Carettochelyidae is a family of cryptodiran turtles belonging to the Trionychia. It contains only a single living species, the pig-nosed turtle native to New Guinea and Northern Australia. Stem-group carettochelyids are known from the Cretaceous of Asia, with the family being widely distributed across North America, Europe, Asia and Africa during much of the Cenozoic.
Propalaeotherium was an early genus of perissodactyl endemic to Europe and Asia during the early Eocene. There are currently six recognised species within the genus, with P. isselanum as the type species.
Alexandre Brongniart was a French chemist, mineralogist, geologist, paleontologist, and zoologist, who collaborated with Georges Cuvier on a study of the geology of the region around Paris. Observing fossil content as well as lithology in sequences, he classified Tertiary formations and was responsible for defining 19th century geological studies as a subject of science by assembling observations and classifications.
Hyaenodon ("hyena-tooth") is an extinct genus of carnivorous placental mammals from extinct tribe Hyaenodontini within extinct subfamily Hyaenodontinae, that lived in Eurasia and North America from the middle Eocene, throughout the Oligocene, to the early Miocene.
Palaeotherium is the type genus of the extinct perissodactyl family Palaeotheriidae, a Palaeogene-exclusive lineage within the superfamily Equoidea that diverged from the extant Equidae by the Palaeocene to early Eocene. The genus lived in Europe and possibly the Middle East and ranged from the middle Eocene to the early Oligocene. Fossils of Palaeotherium were first described in 1782 by the French naturalist Robert de Lamanon and then closely studied by another French naturalist Georges Cuvier since 1798. Cuvier erected the genus name in 1804 and recognized multiple species up to 1824 based on overall fossil sizes and limb bone morphologies, although several were eventually reclassified to other perissodactyl genera by other naturalists. It was the fourth fossil mammal genus to be described with official taxonomic authority and is recognized as an important milestone within the field of palaeontology due to contributing to the developing ideas of evolution, extinction, and succession and demonstrating the morphological diversity of different species within one genus.
Lophiodon is an extinct genus of mammal related to chalicotheres. It lived in Eocene Europe 52 to 38 million years ago, and was previously thought to be closely related to Hyrachyus. Lophiodon was named and described by Cuvier (1822) based on specimens from the Sables du Castrais Formation.
Atacisaurus is an extinct dubious genus of gavialoid crocodylian. Fossils have been found in the Grès de Carcassonne Member of the Sables du Castrais Formation in Laure-Minervois, France that date back to the Middle Eocene.
Iberosuchus is a genus of extinct sebecosuchian mesoeucrocodylian found in Western Europe from the Eocene. Remains from Portugal was described in 1975 by Antunes as a sebecosuchian crocodilian. This genus has one species: I. macrodon. Iberosuchus was a carnivore, unlike the crocodilians today, they are not aquatic and are instead terrestrial.
Quercygale is an extinct genus of placental mammals from extinct family Quercygalidae within clade Carnivoraformes, that lived in Europe during the early to late Eocene. Phylogenetic analysis of the basicranial morphology of carnivoramorphans suggests Quercygale is the most advanced member of clade Carnivoraformes as a sister taxon to crown group Carnivora, predating the split between Feliformia and Caniformia, although another recent study has proposed genus Quercygale should be placed as a stem group within Feliformia.
Anoplotherium is the type genus of the extinct Palaeogene artiodactyl family Anoplotheriidae, which was endemic to Western Europe. It lived from the late Eocene to the earliest Oligocene. It was the fifth fossil mammal genus to be described with official taxonomic authority, with a history extending back to 1804 when its fossils from Montmartre in Paris, France were first described by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier. Discoveries of incomplete skeletons of A. commune in 1807 led Cuvier to thoroughly describe unusual features for which there are no modern analogues. His drawn skeletal and muscle reconstructions of A. commune in 1812 were amongst the first instances of anatomical reconstructions based on fossil evidence. Cuvier's contributions to palaeontology based on his works on the genus were revolutionary for the field, not only proving the developing ideas of extinction and ecological succession but also paving the way for subfields such as palaeoneurology. Today, there are four known species.
Allaeochelys is an extinct genus of Carettochelyid turtle, known from the Eocene to Miocene of Europe, Asia, North America and Africa.
The Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France, otherwise known as BSGF - Earth Sciences Bulletin is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering Earth sciences. The journal publishes articles, short communications, reviews, comments and replies. It is published by EDP Sciences and the editor-in-chief is Laurent Jolivet. The journal was established in 1830. It is a publication of the Société géologique de France. Most of the older content, published before 1924 is available online at the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
Pterosphenus is an extinct genus of marine snake of the Eocene period.
Kerberos ("Cerberus") is an extinct genus of hyainailourid hyaenodonts in the subfamily Hyainailourinae, that lived in Europe. It contains the single species Kerberos langebadreae.
Vexillum gaudryi is an extinct species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk, in the family Costellariidae, the ribbed miters.
Dentaneosuchus is a genus of large bodied sebecid crocodylomorph from the Middle Eocene of Issel and Réalmont (France). Originally described as Atacisaurus crassiproratus, the discovery of additional remains led to it being placed in a separate genus in 2023. It was tentatively recovered as the basalmost member of the family Sebecidae. Because of this Dentaneosuchus could play an important part in deciphering the origins and dispersal of European sebecids, as their presence on the continent, far away from their primary range in South America, is still not entirely resolved. It reached a similar size to the enormous Barinasuchus, making it not only one of the biggest sebecids but also the biggest terrestrial carnivore of Cenozoic Europe. Dentaneosuchus would have been an apex predator of its environment, capable of taking large prey such as Lophiodon. However, for as of yet unknown reasons crocodylomorphs would lose their spot as top predator in this part of the world by the end of the Eocene, with Dentaneosuchus representing one of the last members of its group in Europe.
The research history of Anoplotherium spans back to 1804 when Georges Cuvier first described the fossils of this extinct artiodactyl and named the genus after describing Palaeotherium, making it one of the first fossil mammal genera to be described as well as having one of the earliest official taxonomic authorities. It was also amongst the first fossil genera to be reconstructed by drawings and biomechanics. Subsequent descriptions of fossil evidence by Cuvier are also said to have been some of the earliest instances of palaeoneurology and palaeopathology. Anoplotherium was a significant find in palaeontological history and was once an iconic element of text and classroom sources of palaeontology, geology, and natural history. Today, it has a lessened cultural status compared to the 19th century as a result of public interest in Mesozoic dinosaurs or Neogene-Quaternary mammals, but it is still regularly acknowledged in sources of the history of palaeontology.
Acteon biplicatus is an extinct species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Acteonidae.
Acteon morelletorum is an extinct species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Acteonidae.
The research history of Palaeotherium is complicated given its extensive fossil record and lengthy taxonomic history, with the earliest record of its fossils dating back to 1782 when the French physicist Robert de Lamanon described the skull of what the naturalist Georges Cuvier described as belonging to P. medium in 1804. Cuvier initially recognized its affinities to tapirs and rhinoceroses and classified fossil material to three different species based on size. From 1805 to 1824, he established additional species based on the morphologies of postcranial remains and drew a reconstructed skeleton of P. magnum in 1824. The fossil mammal genus was the fourth to have been recognized with undisputed taxonomic authority. Palaeotherium had since been a subject of significant attention by many other palaeontologists, and it was gradually revised to be recognized as taxonomically distinct from its other perissodactyl relatives.
