The description of new material from three classic middle Eocene localities of western Europe permits the addition of details to the systematics of primitive Pseudosciurids. The cranial anatomy of Protadelomys cartieri (STEHLIN and SCHAUB) from Egerkingen is described here and compared to that of the Adelomyines from the late Eocene, until now the only ones known. The morphologic and biometric study of the dentition of P. cartieri compared to that of P. alsaticus n. sp. from Bouxwiller and P. Iugdunensis n. sp. from Lissieu, forms respectively older and younger than P. cartieri, permits the evolutionary tendencies of the group to be demonstrated and shows that notable differences in age exist between these localities. This ensemble of forms can constitute a valuable guide lineage in the establishment of a fine stratigraphy of the period. Other less well known lineages are present at Egerkingen along with P. cartieri. They can be related to genera that have been noted int he late Eocene. In conclusion, a criticism of recent zonation proposals, made by divers authors, completes this article. 

The Pantolestidae from the middle eocene of Bouxwiller are the subject of a detailed study. Buxolestes hammeli (n. g., n. sp.) is not closely related to any other European or North American form described until now; it presents, however, some characters in common with Pantolestes, a form of the same age from North America. A parallel evolution from a common ancestral form could explain this ressemblance.
Another form (gen. and sp. indet.) accompanies Buxolertes hammeli in the Bouxwiller fauna.
  

New and hitherto unpublished mammals from the stratigraphical levels Unterkohle, Untere Mittelkohle and Obere Mittelkohle of the Geiseltal near Halle, GDR, are described (= biochronological levels MP 11-13, Geiseltalian sensu Franzen & Haubold 1986a, b). The marsupial taxa Amphiperatherium aff. maximum (MP 12), A. goethei (MP 12), and Peratherium aff. monspeliense (MP 12 and 13) are recorded for the first time. A lectotype for Amphiperatherium giselense is designated, and the alleged primate Microtarsioides voigzi is assigned to Marsupialia, incertae sedis. A new insectivore species, Saturninia ceciliensis n. sp., is described (MP 13). The anteater Eurotamandua joresi is recorded for the first time outside its type locality, Grube Messel, FRG (MP 11). The present humerus and ulna display the autapomorphic features of the myrmecophagids. 

The utilization of screen-washing and attack by dilute acetic acid has permitted the collecting, in the Miocene of the department of Hérault (France), of a very rich ichthyofauna. This fauna is presently comprised of about 60 studied species, of which 11 are new, and represents, in the present state of knowledge, the most varied Miocene selachian fauna described in the world.
The abondance of material has allowed an overall revision to be made; it has thus been possible to complete the description and the figuration of species that were poorly known until now, and to synonymize species that were established on simple morphotypes. Paleo-ecologic study of the ichthyofauna has permitted conclusions to be drawn relative to climate and bathymetry; it was thus possible to show that the Miocene fauna of Hérault was a fauna of a subtropical sea, essentially neritic with rare pelagic contributions.
Knowing the stratigraphic position of the localities, it has been possible to distinguish three faunal assemblages based on associations of species. Some hypotheses on the evolution of certain lineages have been expressed.
The comparison of this fauna with that of other regions permitted the relationships of two diflerent faunal provinces to be specified: the first belongs to the northern domain, characterized by a fauna still subtropical but with numerous temperate water elements; the leoond belongs to the Mesogean domain characterized by warm water forms. It has also lhovm that contemporary faunas could be very different according to the bathymetric zone in which they lived, which furnishes valuable information for the paleogeographic reconstruction of sedimentary basins.
  

Is hereby described an impressive lchnoiauna belonging to the Lower to Middle Ludian of the Gard (S. France). The slab, already cleaned over a length of 18 m, is located near the top of the Potamides aporoschema lacustrine limestone (Lower Ludian, Euzet zone). It is therefore older than the Célas sandstone deposit, and still more than the Melanoides albigensis and M. acutus marly limestone corresponding to the Upper Levels of the Ludian stage. Although biostratigraphically older than the La Débruge and Montmartre zone, the biotope shows already a sampling of very tall Artiodactyles, Perissodactyles and Carnivorous. One of the most « majestic ›› Artiodactyles, Anopolotheriipus lavocati, nov., points out a huge size type. To mention also among the Ichnotypes described, 10, the big Perissodactyle Palaeotheriipus similimedius, nov., and the big Carnivorous Hyaenodontipus praedator, nov. 

