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Il existe deux homonymes : la farce de la cuisine vient au XIIIe siecle (Fabliaux) du bas-latin farsus, participe passe de farcire, « remplir, bourrer ». Il y a un rapport etymologique et semantique direct avec la farce de theâtre (XIIIe s.) qui est issue du latin medieval farsa, « paraphrase, commentaire ou representation en langue vulgaire illustrant les Ecritures au cours des ceremonies religieuses » : par metaphore, on a designe les intermedes introduits dans la liturgie en les assimilant...

Le theâtre est vieux comme le monde des hommes et des femmes, et l'on imagine volontiers un dialogue prehistorique du genre : « Tu vas pas encore me faire une scene ? – Si, ma vieille, et je vais meme te mettre en piece(s)... » Ainsi commence la tragedie. Nous aurions du mal a remonter au-dela des anciens Grecs, orfevres, comme chacun sait, en matiere de spectacle. Leur σκηνη – peut-etre a relier a σκια, ombre, et au sanskrit châya, idem – avait le sens global de « construction legere servant...

The Marls of Merbah el Oussif are part of the Permian series of the Jebel Tebaga of Médénine in Tunisia. They belong to the uppermost Murghabian, a stage intermediate between the Wordian and the Capitanian. These green marls were deposited in lows at the base of sponge bioherms. The sedimentation rate was high and the environment well oxygenated. The marls contain a relatively rich assemblage of isolated sponges, gastropods, smaller foraminifera, fusulinids, dasycladacean algae and ostracods. Amongst those, for the first time reported from the Permian of Tunisia, 14 species have been identified and one new species described, Bairdiacypris postrectiformis sp. nov. The geographic and stratigraphic distribution of several species are discussed. This ostracod fauna indicates a shallow nearshore environment and suggests a western, not eastern connection between the Tethys and the Texas Sea.

Fossocytheridea Swain & Brown and Perissocytheridea Stephenson are genera characteristic of brackish water environments. In 51 samples from the Santonian-Campanian, from the well 9-MO-13-RN, Potiguar Basin, Brazil, Fossocytheridea potiguarensis Piovesan, Cabral & Colin, Fossocytheridea POT 1 Piovesan, Cabral & Colin and Perissocytheridea jandairensis Piovesan, Cabral & Colin have been identified. In the Sao Joao das Lampas section (middle Cenomanian), Lusitanian Basin, Portugal, 25 samples were studied and Fossocytheridea merlensis (Babinot & Colin) and Perissocytheridea estribeirensis Andreu have been recognized. The distributional pattern of the Fossocytheridea-Perissocytheridea assemblage, combined with analysis of the abundance and diversity of marine ostracodes, suggests that in the Late Cretaceous Fossocytheridea and Perissocytheridea were euryhaline genera, and that the tolerance to salinity gradients is related to the ecology of each species and not strictly to that of the genus.

Sinemurian ostracodes from the Lusitanian Basin (western Portugal, Iberian Peninsula) were studied using twelve samples from the marl-limestone succession of the Coimbra Formation at S. Pedro de Moel, north of Lisbon. The detailed taxonomical study identified 11 genera and 14 species, among which 3 are new species: Phraterfabanella boomeri Cabral and Colin n. sp., Klieana? coimbraensis Cabral and Colin n. sp. and “Klinglerella” roselinae Cabral and Colin n. sp.. The recognized ostracode species are particularly similar to those described from the uppermostHettangian-Sinemurian offshore Southwest Ireland (Fastnet Basin) and France (Normandy, Central France and Quercy). Overall, the assemblages include four brackish species (one clearly dominant) and ten marine species. The paleoecological analysis of the assemblages allowed a detailed paleoenvironmental reconstruction, reflecting frequent variations from brackish to restricted marine to slightly more open marine settings, which is supported by sedimentological and other paleontological data.

The non-marine Lower Cretaceous ostracod genusKegelinanew genus (Cypridoidea, Cyprideidae) is known from South America (Bahia state, eastern Brazil), West Africa (Gabon and ‘Congo'), and North America (Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, U.S.A.). It comprises five species:Kegelina anomala(Peck, 1941) new combination,Kegelina armata(Krömmelbein, 1962) new combination,Kegelina bisculpturata(Wicher, 1959) new combination,Kegelina depressa(Moura, 1972) new combination, andKegelina kegeli(Wicher, 1959) new combination, all of which having formerly been described as representatives ofCyprideaBosquet, 1852. The closer relationships ofKegelinanew genus among the Cyprideidae Martin, 1940 are discussed. Other potential species ofKegelinan. gen. are presumed to occur in northeastern China and Europe but remain to be examined.

