Eric Buffetaut

French National Centre for Scientific Research | CNRS · Laboratoire de Géologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris

An exceptional articulated skeleton of a new basal neornithischian dinosaur, Minimocursor phunoiensis gen. et sp. nov., was discovered in the Late Jurassic Phu Kradung Formation at the Phu Noi locality, Kalasin Province, Thailand, a highly productive non-marine fossil vertebrate locality of the Khorat Plateau. It is one of the best-preserved dinosa...

Because of its strange appearance, the Jurassic dinosaur Stegosaurus has been depicted in many life reconstructions by various palaeoartists ever since the first skeletal reconstruction was published by O.C. Marsh in 1891. However, even before that, the French illustrator Auguste Jobin produced a life reconstruction of Stegosaurus in a Jurassic lan...

Mawsoniidae is a family of coelacanths restricted to the Mesozoic. During the Cretaceous, mawsoniids were mainly represented by the Mawsonia/Axelrodichthy complex, long known to be from western Gondwana only (South America and Africa). This apparent biogeographical distribution then faded following the discovery of representatives in the Late Creta...

A complete ostrich femur from the Late Pleistocene deposits of the Upper Cave at Zhoukoudian (China) was referred by Shaw to Struthio anderssoni in the 1930s, but its present whereabouts are unknown. A good quality plaster cast of the missing specimen has been found in the collections of the Natural History Museum (London). This cast provides inter...

The first skull of Solemys (Testudines: Helochlydridae) is reported from the Late Cretaceous (Rognacian) Bastide Neuve locality, Fox Amphoux, Var, France. It is assigned to Solemys gaudryi (Matheron, 1869) on the basis of associated shell elements. Our study provides new insights regarding the skull morphology of the family Helochelydridae and sugg...

Abstract: The first fossil ostrich to have been named, by Milne-Edwards in 1869–1871, was Struthio asiaticus, a taxon based on a specimen collected by Colonel Colvin in the Siwaliks of India, consisting of associated postcranial elements (vertebrae, forelimb elements, a fragmentary tarsometatarsus and first phalanx of the third toe). Although it wa...

We described a dinosaur tracksite found in the uppermost part of the Areia do Mastro Formation (lowermost Barremian, Lower Cretaceous), located at 1.5 km north of Cabo Espichel (Sesimbra, Portugal). The studied tracks are distributed in a heavily trampled limestone bed which crops out alongside the rocky beach. The studied trampled surface is highl...

The word ''palaeontologie'' was coined in 1822 by the French anatomist and zoologist Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (1777-1850), a former disciple of Georges Cuvier who had turned against his mentor and rejected catastrophism. Blainville's life and scientific career are briefly reviewed. The meaning and significance of the new word ''palaeontol...

Although flight is often considered as one of the most salient characteristics of birds, in the course of their evolution various avian lineages have lost the ability to fly [...]

Psammornis rothschildi is an avian taxon established by Andrews in 1911 on the basis of eggshell fragments surface-collected near the city of Touggourt, in the northeastern part of the Al-gerian Sahara. Since the initial discovery, a number of Psammornis specimens have been reported from various localities in North Africa (Algeria, Tunisia, Libya,...

Calissounemys matheroni gen. et sp. nov. (Testudines) is described on the basis of a skull and shell elements from the Upper Cretaceous of Var, southern France. This new taxon is assigned to the family Compsemydidae and characterized by a thick-boned, robust skull, a shallow temporal emargination, a crista supraoccipitalis not extending beyond the...

Résumé : Les dinosauriens de la Réserve Naturelle de Sainte-Victoire sont surtout représentés par la découverte de leurs oeufs depuis les années 1940. Cependant, des ossements furent également mis au jour à la fin des années 1980, quelques années avant le classement du territoire en réserve naturelle nationale. Cet article fait le point sur l’histo...

Yakemys multiporcata n. g. n. sp. is described on the basis of shell elements from the upper part of the Phu Kradung Formation (basal Cretaceous), Khorat Plateau, NE Thailand and assigned to Macrobaenidae. The new taxon is unusually large for an early macrobaenid (with an estimated carapace length about 70 cm) and is characterized by a large, round...