The general principles guiding the study of wear facets which develop during mastication in mammals possessing tribosphenic molars are named. The application of this method of study to the molars of European Tertiary Didelphidae shows that the lineage of this family as represented by the species Peratherium cuvieri (Upper Eocene), P. elegans (Lower-middle Oligocene) and P. antiquum (Upper Oligocene) has propessively evolved toward a more carnivorous diet. 

The first part of this study was devoted to a descriptive analysis of teeth morphologies among the vespertilionine bats. This leads now to a tentative synthesis, providing views on the systematics of the group. The results could be seen according to three distinct but closely related purposes : 1 - the sorting of the genera contents in order to conform the genera units to homogeneous taxa that could represent natural issues of evolutionary lineages ; 2 - the investigation of relationships between extant genera in order to infer the possibilities of common origin ; 3 - according to the preceeding items and to the observed evolutionary trends, a tentative phylogeny, modest and cautious. The contents of many genera are sorted : Leuconoe is removed from subgeneric to generic position, whereas Myotis becomes a subgenus of it ; the myotodont species are cleared away from the Pipistrellus genus ; Glischropus and Scotozous are synonymized within Pipistrellus ; Hypsugo is raised to the generic level ; some species previously ranged within Pipistrellus will form provisionally a collective group, Attalepharca nov. ; the Eptesicus genus is broken up, the excluded species being grouped within Nycterikaupius gen. nov. ; the Nycticeini tribe is defined again after exclusion of Otonycteris , Scotoecus, Scotophilus , and addition of Hesperoptenus ; the species la io and Pipistrellus tasmaniensis are removed to Eptesicus (n.s.) and Pipistrellus dormeri to Scotoecus. Groupings of genera are stated according to the main evolutionary trends of I1/. The relevance of these is often warranted by close morphologic similarities of other teeth. This leads to a recognition of the major evolutionary radiations which occurred in the group. The filiations schematized at the end of the work show the dental relationships observed between the extant genera, and could represent a phylogenic framework. Two major facts are to be underlined : 1- the early divergence of leuconoids ; 2 - the successives crossings to myotodonty from the nyctaloid flow. Fossil data from the literature are punctually and tentatively incorporated within phylogenic sketches. 

The numerical importance of the Condylarths in the Cernaysian fauna is discussed. The Condylarth family, Tricuspiodontidae, is reviewed in the light of new material and its close relationships to the Phenacodontidae is suggested ; one new species is recognized : Tricuspiodon sobrinus. European Arctocyonidae are reviewed and the recentclassification of Van Valen is briefly commented on. Also,  the arctocyonine Landenodon is described for the first time in Thanetian (Late Paleocene) sediments ; two new species are proposed : T. lavocati and T. phelizoni. 

New dental and skeletal material referable to Palaeochiropteryx tupaiodon from the Middle Eocene locality of
Messel (G.F.R.) is studied, which provides additions to the previously gained knowledge of this european genus. Dental specimens from Geiseltal (G.D.R.), also of Middle Eocene age, allow us to analyze Cecilionycteria prisca. Some of these are separated to establish a new genus, Matthesia, and two new species, M. germanica and M. ? insolita. 

The faunal list of the mammals collected at the locality of Aumelas (Hérault, France) is revised. For the first
time this Middle Eocene locality is precisely settled in the european chronological scale of "niveaux repères", between the levels of Bouxwiller and Egerkingen, in Uppermost Lutetian.
A new Dichobunid from the site is described : Aumelasia gabineaudi n. g., n. sp. This new genus has primitive characters. and it may be in the descent of the Lower Eocene Protodichobune. 

