France

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Obelignathus septimanicus holotype, MDE D30 from the 'Grès à Reptiles' Formation of Montouliers, southern France. Photographs and photogrammetric models of the right dentary in dorsal (A), anterior (B), medial (C), and lateral (D) views.

Photographed at the Cité de l'Automobile, France.

Solitary tooth of a sauropod from Angeac-Charente in France. Based on its morphology, it is not from an unnamed titanosaur like other material from this site, but from an unnamed titanosauriform similar to Ligabuesaurus or Veneosaurus.

this sponge of the Santonien chalk is on a flint nivel "Brasspoint" . it's probably Ventriculites - it was found in a subterranean quarry in the "Forêt de La Londe" Normandie - France (cliché Jean-Claude Staigre - CNEK 2017

Lower Santonian from Les Âges, commune of Saint-Crépin-de-Richemont, Dordogne, France. The limestone is very rich in bryozoans.

The Pectinida fossil Neithea in Lower Santonian bioclastic limestone. Found near Les Âges in the commune of Saint-Crépin-de-Richemont, Dordogne, France.

Crommium angustatum Grateloup, 1827 fossil snail shell (apical view) from the Oligocene of France. (42 mm across at its widest) Of all the molluscs, the gastropods (snails) have made the most ecological adaptations. They can be found in almost all fundamental environments: marine, freshwater, terrestrial. Most gastropods live in the ocean, and have a single, asymmetrically coiled, external shell of calcium carbonate (CaCO3 - usually aragonite). The hard calcareous shell is the most easily fossilized part of the gastropod. The soft parts of a snail (the “slug” portion) include a well developed head having eyes, tentacles, and a mouth, and a well developed, strong, muscular foot used principally for locomotion. The shell is carried upright on the snail’s back, or is partially dragged behind. When threatened by a predator, many snails can retract their soft parts into the shell’s interior for protection. Many fossil snails in the Paleozoic rock record are often not well preserved, or are preserved as internal molds. The original aragonite of many gastropod shells is not stable on geologic time scales, and often recrystallizes or dissolves completely away. Fossil snail shells in Mesozoic and Cenozoic rocks are usually better preserved. Classification: Animalia, Mollusca, Gastropoda, Naticoidea, Ampullinidae Age: Rupelian Stage (Stampian Stage), Lower Oligocene Locality: Gaas, Landes Department, Aquitaine, southwestern France

Crommium angustatum Grateloup, 1827 fossil snail shell (apical view) from the Oligocene of France. (42 mm across at its widest) Of all the molluscs, the gastropods (snails) have made the most ecological adaptations. They can be found in almost all fundamental environments: marine, freshwater, terrestrial. Most gastropods live in the ocean, and have a single, asymmetrically coiled, external shell of calcium carbonate (CaCO3 - usually aragonite). The hard calcareous shell is the most easily fossilized part of the gastropod. The soft parts of a snail (the “slug” portion) include a well developed head having eyes, tentacles, and a mouth, and a well developed, strong, muscular foot used principally for locomotion. The shell is carried upright on the snail’s back, or is partially dragged behind. When threatened by a predator, many snails can retract their soft parts into the shell’s interior for protection. Many fossil snails in the Paleozoic rock record are often not well preserved, or are preserved as internal molds. The original aragonite of many gastropod shells is not stable on geologic time scales, and often recrystallizes or dissolves completely away. Fossil snail shells in Mesozoic and Cenozoic rocks are usually better preserved. Classification: Animalia, Mollusca, Gastropoda, Naticoidea, Ampullinidae Age: Rupelian Stage (Stampian Stage), Lower Oligocene Locality: Gaas, Landes Department, Aquitaine, southwestern France

Crommium angustatum Grateloup, 1827 fossil snail shell (abapertural view) from the Oligocene of France. (57 mm tall) Of all the molluscs, the gastropods (snails) have made the most ecological adaptations. They can be found in almost all fundamental environments: marine, freshwater, terrestrial. Most gastropods live in the ocean, and have a single, asymmetrically coiled, external shell of calcium carbonate (CaCO3 - usually aragonite). The hard calcareous shell is the most easily fossilized part of the gastropod. The soft parts of a snail (the “slug” portion) include a well developed head having eyes, tentacles, and a mouth, and a well developed, strong, muscular foot used principally for locomotion. The shell is carried upright on the snail’s back, or is partially dragged behind. When threatened by a predator, many snails can retract their soft parts into the shell’s interior for protection. Many fossil snails in the Paleozoic rock record are often not well preserved, or are preserved as internal molds. The original aragonite of many gastropod shells is not stable on geologic time scales, and often recrystallizes or dissolves completely away. Fossil snail shells in Mesozoic and Cenozoic rocks are usually better preserved. Classification: Animalia, Mollusca, Gastropoda, Naticoidea, Ampullinidae Age: Rupelian Stage (Stampian Stage), Lower Oligocene Locality: Gaas, Landes Department, Aquitaine, southwestern France

Pleuroceras spinatum (Bruguière 1789)- Amaltheidae; Pyritic specimen. biozone index to the end of Pliensbachian. Stage : Pliensbachian from 189,6 ± 1,5 Ma to -183,0 ± 1,5 Ma (million years ago) (Domerian) Locality: Lanuéjols, Gard, France Size : 4.5x3.8x1.45 cm 30.6g

Fossil shell of Aulacostephanus yo from France, on display at Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy, Paris.

Crioceratites fabreae fossils on display at the French National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France.

Crioceratites duvali fossil on display at the French National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France.

Abri sous falaise à Voulgézac (Charente, France)

Rock shelter (abri) in Coniacian limestone in the Boulou valley (left-hand side) near La Tabaterie, commune of La Gonterie-Boulouneix, Dordogne, France. In the abri there is a natural spring and next to it a deep well - dangerous!