A new enantiornithine bird is described on the basis of a well preserved partial skeleton from the Upper Cretaceous Qiupa Formation of Henan Province (central China). It provides new evidence about the osteology of Late Cretaceous enantiornithines, which are mainly known from isolated bones; in contrast, Early Cretaceous forms are often represented...

An isolated first costal turtle plate from the Early Cretaceous of Kut Island, Gulf of Thailand, is reported and assigned to Trionychoidae gen. et sp. indet. The morphology of the plate and comparison with turtle assemblages of the Khorat Group support the correlation of the vertebrates-bearing beds of Kut Island with the Sao Khua Formation, as alr...

Fossil ostrich eggs, mainly from the Pleistocene loess (the “yellow earth”, huáng tǔ in Chinese), have been known to the Chinese for a long time. They were sometimes interpreted as dragon’s eggs and were valued as curios. Palaeontologists first heard about them at the end of the 19th century, when a missionary in northern China obtained such an egg...

Stratigraphical and palaeontological researches on the continental Upper Cretaceous beds of the Castigno valley (Villespassans, Hérault, southern France) began in the 1890s with the work of the local researcher Jean Miquel. The study of the dinosaur remains from that locality by Charles Depéret in 1900 greatly added to the knowledge of the Late Cre...

Two fragmentary remains of giant birds from uppermost Paleocene deposits at the Petit-Pâtis locality at Rivecourt (Oise, northern France) are described. One is an isolated zygapophysis of a very large bird, identified as belonging to the neognath Gastornis sp. The other one is an incomplete posterior cervical vertebra referred to the palaeognath Re...

A large bone from the upper Eocene Totland Bay Formation of Hordle Cliff (Hampshire), originally described by Seeley (1866) as Macrornis tanaupus and interpreted by him as belonging to a ‘large Struthious bird’, is redescribed and illustrated for the first time. It is not a reptile bone, as previously suggested, but the proximal part of a left avia...

A large incomplete ostrich femur from the Lower Pleistocene of North China, kept at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (Paris), is described. It was found by Father Emile Licent in 1925 in the Nihewan Formation (dated at about 1.8 Ma) of Hebei Province. On the basis of the minimum circumference of the shaft, a mass of 300 kg, twice that of a...

Sauropodomorph dinosaur bones, including cervical vertebrae, ribs, a possible humerus fragment and an incomplete left femur are described from Triassic silicified conglomerates (designated as arkose by local geologists) at La Pernelle (Cotentin peninsula, Manche, Normandy, France). The femur, with a straight, craniocaudally compressed shaft and a f...

Three turtle shells from the Middle Jurassic Xintiangou Formation of Yunyang (Chongqing, China) are described and assigned to Xinjiangchelyidae (Testudines: Eucryptodira). This is the first report of turtle remains from the Xintiangou Formation, Sichuan Basin and represents the oldest known Xinjiangchelyidae. The assemblage includes two taxa, Proto...

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...

Coelacanths are iconic fishes represented today by a single marine genus. The group was a little bit more diversified in the Mesozoic, with representatives in marine and continental environments in the Late Cretaceous. Here we describe isolated skull bones of the last know freshwater coelacanths found in several fossil sites from the Early Campania...

We describe a large, nearly completely preserved sauropod humerus from the Lower Cretaceous Xinlong Formation of Napai Basin, Fusui County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China. It was excavated from the quarry that produced the holotypic specimen of the titanosauriform Fusuisaurus zhaoi. With a preserved length of 183.5 cm, the newly c...

We agree with Mayr et al., 2020, that a pelvis from the Maastrichtian of Romania closely resembles Garantuavis philoinos, from the Late Cretaceous of the Ibero-Armorican island, showing that gargantuaviids were not restricted to the latter landmass. However, we disagree with many other assertions and interpretations of Mayr et al.: contrary to thei...

10.1016/j.crpv.2019.11.001

An incomplete femur from the Bastide-Neuve site (Fox-Amphux, Var) is referred to the giant bird Gargantuavis philoinos, various remains of which have already been reported from that locality. It shows close similarities with a more complete Gargantuavis femur previously described from the Montplo-Nord locality (Cruzy, Hérault). An estimate based on...

History of illustrations of Aepyornis eggs

Two associated incomplete thyreophoran dorsal vertebrae from the Callovian Marnes de Dives Formation of the Vaches Noires cliffs, on the Normandy coast, are referred to an indeterminate stegosaur that appears to be different from Lexovisaurus, previously reported from the Callovian of western France. These vertebrae are the first evidence of thyreo...