Reigechimys octodontiformis gen. et sp. novo and R. plesiodon sp. novo are described. They represent the frrst record of the family Echimyidae for the Cerro Azul Formation (Huayquerian Age, Late Upper Miocene) at La Pampa Province, central Argentina. Both species have hypsodont cheek teeth with an eight-shaped occlusal design. This dental morphology represents a noticeable case of convergence to octodontids and indicates that these echimyids inhabited open environments. 

The genus Microstonyx was found only in the north eastern part of Spain : M. antiquus, referable to the
Eppelsheim type, from the pyrenean basins ; M. antiquus, more progresive, from the Vallès Basin : M. major-erymanthius group, from the Teruel-Ademuz Area and from Pieru (Penedès Basin).

  

This paper is about the oldest African rodents faunas, from the late Early Eocene, or early Middle Eocene, Glib Zegdou (Algeria) and Chambi (Tunisia) localities. Five species are described and figured, belonging to a new family here created, the Zegdoumyidae.

This family is compared to the Early and Middle Eocene rodents families from Asia, Europe and North America (Chapattimyidae, Yuomyidae, Gliridae, Theridomyidae, lschyromyidae and Sciuravidae), as well as to those known from the Late Eocene African locality Bir El Ater (Anomaluridae and Phiomyidae).

On the one hand, it seems clear that the African endemic Anomaluridae arise from the Zegdoumyidae. On the other hand, the lschyromyidae, or primitive Sciuravidae, may be the most reliable ancestral groups for the Zegdoumyidae. Thus, this new family can be considered as the sister group for the American Sciuravidae on the one hand, and for the European Gliridae on the other hand.

The biogeographical consequences of these phylogenetic hypotheses are discussed. A new phase of communication between Europe and North Africa is inferred, during the Early Eocene. It has been followed by a short period of endemism, allowing the adaptive radiation for the Zegdoumyidae, preceding the immigration of the Phiomyidae, during the Late Eocene, probably from Asian relatives. 

The revision of the Rhombodontidae from the Maastrichtian of Morocco led us to the description of a new species: Rhombodus andriesi.

The biometrical study of populations of R. binkhorsti and R. microdon, species sometimes considered as synonymous, supports the conclusion that they represent two distinct species and not young and adult specimens of a single species. The stratigraphical range of these two species confirms this
result.

The reexarnination of type-series studied by C. Ararnbourg led us to revise the generic status of Rhombodus bondoni which is now ranged, because his dental features, in the new genus Dasyrhombodus showing a less derived dentition than Rhombodus. The stratigraphical range of each species is clarified within the phosphatic series. 

Pangolins have never shown a high taxic diversity and their fossil record is scarce. We report here the first discovery of a partial humerus from late Oligocene deposits in Pech du Fraysse (MP28, France). The new specimen from Pech du Fraysse is described and compared to various extant and extinct species of pangolins. It shows a suite of morphological features very similar to the humeri discovered in Saint-André (MP 26), Solnhofen (Burdigalien), and Saulcet (Aquitanian), attributed here to Necromanis franconica. The description of the specimen from Pech du Fraysse allowed us to discuss the systematics of Paleogene and Neogene pholidotans. The differences between PFY 4051 and N. franconica on the one side, and N. quercyi on the other side, might be sufficiently important to justify a generic distinction. A comparison with extant species showed that N. franconica was likely terrestrial and fossorial based on its humeral morphology. 

Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology. In 19 parts ; Initiated by Prof. Dr. Oskar KUHN ; Edited by Dr. Peter WELLNHOFER, München. - Part. 17 A : Pelycosauria, by Dr. Robert R. REISZ, Erindael Campus, University of Toronto. 1986. VIII, 102 pp., 43 fig., 20,5 x 25,5 cm, soft cover : DM 140, - (Pref. - Price for subscribers to the whole series : DM 126, -). ISBN 3-437-30486-0. 

