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Abstract: The development of phylogenetic methods since the beginning of the 1970s is analyzed through Armand de Ricqlès’ comment, in 1975, on the triumph of the spirit of geometry over the spirit of finesse. Cladistics was then compared to geometry (Hennig''s congruence [i.e. congruent character-state trees]). However, the qualitative aspect of anatomy (spirit of finesse) warrants the quality of a taxon×character matrix so that minimal length trees were never devoid of finesse. Statistical approaches, especially maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods, with sophisticated mathematics (more rigorous geometry?), have reached a wide acceptance after years of debates hindered by polemics. The molecular trees based on these approaches are now dominating the phylogenetic literature, although these trees too include some ambiguity so that one can wonder: do evolutionary models belong to geometry or finesse? [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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Abstract: The subphylum Blastozoa is the most abundant and among the most diversified of echinoderm groups during the Early Paleozoic. Reappraisal of their highly diverse anatomies suggests that their superficially incomparable morphologies are actually relatively homogeneous among the major blastozoan clades. Their generic diversity shows two peaks (Drumian, Sandbian), linked by a single origination event during the Cambrian-Lower Ordovician interval. During the lower Middle Ordovician, blastozoans were distributed in distinct provinces, but became progressively more cosmopolitan during the Upper Ordovician. After the Late Ordovician crisis event, blastozoans were restricted to the Laurentian and the Baltic margins. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We propose here a short synthesis of the saurischian evolutionary history. Our knowledge of the diversity and evolution of the saurischian non-avian dinosaurs has increased during the past decade. The generalized use of cladistics has led to various phylogenetic hypotheses, some of them in agreement on the evolution of saurischians, even if some controversy remains. The saurischian evolution is closely linked to two of the five great mass extinctions, which punctuated life history, but probably also to a third, less important, extinction event at the end of the Early Jurassic. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The survey of proboscides remains recovered from Kollé quarries (Northern Chad) gives evidence of a new taxa of Elephantidae. The anatomical and cladistic analysis permit to consider this new taxa as the sister group of Stegotetrabelodontinae. This new discovery reinforces, once again, the remarkable biodiversity of this group. The proboscidean''s association observed in these layers and the evolutionary state of teeth permit us to date the Kollé fossiliferous sector close to the early Pliocene. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The classification of the Paris basin Bajocian–Oxfordian species of the genus Nucleolites is revised. A classic point of view, until now used by authors and mainly based on the general morphology of the test, is first developed. Then, this last is modified with new architectural data, which refer to the extraxial–axial theory concerning the structure of the apical system as well as the presence of supplementary and catenal plates. These architectural data are first used facing the general morphology of the test. Such approach leads to a new point of view for the classification of the species of the genus Nucleolites. The systematics is particularly significantly simplified. The deduced and proposed phylogenetic hypothesis shows that the genus Nucleolites is composed of two parallel lineages as soon as the beginning of the genus in the Bajocian: a group with a so-called “primitive” architecture, and a group with an “advanced” one. On and after the Late Callovian, the species with a primitive organisation give birth to advanced species, which continue in younger time. In this way, the genus Nucleolites may be paraphyletic since the Late Callovian onward. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: New fieldwork undertaken at Saint-Vallier from 1993–1999 has revealed that the site has two fossiliferous horizons of hardened loess, of which the upper (LD 3) is richer and may be considered the reference locality for the Middle Villafranchian. The lower horizon, LD 2, yields many fewer taxa but is distinguished by the presence of an Allohippus stenonis quite different from that in LD 3. The faunal list includes six genera of molluscs, eight species of birds and 42 mammalian species, including three insectivores, six rodents, two lagomorphs, one primate, 15 carnivores, two proboscideans, four perissodactyls, and night artiodactyls. We have recovered fourteen taxa new to the locality: four molluscs, a bird, three insectivores, two rodents, two perissodactyls, and two artiodactyls. Pollen is relatively rare, but it is interesting to note the presence of cedar and plane trees. The mammalian community reflects a mosaic environment of steppe punctuated by open woodland, near a body of water and under a relatively moist but not especially cold climate. The age of the upper horizon is estimated at about 2 Ma; the mammalian fauna is characterized by eight species representing each an evolutionary stage in a defined lineage, two typical associations of taxa, and the first appearances (FADs) of seven taxa. Many European localities yield a comparable fauna with some or all of these features, and their ages correspond to the same biozone MNQ 17. