PBDB Collection

Valbro A (Oligocene of France)

Also known as Quercy, MP 22

Where: Midi-Pyrenées, France (44.4° N, 1.7° E: paleocoordinates 43.6° N, 1.6° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: MP 22 (33.9 - 28.4 Ma)

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: sinkhole; poorly lithified, red mudstone

• The fossiliferous deposits comprise phosphatic infill of paleokarst of upper Middle and lower Upper Jurassic limestone of the Rocamadour and Staint Gery Formations ("Callovo-Oxfordium"). These phosphatic deposits have been mined in the late 19th and early 20th century. Today the infill of four caves ("galleries") is still preserved in situ. These caves empty at different levels into a 20 m deep shaft-like sinkhole ("puits") and are designated with the letters A to D. Valbro A is at the shallowest level, at about 4 m depth (Peigné et al. 2014).

•The infill of all four galleries consists of the characteristic red loam known from other Quercy phosphorite localities. It is poor in iron pisolites but relatively rich in fragments of phosphatic rock and limestone (Peigné et al. 2014).

Size class: mesofossils

Preservation: original phosphate

Collected in 2000, 2008, 2009, 2012

Collection methods: surface (in situ), sieve

• "Fossils were collected directly from the sediment and after screen washing" (Rage & Augé, 2015).

•"The material is curated in the Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution (ISEM), Université de Montpellier 2, France" (Rage & Augé, 2015).

•First reconnaissance at Valbro took place in 2000, main excavations were conducted in the years 2008, 2009 and 2012 (Peigné et al. 2014).

Primary reference: J.-C. Rage and M. Augé. 2015. Valbro: A new site of vertebrates from the early Oligocene (MP 22) of France (Quercy). III - Amphibians and squamates. Annales de Paléontologie 101(1):29-41 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 167513: authorized by Johannes Mueller, entered by Torsten Liebrecht on 19.03.2015, edited by Philip Mannion

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names

Mammalia
Placentalia -	Carnivora indet.² Carnivora indet.² Bowdich 1821 carnivoran VBO specimens
Carnivora -	Arctoidea indet.² Arctoidea indet.² carnivoran VBO 493
Carnivora - Ursidae	Pachycynodon sp.², Pachycynodon crassirostris², cf. Pachycynodon boriei² Pachycynodon sp.² Schlosser 1887 bear VBO 459 Pachycynodon crassirostris² Schlosser 1888 bear VBO 458 cf. Pachycynodon boriei² Filhol 1876 bear VBO 487
Carnivora - Nimravidae	Dinailurictis bonali¹ Dinailurictis bonali¹ Helbing 1922 false sabre-tooth UM VBOA3-15-17
Carnivora - Palaeogalidae	Palaeogale sectoria² Palaeogale sectoria² Gervais 1848 carnivoran VBO 468
Rodentia - Theridomyidae	Issiodoromys medius², Blainvillimys gregarius², Sciuromys cayluxi² Issiodoromys medius² Vianey-Liaud 1976 rodent VBO 1064-1065 Blainvillimys gregarius² Schlosser 1884 rodent VBO 1066-1078 Sciuromys cayluxi² Schlosser 1884 rodent VBO 1060-1062
Rodentia - Cricetidae	Atavocricetodon aff. nanus² Atavocricetodon aff. nanus² Pelaez-Campomanes 1995 mouse VBO 1056-1059
Rodentia - Sciuridae	Palaeosciurus goti² Palaeosciurus goti² Vianey-Liaud 1974 squirrel VBO 1063
Reptilia
Squamata - Anguidae	Dopasia sp. Dopasia sp. Gray 1853 squamates "Dopasia s.l. sp."; VBO 15 (1 incomplete left dentary); VBO 16 to 19 (10 trunk vertebrae), VBO 20 (1 caudal vertebra)
Squamata -	? Uromastyx europaeus ? Uromastyx europaeus Moody 1980 spiny-tailed lizard VBO 11 (1 caudal vertebra)
Squamata - Lacertidae	Lacertidae indet. Lacertidae indet. Bonaparte 1831 squamates VBO 12 (1 incomplete left maxilla), VBO 13 (1 fragment of a right dentary), VBO 14 (1 fragment of a tooth-bearing bone)
Squamata - Colubridae	Coluber cadurci Coluber cadurci Rage 1974 racer VBO 510 and 511 (6 mid-trunk vertebrae)
Squamata -	Booidea indet. Booidea indet. Gray 1825 snake VBO 509 (3 trunk vertebrae)
Squamata - Boidae	Boidae "sp. C" Boidae "sp. C" Gray 1825 boa VBO 503 to 508 (15 trunk vertebrae)
Squamata -	Eoanilius aff. oligocenicus, Amphisbaenia indet. Eoanilius aff. oligocenicus Szyndlar 1994 snake VBO 501 (1 posterior trunk vertebra), VBO 502 (1 anterior trunk vertbra) Amphisbaenia indet. worm lizard VBO 31 (five poorly preserved dentaries)
Squamata - Amphisbaenidae	Amphisbaenidae indet. Amphisbaenidae indet. worm lizard VBO 21 (1 left dentary), VBO 22 (9 trunk vertebrae), VBO 23 (1 caudal vertebra)
Squamata - Blanidae	Blanidae indet. Blanidae indet. Kearney 2003 worm lizard VBO 24 to 26 (3 well preserved right dentaries), VBO 27 (1 almost complete left dentary), VBO 28 (1 well preserved right maxilla), VBO 29 (3 trunk vertebrae), VBO 30 (3 caudal vertebrae)

¹de Bonis et al. 2019; ²Peigné et al. 2014