Possible survival of aepyornithids until the 17th century A.D.

Early Pleistocene giant ostrich from China

In this paper, we report on a new Early Cretaceous vertebrate locality, Phu Din Daeng, in Nakhon Phanom Province, NE Thailand. The Phu Din Daeng site has yielded a diverse vertebrate assemblage, including sharks (Heteroptychodus steinmanni), bony fishes (Pycnodontiformes; Sinamiidae cf. Siamamia and ?Vidalamiinae, and Ginglymodi), adocid turtles, i...

Teeth from the Aptian-Albian Khok Kruat Formation of the Khorat Group in Northeastern Thailand, are described as belonging to spinosaurine dinosaurs. They consist of two morphotypes, i.e., the Khok Kruat morphotype and Siamosaurus morphotype. The Khok Kruat morphotype shows fine ridges and a smooth enamel surface of the crown while the Siamosaurus...

Isolated theropod dinosaur teeth from Ko Kut (Kut Island) in eastern Thailand are referred to an indeterminate spinosaurid on the basis of their morphology and ornamentation. On the basis of other spinosaurid occurrences in Thailand and other parts of Asia, they support the attribution of the fossil-bearing beds on Ko Kut to the Lower Cretaceous ra...

Skull and mandibular elements of a tomistomine crocodilian are described from the late Eocene to early Oligocene lignite seams of Krabi, peninsular Thailand. The Thai tomistomine is a longirostrine form characterized by a rostrum/skull ratio of about 0.6; a mandibular symphysis reaching the level of the eleventh alveolus; a deep participation of th...

The core of the fossil record of Teleosauridae, a family of thalattosuchian crocodylomorphs, is well known from western Tethyan marine deposits of the Jurassic. Outside this province, their fossil record is patchy and in need of revision, with specimens from Russia, Madagascar, and Asia. Peipehsuchus teleorhinus is known from the Early or Middle Ju...

In their valuable revision of aepyornithiform systematics, Hansford & Turvey [1] deplore the fact that some significant specimens could not be measured and included in their morphometric analysis, because they have been destroyed or cannot currently be located. The most important specimens in this regard probably are the skeletal elements in the ty...

A new xinjiangchelyid turtle, Kalasinemys prasarttongosothi n. gen. n. sp., is described on the basis of skull and shell material from the Upper Jurassic Phu Kradung Formation at Phu Noi locality, Kalasin Province, in NE Thailand. This second xinjiangchelyid turtle from Phu Noi is distinct from Phunoichelys thirakhupti by the smooth shell surface,...

We describe and interpret a posterior mandibular symphysis of a very large azhdarchid pterosaur. The specimen LPB (FGGUB) R.2347 exhibits a series of morphological characters present in both azhdarchid and tapejarid pterosaurs, suggesting a more basal position within the clade Azhdarchidae. This fossil was collected from Maastrichtian continental d...

The Paleocene locality of Menat (Puy-de-Dôme, France) has yielded several avian fossils, which remained poorly studied, even though some were found almost a century ago. Here, we review some of the material in public collections and show that those birds from Menat, which are at least tentatively identifiable, resemble taxa from early Eocene fossil...

Remains of a coelacanth specimen are described from Rhaetian deposits of the Var Department, southeastern France. They comprise the lower part of a branchial apparatus associated with a left lower jaw and a basisphenoid. Osteological features of the angular and basisphenoid and the teeth ornamentation allow the inclusion of the specimen in the maws...

The Lower Cretaceous Xinlong Formation in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region, which was deposited in a non-marine, fluvial environment, has yielded a diverse assemblage of vertebrates. The study of the shark teeth from the Xinlong Formation revealed the presence of teeth of Acrorhizodus khoratensis that do not appear to correspond to a jaw position r...

Oxygen isotope compositions of bone phosphate (δ18Op) were measured in broiler chickens reared in 21 farms worldwide characterized by contrasted latitudes and local climates. These sedentary birds were raised during an approximately 3 to 4-month period, and local precipitation was the ultimate source of their drinking water. This sampling strategy...

Gargantuavis philoinos is a large terrestrial bird, initially described from several bones (synsacrum, cervical vertebra, femora) discovered in the Late Cretaceous deposits of southern France. The synsacrum described here comes from the late Campanian (Late Cretaceous) site of Laño, in north-western Spain, and is similar in all respects to the othe...

