Massecaps locality, Cruzy: Late/Upper Campanian - Early/Lower Maastrichtian, France
collected 1996-

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Bivalvia - Unionida - Unionidae
? Unionidae indet. Rafinesque 1820
Buffetaut et al. 1999
Reptilia - Dinosauria
Dinosauria indet. Owen 1842
Buffetaut et al. 1999
unnamed fourth type of eggshell, prismatic dinosauroid
Reptilia - Titanosauridae
Titanosauridae indet. Lydekker 1885
Buffetaut 2005
"reminiscent of Ampelosaurus atacis"
Megaloolithus sp. Mikhailov 1991
Buffetaut et al. 1999
spherulitic dinosauroid eggshell
Reptilia
Ampelosaurus atacis Le Loeuff 1995
Reptilia - Nodosauridae
Nodosauridae indet. Marsh 1890
Buffetaut 2005 1 specimen
femur
Reptilia - Rhabdodontidae
Rhabdodon cf. septimanicus Buffetaut and Le Loeuff 1991
M4
Reptilia - Prismatoolithidae
Prismatoolithus tenuis Vianey-Liaud and Crochet 1994
Buffetaut et al. 1999
prismatic dinosauroid eggshell
    = cf. Prismatoolithus sp. Zhao and Li 1993
Garcia 2000
Reptilia - Laevisoolithidae
Laevisoolithidae indet. Mikhailov 1991
Buffetaut et al. 1999
ratite, ornithoid eggshell
Reptilia
? Pseudogeckoolithus sp. Vianey-Liaud and López-Martínez 1997
Garcia 2000
Reptilia - Dromaeosauridae
Buffetaut et al. 1999 6 specimens
"probably"; MC-M324, M561, M938, M228, M187, claw
    = Dromaeosauridae indet. Colbert and Russell 1969
Chanthasit and Buffetaut 2009
Reptilia
Enantiornithes indet. Walker 1981
2 specimens
Martinavis cruzyensis n. gen., n. sp. Walker et al. 2007
Walker et al. 2007 1 specimen
ACAP-M 1957
Reptilia - Abelisauridae
Theropoda indet. Marsh 1881
    = Abelisauridae indet. Bonaparte and Novas 1985
Buffetaut et al. 1999
teeth
Reptilia - Azhdarchidae
? Azhdarchidae indet. Nessov 1984
Buffetaut 2008 2 specimens
Wing metacarpal; Musée de Cruzy, No. M3929, right distal syncarpal
Reptilia
Crocodylomorpha indet. (Hay 1930)
Martin and Buffetaut 2016 1 specimen
M2401, a posterior portion of the left ramus of a mandible
Mesosuchia indet. Huxley 1875
Buffetaut et al. 1999
invalid subgroup of Mesoeucrocodylia
Eusuchia indet. Huxley 1875
Buffetaut et al. 1999 2 specimens
M2496, isolated premaxilla; M1343, occipital portion of a skull
Acynodon iberoccitanus Buscalioni et al. 1997
Buffetaut 2005
mandible (M260), teeth
Allodaposuchus sp. Nopcsa 1928
Buffetaut 2005 1 specimen
braincase
    = Allodaposuchus precedens Nopcsa 1928
Martin and Buffetaut 2016
M1695
Testudines indet. Batsch 1788
    = Solemys sp. Lapparent de Broin and Murelaga 1996
Buffetaut et al. 1999
Reptilia - Testudines
Tong et al. 2022 1 specimen
MC M1127, a right costal 1
Bothremydidae indet. Baur 1891
Buffetaut et al. 1999
"close to Foxemys"
    = Foxemys mechinorum Tong et al. 1998
Gaffney et al. 2006
Foxemys is the most abundant form among vertebrates from this locality, including: MC M2114– M2118, all lower jaws; MC M1734, nearly complete skull; MC M2119, a partial skull; and several lower jaws, hundreds of disarticulated and isolated plates, vertebrae, girdles and limb bones
Reptilia
Varanidae indet. Hardwicke and Gray 1824
    = Varanoidea indet. Gray 1827
Buffetaut et al. 1999
Reptilia - Lacertilia
Lacertilia indet. Owen 1842
Buffetaut et al. 1999
Mammalia
Tribosphenida indet. McKenna 1975
Buffetaut 2005 1 specimen
Mammalia - Zhelestidae
Labes garimondi Pol et al. 1992
Martin et al. 2015 1 specimen
Right mandible fragment, M2521
Amphibia - Temnospondyli - Albanerpetontidae
Amphibia indet. Linnaeus 1758
    = Albanerpetontidae indet. Fox and Naylor 1982
Buffetaut et al. 1999
Amphibia - Temnospondyli
Anura indet. (Fischer von Waldheim 1813)
Buffetaut et al. 1999
"reminiscent of the Discoglossidae"
Coelacanthimorpha - Coelacanthiformes - Mawsoniidae
Mawsoniidae indet. Schultze 1993
Cavin et al. 2005 1 specimen
angular
Axelrodichthys megadromos Cavin et al. 2016
Cavin et al. 2020 1 specimen
M2253, dentary
Actinopteri - Lepisosteiformes - Lepisosteidae
Lepisosteidae indet. Cuvier 1825
see common names