Several different taxa of jawed vertebrates are reported for the first time from the Devonian of south-eastern Montagne Noire, France. Besides some undeterminable fragments of placoderm fishes from the Pragian and Lower Emsian, the material from the Upper Devonian is mainly represented by Melanosteus occitanus gen. and sp. nov. (Frasnian) and Thoralodus cabrieri LEHMAN, 1952 ("Famennian"). The good state of preservation of Melanosteus allows a detailed anatomical study leading to a phylogenetic analysis of the selenosteid pachyosteomorphs. 

Seventeen species of cricetid rodent are recognized and described from lower and middle Siwalik deposits in the Potwar Plateau of Pakistan. These species are grouped in three categories, characterized as subfamilies (e. g., Megacricetodontinae, Myocricetodontinae, and Dendromurinae); an additional and more abundant category of rodents from these deposits, the Democricetodontinae, is excluded from this study, and will be described in a later study. Fifteen of the species are new, and four new genera are described. The Siwalik cricetid taxa are : Megacricetodon aquilari, n. sp.; Megacricetodon sivalensis, n. sp.; Megacricetodon daamsi, n. sp.; Megacricetodon mythikos, n. sp.; Punjabemys downsi, n. gen. & n. sp.; Punjabemys leptos, n. gen. & n. sp.; Punjabemys mikros, n. gen. & n. sp.; Myocricetodon sivalensis, n. sp.;  Myocricetodon sp.; Dakkamyoides lavocati, n. gen. & n. sp.; Dakkamyoides perplexus, n. gen. & n. sp.; Dakkamys asiaticus, n. sp.; Dakkamys barryi, n. sp.; Dakkamys sp.; Paradakkamys chinjiensis, n. gen. & n. sp.; Potwarmus primitivus, n. gen.; and Potwarmus minimus, n. gen. & n. sp. This diverse record of middle Miocene small mammals illuminates a profound radiation of cricetid rodents in southem Asia, the effects of which were felt in Europe and Africa as well as the rest of Asia. 

The Arvicolid evolution results in an increase of the dental structure complexity. The M3/ differenciation seems to characterise the tribe subdivisions, that of M/1 being variable from one to another lineage. The phyletic relationships of fossil lineages are discussed from a paleogeographic point of view. 

La découverte de nouveaux gisements à micromammifères dans le Miocène du Sud de la France et d'Espagne montre que, s'il n'est plus possible d'accepter dans son intégralité le schéma phylétique de Fahlbusch du genre Megacricetodon, il existe toutefois des segments de lignées à l'intérieur de provinces géographiques différentes (Péninsule Ibérique, France, Europe Centrale), avec lesquels on peut établir une biochronologie locale, segments qu'il est aussi possible de placer les uns par rapport aux autres, en utilisant les corrélations que l'on peut reconnaître entre certains niveaux repères des mammalogistes et l'échelle stratigraphique marine.
En utilisant ces données nouvelles, et d'après l'étude de la première molaire inférieure, nous proposons le
schéma évolutif suivant, pour les espèces de grande taille :

1 - au début du Burdigalien supérieur. une espèce commune, M. collongensis, issue de la forme ancestrale M. primitivus, est présente, de la Péninsule Ibérique à l'Europe Centrale. Son évolution est mal connue en Espagne, par contre cette lignée s'éteindrait en France au Burdigalien terminal avec le stade M. gersii nov. sp. de Sansan et de Luc-sur-Orbieu.
2 - au cours de la régression post-burdigalienne. reconnue en Languedoc et dans la Péninsule Ibérique apparaîtrait une espèce immigrante, M. crusafonti qui, dans cette dernière province, évolue pour donner M. ibericus de Nombrevilla. L'espèce M. gregarius de La Grive M et de La Grenatière dériverait de cette forme immigrants, en ayant une évolution différente.
3 - en Suisse, Bavière et Europe centrale, la lignée M. primitivus - M. collongensis va s'individualiser, dès le Burdigalien supérieur ou terminal, et donner naissance à la lignée M. bavaricus qui s'éteindra avec le stade M. germanicus nov. sp. du gisement anté - Hipparion de Anwil. Cette dernière espèce a été trouvée pour la première fois en France, dans le gisement de Collet Redon.