After studying at medical schools in Reims and Paris, Victor Lemoine (1837–97) practised and taught medicine in his native city of Reims in eastern France before moving to Paris in 1889. However, his main interest was vertebrate palaeontology. He is particularly remembered for his work on the Paleocene vertebrate fauna from the Cernay Conglomerate,...

Oxygen and carbon isotope compositions of fossil bird eggshell calcite (δ18Ocalc and δ13Ccalc) are regularly used to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions. However, the interpretation of δ18Ocalc values of fossil eggshells has been limited to qualitative variations in local climatic conditions as oxygen isotope fractionations between calcite, b...

A synsacrum fragment and an incomplete ilium of the giant bird Gargantuavis philoinos are described from the upper Campanian/lower Maastrichtian Montplo-Nord locality at Cruzy (Hérault, southern France). The ilium provides new information about the pelvic morphology of Gargantuavis. Both the synsacrum and ilium are extensively pneumatised. This ext...

Oxygen isotope compositions of tooth enamel increments in theropod dinosaurs are investigated as potential proxies of climate seasonality. Six teeth of large carnivorous theropods collected from four Cretaceous formations deposited under contrasted climates have been sampled. These teeth have been analyzed for the oxygen isotope compositions of the...

Six quadrate bones, of which two almost certainly come from the Kem Kem beds (Cenomanian, Upper Cretaceous) of south-eastern Morocco, are determined to be from juvenile and adult individuals of Spinosaurinae based on phylogenetic, geometric morphometric, and phylogenetic morphometric analyses. Their morphology indicates two morphotypes evidencing t...

Institutional abbreviations, comments on Cristatusaurus lapparenti (Figs A and B in S1 File), illustration of MHNM.KK377 and.KK378 (Fig C in S1 File), geological settings of the Kem Kem beds, quadrate-based diagnosis of a new species of Spinosaurinae tentatively referred to Sigilmassasaurus brevicollis, quadrate-based characters, list of taxa inclu...

In 1860, the French geologist and palaeontologist Auguste Bravard (1803–1861) circulated a small number of copies of a hand-written and lithographed catalogue of the fossils he had collected in various parts of Argentina over a period of about eight years. Although the existence of this catalogue has been mentioned by various authors, it has never...

A new skeleton of a sauropod dinosaur has been discovered in the Early Cretaceous Sao Khua Formation at Ban Na Khrai in Changwat Kalasin (NE Thailand). All sauropod bones from Ban Na Khrai share all their characteristics with the type specimen of Phuwiangosaurus sirindhornae Martin, Buffetaut & Suteethorn 1994. The 60% complete skeleton is very wel...

Over the last 25 years, rich vertebrate assemblages have been discovered in three distinct formations of the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous of Thailand. This work aims to compare the taxonomic assemblages of SE Asia within their palaeogeographical context in Asia. Occurrences of 477 taxa in 94 Regional Faunal Assemblages (RFA) have provided the...

Thalattosuchians are crocodylomorphs mainly known from marine strata of Early Jurassic to Early Cretaceous age. They represent the earliest crocodylomorph radiation to an aquatic habitat and their evolutionary history offers very few records from freshwater settings. Here, we report several exquisitely preserved thalattosuchian skulls attributed to...

Estimating the locomotion type of fossil ground birds is necessary for a better understanding of their ecology. Until now, only one method has allowed us to estimate the locomotion of fossil ground birds, but its application is complicated in the majority of fossil cases because it requires data from the three bones from the same hindlimb of one in...

Fragmentary post-cranial remains (femora, tibia, vertebrae) of ornithischian dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of the Sultanate of Oman are described and referred to hadrosauroids. The specimens come from the Al-Khod Conglomerate, of latest Campanian to Maastrichtian age, in the north-eastern part of the country. Although the fragmentary condition...

The Natural History Museum (NHMUK) fossil reptile collections contain a set of specimens sent to Arthur Smith Woodward in 1908 by the Argentinian palaeontologist, Florentino Ameghino. This collection includes a skull and other material of Cricosaurus, a metriorhynchid thalattosuchian (or ‘sea crocodile’), a group of marine crocodylomorphs that exis...