PBDB Collection

Le Coupet, Mazeyrat d'Allier, Haute Loire (Pleistocene of France)

Also known as Coupet

Where: Auvergne, France (45.1° N, 3.6° E: paleocoordinates 45.2° N, 3.4° E)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

When: MN 17 (2.6 - 1.8 Ma)

• Late Pliocene, Middle Villafranchian, MN17, Villanyian. Faunal date of approximately 2Ma, K/Ar dating of 2.12 +_ 0.09Ma.

Environment/lithology: tuff

• a sloping deposit termed 'ochre tuffs' (tufs ocreux) by the discoverers (Aymard, 1849).

Size class: macrofossils

Collection methods: Found in 1849 by Aymard. Suggestions that quartz fragments in the deposits indicate hominin involvement.

Primary reference: E. Heintz, C. Guerin, R. Martin and F. Prat. 1974. Principaux gisements villafranchiens de France: Listes fauniques et biostratigraphie. Memoires du Bureau de Recherches Geologiques et Minieres 78(1):169-182 [A. Turner/H. O'Regan/H. O'Regan]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 47188: authorized by Alan Turner, entered by Hannah O'Regan on 17.02.2005

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names

Mammalia
Carnivora - Felidae	Homotherium sainzelli Homotherium sainzelli Aymard 1853 cat 1 carnassial in Lyon Museum (V. 161).
Artiodactyla - Suidae	Sus sp. Sus sp. Linnaeus 1758 pig Some teeth in Lyon, more or less complete, but some doubts over the level of fossilisation and their authenticity (presumably meaning their provenance to this site).
Artiodactyla - Cervidae	""Cervus" philisi" = Metacervocerus philisi, Croizetoceros ramosus, Eucladoceros senezensis ""Cervus" philisi" = Metacervocerus philisi Mennecart et al. 2017 deer "Cervus" philisi valliensis Croizetoceros ramosus Croizet and Jobert 1828 deer Croizetoceros ramosus minor Eucladoceros senezensis deer Eucladoceros senezensis senezensis
Artiodactyla - Bovidae	Leptobos etruscus, Gazellospira torticornis Leptobos etruscus antelope 2 cubo-naviculars (Cp. 57 amd 58) and a lower P2 (Cp 69) all in Basle Museum. Gazellospira torticornis antelope
Perissodactyla - Rhinocerotidae	Stephanorhinus etruscus Stephanorhinus etruscus Falconer 1868 rhinoceros 1 fragment of the mesial surface of an upper tooth (Cp 20, Basle).
Perissodactyla - Tapiridae	Tapirus arvernensis Tapirus arvernensis Croizet and Jobert 1828 tapir Some uncertainty about the provenance of the only Tapir specimen from Coupet. It is a fragment of an upper molar in Lyon Museum (V. 160). It was found in 1856 at 'Mas du Coupet pres de Mazerac et Crepinac, Puy Langeac'.
Perissodactyla - Equidae	Equus bressanus, "Equus stenonis" = Allohippus stenonis Equus bressanus horse 1 very large calcaenum (Cp. 10, Basle) described by Prat, 1968. "Equus stenonis" = Allohippus stenonis Cocchi 1867 horse Equus stenonis vireti. Approximately 40 specimens in Basle.
Proboscidea - Elephantidae	"Archidiskodon meridionalis" = Mammuthus meridionalis "Archidiskodon meridionalis" = Mammuthus meridionalis Nesti 1825 mammoth 1 small fragment of molar (Cou 002, Paris).
Proboscidea - Gomphotheriidae	Anancus arvernensis Anancus arvernensis Croizet and Jobert 1828 gomphothere 1 very worn upper molar (Cp 261, Basle), 1 molar fragment (V. 147, Lyon) and 1 upper milk tooth (Cou 001, Paris)