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The taphonomic study of the Mid-Villafranchian palaeontologic deposit at Saint-Vallier (Drôme, France) is presented. The minimum number of individuals (MNI) and the number of identified specimens per taxon (NISP) are counted, as well as the different anatomical elements: the result points out that bones are mixed all together and there are no special places where either a particular species or anatomic remains could be accumulated. Orientation study of the bones inside the fossiliferous clusters is made by mirror image rose diagrams: bones are oriented and parallel to the long axis of the cluster. The water appears to be the principal agent for transport and accumulation of remains, nevertheless the fossils did not travel from a long distance. Weathering on bones is consistent with a fast burial. Carnivores marks are investigated too, as well as vegetable ones: the latter are the most abundant marks on the fossils from Saint-Vallier. Tooth marks and damages demonstrate that Carnivores activity on bones has existed, nevertheless they are less heavily pronounced than those one can find on bones from a Carnivore den. Carnivores affected remains but they are not the principal agents for transport and accumulation of fossils: this role was played by water. Population study on the most abundant Deer taxa, “Cervus” philisi valliensis and Croizetoceros ramosus medius, is made by age diagrams. They show a difference in the mortality profiles, implying the predation on different predators living in two different environments: “C.” philisi probably dwelled in woodlands, where it was killed by ambush hunting Carnivores (Lynx, Leopard, Megantereon cultridens), whereas Croizetoceros ramosus frequented more open landscapes, where it was killed by predators that hunted selecting the weakest animals among their preys (Cheetah and Hunting Hyaena). No Human tracks are founding the Villafranchian levels. Human presence is not necessary to explain either fossiliferous accumulation or mark on the bones. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: New excavations at Saint-Vallier yielded seven Proscidean remains, whose 5 are in a sufficient state of preservation. All fossils pertain to the mastodont Anancus arvernensis falconeri, typical of the Middle Villafranchian and of the lowermost Upper Villafranchian. This material is perfectly similar to the numerous remains (39 pieces) found by Viret during the old excavations (but Viret gave a brief list of ten only). It was a very ubiquitous species, living in various biotopes such as the open woodland and the locally wooded savanna. We did not recover any remain of Mammuthus meridionalis when Viret discovered 17 fossils of that primitive mammoth (5 only are mentioned in work). A part of this practically unpublished material is briefly described and illustrated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Statistical description and comparisons of the equids recently collected at Saint-Vallier (LD2 and LD3) and of the old collections. Estimations of the weight and height at the withers. Size indices. The fossils of the lower level (LD2) are intermediate in size between those of El Rincon 1 and of the younger level of Saint-Vallier. Moreover, they are as slender as those of El Rincon 1. Most fossils from the younger level (LD3) may be referred to A. stenonis vireti. A few fossils belong to a smaller and slenderer form. Weight estimations of equids aged between 2.5 and 1.5 Ma. Tentative classification according to weight and morphology. Taxonomical and chronological remarks, in particular on Livenzovka. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A biometric and morphologic study of the Bovid remains from the Mid-Villafranchian deposit of Saint-Vallier (Drôme, France) is presented. Three Bovid taxa are recognized in the upper fossiliferous layer (LD3): Leptobos (Leptobos) elatus merlai, Gazella borbonica and Gazella sp. Two Bovid taxa are also found in the lower fossiliferous layer (LD2): Leptobos cf. elatus merlai and Gallogoral meneghinii. The first one is very similar, morphologically and biometrically, to Leptobos from LD3 level. The second species was only found on the lower level. No bones belonging to Gazellospira torticornis were discovered during the most recent excavations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The biometric and morphologic study of the Cervids remains from the Mid-Villafranchian deposit of Saint-Vallier (Drôme, France) was presented. Three Cervid taxa are recognized in the upper fossiliferous layer (LD3): “Cervus” philisi valliensis, C. ramosus medius and Eucladoceros ctenoides vireti. The first and the second are the most abundant species in the site. Their post-cranial bones are described and compared with some recent Cervids like Fallow Deer (genus Dama) and Red Deer (Cervus elaphus). The characters linking “C.” philisi with the recent Fallow Deer are recognized. If “C.” philisi and C. ramosus teeth and antlers are diagnostic, the post-cranial bones determination is less simple: the best character to determinate them is the size, but it is not always fruitful. I show that a combination of size, bone proportions and morphological characters allows us to discriminate the two species. The third taxon instead is larger and cannot be mistaken with the others. Two Cervid taxa are found in the lower fossiliferous layer (LD2): a large species and a small one. Morphologically and biometrically, they are very similar to Eucladoceros ctenoides vireti and C. ramosus medius from the upper layer, and they could belong to the same subspecies. The presence of a third species (?