Geography
Country:France State/province:Languedoc-Roussillon County:Hérault
Coordinates: 43.3° North, 3.0° East (view map)
Paleocoordinates:34.5° North, 3.4° East
Basis of coordinate:based on nearby landmark
Altitude:109 meters
Geographic resolution:small collection
Time
Period:Cretaceous Epoch:Late/Upper Cretaceous
Key time interval:Late/Upper Campanian - Early/Lower Maastrichtian
Age range of interval:83.50000 - 66.00000 m.y. ago
Stratigraphy
Formation:Grès à Reptiles
Stratigraphic resolution:bed
Stratigraphy comments: "Rognacian"
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology:ferruginous claystone
Secondary lithology: sandstone
Includes fossils?Y
Lithology description: "variegated clays"; "which sometimes contain iron oxide nodules, and are cut by unfossiliferous sandy channels" ‘‘The vertebrates are scattered through a thickness of about 1 m of variegated clays which sometimes contain iron oxide nodules, and are cut by unfossiliferous sandy channels. It would appear to be a floodplain deposit’’ (Buffetaut et al., 1999)
Environment:"floodplain"
Geology comments: "a braided river affected by flood episodes under a climate alternating dry and wet seasons"
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body
Lagerst�tten type:concentrate
Degree of concentration:concentrated
Size of fossils:macrofossils,mesofossils
Abundance in sediment:abundant
Disassociated major elements:some
Disassociated minor elements:some
Fragmentation:occasional
Collection methods and comments
Collection methods:bulk,selective quarrying,mechanical,sieve,field collection
Reason for describing collection:general faunal/floral analysis
Collection dates:1996-
Metadata
Database number:48870
Authorizer:M. Carrano, P. Mannion, R. Benson, E. Vlachos Enterer:M. Carrano, E. Vlachos, R. Benson, J. Tennant
Modifier:P. Mannion Research group:vertebrate
Created:2005-04-01 10:18:15 Last modified:2023-08-16 03:24:27
Access level:the public Released:2005-04-01 10:18:15
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:

13032.ETE E. Buffetaut. 1998. First evidence of enantiornithine birds from the Upper Cretaceous of Europe: postcranial bones from Cruzy (Hérault, southern France). Oryctos 1:131-136 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano]

Secondary references:

29712 E. Buffetaut. 2005. Late Cretaceous vertebrates from the Saint-Chinian area (southern France): a review of previous research and an update on recent finds. Acta Palaeontologica Romaniae 5:39-48 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
30133 E. Buffetaut. 2008. Late Cretaceous pterosaurs from France: a review. Zitteliana B 28:249-255 [R. Butler/R. Butler]
13039 E. Buffetaut, J. Le Loeuff, H. Tong, S. Duffaud, L. Cavin, G. Garcia, D. Ward and l'Association Cruzy. 1999. Un nouveau gisement de vertébrés du Crétacé supérieur à Cruzy (Hérault, Sud de la France) [A new Late Cretaceous vetebrate locality at Cruzy (Hérault, southern France)]. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences à Paris, Sciences de la Terre et des Planètes 328:203-208 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
76814 L. Cavin, E. Buffetaut, Y. Dutour, G. Garcia, J. Le Loeuff, A. Méchin, P. Méchin, H. Tong, T. Tortosa, E. Turini, and X. Valentin. 2020. The last known freshwater coelacanths: new Late Cretaceous mawsoniid remains (Osteichthyes: Actinistia) from southern France. PLoS One 15(6):e0234183:1-19 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
17727ETE L. Cavin, P. L. Forey, E. Buffetaut and H. Tong. 2005. Latest European coelacanth shows Gondwanan affinities. Biology Letters 1:176-177 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
29887 P. Chanthasit and E. Buffetaut. 2009. New data on the Dromaeosauridae (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Late Cretaceous of southern France. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 180(2):145-154 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
27976 E. S. Gaffney, H. Tong, and P. A. Meylan. 2006. Evolution of the side-necked turtles: The families Bothremydidae, Euraxemydidae, and Araripemydidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 300:1-318 [M. Uhen/M. Uhen/M. Uhen]
16950ETE G. Garcia. 2000. Diversité des coquilles "minces" d'oeufs fossiles du Crétacé supérieur du sud de la France [Diversity of fossil eggshell fragments from the Upper Cretaceous of southern France]. Géobios 33(1):113-126 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/J. Alroy]
52039 J. D. Gardner and M. Böhme. 2008. Review of the Albanerpetontidae (Lissamphibia), with comments on the paleoecological preferences of European Tertiary albanerpetontids. In J. T. Sankey & S. Baszio (ed.), Vertebrate Microfossil Assemblages: Their Role in Paleoecology and Paleobiogeography 178-218 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
80599 E. Isasmendi, A. Torices, J. I. Canudo, P. J. Currie, and X. Pereda-Suberbiola. 2022. Upper Cretaceous European theropod palaeobiodiversity, palaeobiogeography and the intra‐Maastrichtian faunal turnover: new contributions from the Iberian fossil site of Laño. Papers in Palaeontology 8(1):e1419:1-38 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
59044 Y. Laurent, J. Le Loeuff, M. Bilotte, E. Buffetaut, and G. S. Odin. 2001. Campanian-Maastrichtian continental-marine connection at the Aquitaine-Pyrenees-Provence area (S France). In G. S. Odin (ed.), The Campanian-Maastrichtian Boundary. Developments in Palaeontology and Stratigraphy 19:657-674 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
36728ETE J. Le Loeuff. 1998. Les dinosaures du Crétacé supérieur de l'Île Ibéro-Armoricaine [The dinosaurs of the Upper Cretaceous of the Ibero-Armorican Island]. In A. M. G. de Carvalho, A. M. Andrade, V. F. dos Santos, J. Cascalho, R. Taborda, (eds.), I Encontro Internacional sobre Paleobiologia dos Dinossáurios. Museu Nacional de História Natural, Lisboa 49-64 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
81393 J. E. Martin and E. Buffetaut. 2016. An overview of the Late Cretaceous crocodilian assemblage from Cruzy, southern France. Current Research in Vertebrate Palaeontolgy. 3rd Annual Meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists (EAVP). Kaupia 14:33-40 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
50887 T. Martin, E. Buffetaut, and H. Tong. 2015. A Late Cretaceous eutherian mammal from southwestern France. Palaeontologische Zeitschrift 89(3):535-544 [P. Mannion/J. Tennant/P. Mannion]
17194ETE M. G. Pincemaille-Quillevere, E. Buffetaut, and F. Quillevere. 2006. Description ostéologique de l'arrière-crâne de Rhabdodon (Dinosauria, Euornithopoda) et implications phylogénetiques [Osteological description of the braincase of Rhabdodon (Dinosauria, Euornithopoda) and phylogenetic implications]. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France 177(2):97-104 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
75349 A. G. Sellés, B. Vila, and A. Galobart. 2014. Diversity of theropod ootaxa and its implications for the latest Cretaceous dinosaur turnover in southwestern Europe. Cretaceous Research 49:45-54 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/P. Mannion]
83297 H. Tong, E. Buffetaut, and J. Claude. 2022. Dortokid turtle remains from the Upper Cretaceous of Cruzy (Hérault, southern France) and phylogenetic implications. Palaeovertebrata 45(2):e3:1-7 [E. Vlachos/E. Vlachos/P. Mannion]
55429 B. Vila, A. Galobart, J. I. Canudo, J. Le Loeuff, J. Dinarès-Turell, V. Riera, O. Oms, T. Tortosa, and R. Gaete. 2012. The diversity of sauropod dinosaurs and their first taxonomic succession from the latest Cretaceous of southwestern Europe: Clues to demise and extinction. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 350–352:19-38 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
25461ETE C. A. Walker, E. Buffetaut, and G. J. Dyke. 2007. Large euenantiornithine birds from the Cretaceous of southern France, North America and Argentina. Geological Magazine 144(6):977-986 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/P. Mannion]