Anuran and squamate remains from the Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous) of Charentes, western France

ABSTRACT

New remains of an anuran and various squamate reptiles have been recovered from Cenomanian paralic deposits of Charentes (southwestern France). Remains are not abundant, yet they make up one of the most diverse Cenomanian assemblages and the most diverse one from Europe. Nine or 10 taxa are present. Precise taxonomic assignment of most of them is not always possible, even at family level; however, the mosasauroid Carentonosaurus mineaui, the snake Simoliophis rochebrunei, as well as a possible dolichosaurid lizard are identified. At least two taxa are new, but they cannot be named on the basis of the available material. Among the fossils are an anuran and terrestrial lizards that rank among the very scarce ones from the Cenomanian. In addition, three distinct snakes are among the oldest ones. The faunas from the Cenomanian of Charentes are mixtures of terrestrial and predominantly marine taxa.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank V.-H. Reynoso and A. Houssaye for discussion and information, J.-F. Tournepiche for having sampled sediment, and E. Dépré and T. Lenglet for having provided some specimens. J. I. Mead and R. L. Nydam provided useful comments that helped to improve this paper. This work is a contribution to the project AMBRACE (BLAN07–1–184190) of the French National Research Agency (ANR).

Handling editor: Jim Mead.