Massecaps locality, Cruzy (Cretaceous to of France)

Where: Languedoc-Roussillon, France (43.3° N, 3.0° E: paleocoordinates 34.5° N, 3.4° E)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Grès à Reptiles Formation, Late/Upper Campanian to Late/Upper Campanian (83.5 - 66.0 Ma)

• "Rognacian"

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: "floodplain"; ferruginous claystone and sandstone

• "a braided river affected by flood episodes under a climate alternating dry and wet seasons"
• "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)

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Collected in 1996-

Collection methods: bulk, quarrying, mechanical, sieve,

Primary reference: 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]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 48870: authorized by Matthew Carrano, entered by Matthew Carrano on 01.04.2005, edited by Jonathan Tennant, Evangelos Vlachos and Roger Benson

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
Actinopteri
 Lepisosteiformes - Lepisosteidae
Lepisosteidae indet.
Lepisosteidae indet. Cuvier 1825 gar
Coelacanthimorpha
 Coelacanthiformes - Mawsoniidae
Mawsoniidae indet.5, Axelrodichthys megadromos4
Mawsoniidae indet.5 Schultze 1993 coelacanth
angular
Axelrodichthys megadromos4 Cavin et al. 2016 coelacanth
M2253, dentary
Amphibia
 Salientia -
Anura indet.3
Anura indet.3 frog
"reminiscent of the Discoglossidae"
 Temnospondyli - Albanerpetontidae
Albanerpetontidae indet.3
Albanerpetontidae indet.3 Fox and Naylor 1982 tetrapod
Reptilia
 Squamata -
Lacertilia indet.3, Varanoidea indet.3
Varanoidea indet.3 Gray 1827 squamates
 Testudines - Dortokidae
Dortoka vasconica11
Dortoka vasconica11 Lapparent de Broin and Murelaga 1996 turtle
MC M1127, a right costal 1
 Testudines - Bothremydidae
Foxemys mechinorum7
Foxemys mechinorum7 Tong et al. 1998 sideneck turtle
"close to Foxemys"
 Testudinata - Helochelydridae
Solemys sp.3
Solemys sp.3 Lapparent de Broin and Murelaga 1996 turtle
 Loricata -
Crocodylomorpha indet.9, Eusuchia indet.3
Crocodylomorpha indet.9 Hay 1930 crocodilian
M2401, a posterior portion of the left ramus of a mandible
Eusuchia indet.3 Huxley 1875 crocodilian
M2496, isolated premaxilla; M1343, occipital portion of a skull
 Loricata - Allodaposuchidae
Allodaposuchus precedens9
Allodaposuchus precedens9 Nopcsa 1928 crocodilian
braincase
 Loricata - Hylaeochampsidae
Acynodon iberoccitanus1
Acynodon iberoccitanus1 Buscalioni et al. 1997 crocodilian
mandible (M260), teeth
 Loricata -
Mesosuchia indet.3
Mesosuchia indet.3 Huxley 1875 crocodilian
 Pterosauria - Azhdarchidae
? Azhdarchidae indet.2
? Azhdarchidae indet.2 Nessov 1984 pterosaur
Wing metacarpal; Musée de Cruzy, No. M3929, right distal syncarpal
 Dinosauria -
Dinosauria indet.3
Dinosauria indet.3 dinosaur
unnamed fourth type of eggshell, prismatic dinosauroid
 Theropoda -
? Pseudogeckoolithus sp.8
? Pseudogeckoolithus sp.8 Vianey-Liaud and López-Martínez 1997 maniraptoran
Aves
 Enantiornithes -
Enantiornithes indet., Martinavis cruzyensis n. gen. n. sp.12
Enantiornithes indet. Walker 1981 bird
Martinavis cruzyensis n. gen. n. sp.12 Walker et al. 2007 bird
ACAP-M 1957
Reptilia
 Theropoda - Dromaeosauridae
Dromaeosauridae indet.6
Dromaeosauridae indet.6 Colbert and Russell 1969 maniraptoran
"probably"; MC-M324, M561, M938, M228, M187, claw
 Theropoda - Abelisauridae
Abelisauridae indet.3
Abelisauridae indet.3 Bonaparte and Novas 1985 ceratosaur
 Theropoda - Laevisoolithidae
Laevisoolithidae indet.3
Laevisoolithidae indet.3 Mikhailov 1991 theropod
ratite, ornithoid eggshell
 Ornithischia - Nodosauridae
Nodosauridae indet.1
Nodosauridae indet.1 Marsh 1890 ankylosaur
femur
 Ornithischia - Rhabdodontidae
Rhabdodon cf. septimanicus
Rhabdodon cf. septimanicus Buffetaut and Le Loeuff 1991 rhabdodontid
M4
  - Prismatoolithidae
cf. Prismatoolithus sp.8
cf. Prismatoolithus sp.8 Zhao and Li 1993 dinosaur
prismatic dinosauroid eggshell
 Saurischia - Titanosauridae
Titanosauridae indet.1, Megaloolithus sp.3
Titanosauridae indet.1 Lydekker 1885 titanosaurid
"reminiscent of Ampelosaurus atacis"
Megaloolithus sp.3 Mikhailov 1991 titanosaurid
spherulitic dinosauroid eggshell
 Saurischia -
Ampelosaurus atacis
Ampelosaurus atacis Le Loeuff 1995 sauropod
Mammalia
 Theriamorpha -
Tribosphenida indet.1
 Theriamorpha - Zhelestidae
Labes garimondi10
Labes garimondi10 Pol et al. 1992 eutherian
Right mandible fragment, M2521
Bivalvia
 Unionida - Unionidae
? Unionidae indet.3
? Unionidae indet.3 Rafinesque 1820 freshwater mussel
1Buffetaut 2005; 2Buffetaut 2008; 3Buffetaut et al. 1999; 4Cavin et al. 2020; 5Cavin et al. 2005; 6Chanthasit and Buffetaut 2009; 7Gaffney et al. 2006; 8Garcia 2000; 9Martin and Buffetaut 2016; 10Martin et al. 2015; 11Tong et al. 2022; 12Walker et al. 2007