“Cervus” philisi) is probable but not sure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: New excavations at Saint-Vallier yielded a single last lower milk molar of Sus strozzii, a species new for the site. Sus strozzii is known from the Lower Villafranchian onwards, but mainly from the Middle and Upper Villafranchian of Italy, France, Spain, Great Britain, Netherland, Romania, Greece, Turkey and Israel-Palestine. That large boar is related to the present long-snouted wild pigs of East Asia like Sus verrucosus and Sus celebensis, whose classical biotope is dense forest under a wet and rather warm climate. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: During the Upper Pliocene, two subspecies of Nyctereutes megamastoides (Pomel, 1842) — N. m. megamastoides and N. m. vulpinus — have been described in Western Europe. Nyctereutes megamastoides vulpinus was defined for the distinctive form of Saint-Vallier (Drôme, France) to which was associated the remains from Puebla de Valverde (Teruel, Spain). Helped by the recent descriptions and identifications, especially the one of a pliocene species from China, Nyctereutes tingi, the statut of the taxon from Saint-Vallier is revisited. We suggest that the Nyctereutes remains from this locality (excavation Viret in 1946–1956 and excavation Faure and Guérin in 1993–1999) and those from Puebla de Valverde should be referred to a distinct species, Nyctereutes vulpinus comb. and stat. nov. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Recent excavations carried out by M. Faure and C. Guérin in the Montrebut palaeontological site (Saint-Vallier, Drôme, France) yield eleven species of Carnivores. They belong to the main Carnivores families (Canidae, Ursidae, Mustelidae, Hyaenidae, Felidae) and confirm most of the former list established by . Many new morphometric data have been collected. They give more precision to prior knowledges with which comparisons may be attempted. A complete skull of Chasmaporthetes lunensis (= Euryboas lunensis, Hyaenidae) has been discovered. As the site is better understood, it makes possible to precise the palaeoecology of the species when data is good enough. A spatial approach of the Carnivore''s distribution among bones accumulations is possible thanks to a rigorous space record of the fossils. The great number of species but low number of individuals for each of them makes this approach easy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In the Saint-Vallier locality large rodents are represented by two castorids and one porcupine. The material is not abundant and comes exclusively from the ancient Viret''s excavations; the recent ones yielded no additional material from these forms. Castor fiber is represented by an almost complete skull and associated mandibles of a large individual, and some isolated teeth. Their measurements correspond to the largest extant representatives of the genus (except the muzzle that seems to be a little larger); so this material is attributed to the extant species and no longer, as Viret did, to a fossil species Castor plicidens, the validity of which being questioned by recent authors. Extant castorids testify to the presence of a mixing of running and still waters, at least 1.5 to 2 meters in depth, never completely dry or completely frozen; they feed exclusively on plants: leaves, branches and bark of different trees but also various grasses and rhizomes of aquatic plants. An incisor, first attributed to a porcupine by Viret, was later recognized by himself (in a manuscript note) as a representative of another — now extinct — castorid, Trogontherium cuvieri, as large as Castor fiber, but which disappeared in the MNQ 23 level. The fossil porcupine Hystrix refossa is a little larger than the extant Hystrix cristata but otherwise very similar; porcupines favour relatively arid biotopes with sparse vegetation and feed on succulent roots, fruits, bark of trees, some insects and flesh; they frequently gnaw bones. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The birds of the Late Pliocene of Saint-Vallier belong to the following taxa: Ciconia nigra, the Black Stork, Cygnus cf. cygnus, a swan close to the Whooper Swan, Haliaeetus albicilla, the White-tailed Eagle, two undetermined Accipitridae, Pavo bravardi, Bravard''s Peafowl, Otis sp., a bustard, and Corvus corax antecorax. This latter form is a subspecies of the recent species Corvus corax, the Raven. During the Pleistocene the different populations of C. corax show ecophenotypical variations, in relation to climatic conditions, which are surimposed on a progressive increase in size. Most of the birds correspond to an environment including rivers, lakes, marshes, or ponds, in wooded areas, with high trees. Only the bustard indicates an environment of grasslands and an arid climate, at least during a part of the year. This avifauna is of modern type and includes only one tropical tertiary relict, P. bravardi, which is very close to the recent Green Peafowl, from South-East Asia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: New malacological material recovered in levels LD2 and LD3 from the Middle Villafranchian site of Saint-Vallier allows to identify six morphospecies distributed into three families. Occurrence of the genus Triptychia (Clausiliidae) which becomes extinct at the Pliopleistocene boundary appears noteworthy. Palaeoenvironmental interpretation deduced from malacofaunas indicates a composite landscape and temperate climatic conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]