échancre l’avant du test en une profonde gouttière allant du péristome jusqu’au sommet du te...

Suite aux études préliminaires réalisées par Néraudeau et al. (2012), le contenu palynologique des niveaux ligniteux du bone bed d’Angeac (Charente, SO France) a été de nouveau étudié, quatre échantillons supplémentaires à l’appui, dans le but de préciser l’âge de leur dépôt, toujours controversé. L’assemblage résultant de cette étude est composé d...

We describe and name Loxolenichnus stellatocinctus Breton and Wisshak igen. et isp. nov., a bioerosion trace fossil on an Upper Cenomanian oyster from Le Mans (France). This trace is attributed here to a parasitic gastropod. The characteristics of this ichnospecies are a combination of one or several, vertical or oblique, complete penetrations, and...

Depuis la fin du XXe siècle, le site paléontologique d’Archingeay-Les Nouillers (Charente-Maritime, Ouest de la France) continue de livrer des méso- et macrorestes végétaux d’âge Albien-Cénomanien (environ 93–113 millions d’années). Les campagnes de fouilles successives ont fourni de très nombreux spécimens utiles à la reconstitution des écosystème...

Background and Aims. Terrestrial plant remains in fossilized tree resin are relatively common. However, histology and preservation of plants entombed in Cretaceous ambers remain poorly known. We report an exquisitely preserved conifer leafy axis from 100-million-year-old opaque amber of western France that is assignable to Glenrosa carentonensis Mo...

Stable carbon-isotope geochemistry of fossilized tree resin (amber) potentially could be a very useful tool to infer the composition of past atmospheres. To test the reliability of amber as a proxy for the atmosphere, we studied the variability of modern resin δ¹³C at both local and global scales. An amber δ¹³C curve was then built for the Cretaceo...

Spherical flower heads have often been reported from the late Early and Late Cretaceous of Asia and North America, but are rare in Europe. Palaeobotanists have included them in Altingiaceae and Hamamelidaceae (Saxifragales, basal core eudicots), and Platanaceae (Proteales, basal eudicots). We report newly collected flower heads from the Cenomanian...

Des accumulations de silex particulièrement fossilifères ont été découvertes en gisements de surface sur la commune de Claix, en Charente (SO France). Ces silicifications proviennent, d’une part, d’altérites ou de calcaires à silex, d’autre part, de stations paléolithiques et néolithiques. Une partie de ces silex, de teinte beige à brune, est riche...

The Ediacaran–Fortunian ichnofauna from Central Brittany (NW France) is revised for the first time since the pioneering work by Lebesconte at the end of the 19th century. The study is based on fossils from the type-localities of the historical Brioverian taxa Montfortia (traces from Montfort-sur- Meu) and Neantia (wrinkle surfaces from Néant-sur-Yv...

Inflorescences of Mauldinia (Lauraceae) are described from the middle Cenomanian Pauletian facies of Gard, Languedoc-Roussillon, south-eastern France. This is the first record of the genus from this part of Europe. Mauldinia sp. is described based on peduncles and lateral units. Isolated, slender peduncles show spirally arranged scars or rarely att...

Simoliophis rochebrunei is a snake restricted to the Cenomanian of southwestern Europe. It is the type species of the genus Simoliophis, the latter being the type genus of the Simoliophiidae, i.e. the family that is comprised of the marine hindlimbed snakes. The first descriptions of the species were insufficient and dealt only with mid-trunk verte...

The upper Turonian lignite deposits of Sainte-Mondane, Dordogne (Aquitaine Basin, SW France), consist of clays bearing translucent, orange to red, amber micrograins. The amber exhibits different types of microbial inclusions. The clays contain several conifers including the genera Brachyphyllum, Frenelopsis and Glenrosa, and a few leaf fragments of...

Des accumulations de silex particulièrement fossilifères ont été découvertes en gisements de surface sur la commune de Claix, en Charente (SO France). Ces silicifications proviennent, d’une part, d’altérites ou de calcaires à silex, d’autre part, de stations paléolithiques et néolithiques. Une partie de ces silex, de teinte beige à brune, est riche...

We report exceptionally well-preserved plant remains ascribed to the extinct conifer Glenrosa J. Watson et H.L. Fisher emend. V. Srinivasan inside silica-rich nodules from the Cenomanian of the Font-de-Benon quarry, Charente-Maritime, western France. Remains are preserved in three dimensions and mainly consist of fragmented leafy axes. Pollen cones...

The systematic placement and content of the family Mecochiridae are briefly reviewed. Meyeria houdardi (Van Straelen, 1936) (Gault facies, Albian, East of the Paris Basin and Pays de Bray) is revisited and described in detail. Previously unknown rostrum, hepatic furrow, endopleurites, posterior abdominal somites and caudal fan are described. A ? Me...

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A new genus and species of Coniopterygidae is described from a female preserved in Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian to Santonian) amber of Vendée, in northwestern France. Garnaconis dupeorum Perrichot & Nel, n. gen. and sp., displays intermixing features between Aleuropteryginae and Coniopteryginae as currently defined, making its accurate phylogenetic...

Résumé: Dans les bassins sédimentaires pétroliers, il est habituel de trouver des filons parallèles à la stratification et composés de fibres de calcite. Ces filons, les beefs, sont abondants dans les roches-mères, surtout quand elles ont atteint la fenêtre de génération de l'huile. C'est le cas notamment des bassins de Wessex (Angleterre) et Neuqu...

Recent ichnological studies revealed two new localities showing dinosaur footprints in the Hettangian Dolomitic Formation from the Causses Basin, southern France. The traces are reported from the northern part of the basin, in Lozère, an area where Lower Jurassic dinosaur ichnites were poorly documented. The surfaces bearing footprints are characte...

Belonging to the Staphylinidae, the largest animal family known, recent Omaliinae are a diverse and widespread group of rove beetles. There are omaliine representatives known since Early‐Middle Jurassic compressions, but members of the tribe Omaliini have been known only from the Cenozoic. Duocalcar geminum Peris and Thayer gen. et sp. nov. is desc...

The Cenomanian Stage of the geological time scale was named for Cenomanum, the Latin name of Le Mans (Sarthe, France). D’Orbigny (1847) chose the locality for its outstanding richness in marine fossils, especially molluscs, bryozoans, brachiopods and echinoderms. The geological formations cropped out in numerous clay, sand and limestone pits in the...

tLate Cretaceous amber from La Garnache (France, Vendée) contains filamentous networksthat have all the characteristics of spider webs. Using methods of classic and confocalmicroscopy, the web architecture and the thread structure are described. The geometryof the webs preserved in amber is presented in 3D imaging. Unlike most of the spiderwebs ide...

Deux nouvelles localités fossilifières sont découvertes sur la voie de chemin de fer de la « LGV SEA », dans le Cénomanien inférieur de Jaunay-Clan (JC), près de Poitiers, dans l’Ouest de la France. Des dépôts argileux finement laminés ont livré un grand nombre de plantes fossiles, comprenant des fougères (Cladophlebis, Osmundophyllum, Ruffordia go...

Deposits containing silica-rich nodules were recently collected from the Font-de-Benon quarry, between Archingeay and Les Nouillers, Charente-Maritime, western France. Nodules contain diverse fossil inclusions such as conifers, urchins, foraminifers and sponge spicules. Cenomanian deposits were transformed during the Eocene-Oligocene by a delayed s...

La flore et la faune paraliques du Jurassique supérieur de Chassiron (île d’Oléron, Ouest de la France) sont décrites. Dans cette localité, les bonebeds d’âge Tithonien et de faciès purbeckien ont livré, aux côtés de nombreux restes de plantes et d’invertébrés, un assemblage de vertébrés riche et diversifié, incluant poissons, amphibiens, reptiles...

Des dépôts contenant des nodules siliceux ont récemment été mis au jour dans la carrière de Font-de-Benon, entre Archingeay et Les Nouillers, Charente-Maritime, Ouest de la France. Ces silex contiennent diverses inclusions fossiles, telles que des conifères, des oursins, des foraminifères et des spicules d’éponges. Les dépôts d’âge Cénomanien ont é...

Here, we report flint nodules bearing fossil plant inclusions from the early Cenomanian of the Font-de-Benon sand quarry, between the villages of Archingeay and Les Nouillers, Charente-Maritime, western France. The broken-open surfaces of these dense siliceous rocks only partly show the whole diversity, which is established using a non-destructive,...