A monospecific assemblage of Globotalicypridea mirabilis sp. nov. is reported from the Maastrichtian of the Haţeg Basin, Romania. This new species is the first ostracod taxa described from the famous dinosaur-bearing continental deposits of the Haţeg Basin. G. mirabilis sp. nov. is characterized by large, finely punctate, and posteriorly strongly inflated carapace with a few papillae on the anterior margin. This new species was restricted exclusively to freshwater (limnic-fluvial) environments. The identification in Haţeg Basin of Globotalicypridea expands the known geographic distribution of the Talicyprideinae into Eastern Europe, creating a link between Western European and Asian occurrences.

Cretaceous non-marine deposits are widespread in China and have been studied comprehensively. The Songliao Basin in northeast China is thought to be well suited for investigation of Cretaceous biostratigraphy. However, despite much research having been conducted in the basin, little is known about its Late Cretaceous biostratigraphy and paleoenvironment. Here, we establish a high-resolution biostratigraphy of the Late Cretaceous based on ostracods from borehole SK1(n) in the Songliao Basin, northeast China. As part of the present study, 45 species assigned to 20 genera have been recovered, with one new species (Ilyocypris bisulcatan. sp.) and five ostracod assemblages: theCypridea gunsulinensis–Mongolocypris magnaassemblage, which is marked by the first occurrence (F.O.) ofIlyocyprimorphawith nodes and spines; theIlyocyprimorpha–Limnocypridea sunliaonensis–Periacanthellaassemblage, which ranges from the F.O. ofIlyocyprimorphawith nodes and spines to the F.O. ofStrumosiasp.; theStrumosia inanditaassemblage from the F.O. ofStrumosiasp. to the lower occurrence (L.O.) ofStrumosia inandita; theTalicypridea amoena–Metacypris kaitunensis–Ziziphocypris simakoviassemblage from the F.O. ofMongolocypris apiculata(Cea) andTalicypridea amoenato the F.O. ofIlyocyprissp.; and theIlyocyprisassemblage from the F.O. ofIlyocyprissp. to the L.O. ofIlyocypris bisulcatan. sp.Moreover, the zonal fossilIlyocypris bisulcatan. sp. of Zone 5 is here described for the first time from the upper Mingshui Formation, and Paleocene charophyte genera includingNeocharaandGrovesicahrahave been found to coexist with the Zone 5 fauna. The age of theIlyocyprisAssemblage is assigned to the latest Maastrichtian to the earliest Danian.

This paper presents a study of the Middle and Upper Jurassic Ostracods from Western Kachchh, India. The first part discusses the biochronological importance of the Ostracod assemblages, while the second part reports the paleobiogeographical results. Benthic foraminiferal biozones are used to calibrate the biostratigraphical distribution of ostracod species and genera from sections in the Aalenian–Tithonian interval located in Western Kachchh (or Kutch) (Mundham Anticline, Jumara Dome, Jhurio Dome and Habo Dome) and on Pachchham Island (Khavda Nala), Gujarat, India. A total of 71 species are listed, including 32 previously published species and 38 species in open nomenclature, belonging to 23 genera. The ostracod assemblages indicate that faunal communication was first established during the Bathonian and Callovian (Middle Jurassic) and continued until the early Cretaceous. These faunal exchanges occurred between Laurasia (USA, Europe, Russia and Siberia) and the Indo-East African Province, extending along the Western Tethyan carbonate shelves (bordering West and East Gondwana) through to the Pacific Ocean margin of West Gondwana.

Petroleum exploration in the offshore basins of eastern Brazil and western Africa has been aided for the last fifty years by an understanding of the Early Cretaceous ostracod biostratigraphy of the proto-South Atlantic. This review charts the development of the presently accepted zonation from its early development in the Reconcavo–Tucano Basin and recognition as palaeontological evidence for continental drift in the 1960s, to its application over the following five decades in the Brazilian Sergipe–Alagoas, Araripe and Campos basins and the western African Congo, Gabon and Kwanza basins. The distribution of ostracod species in the lakes which formed during the early stages of the opening of the Atlantic during the Early Cretaceous was often extensive, and this has resulted in effectively South Atlantic-wide application for many species, and certainly for the zonation as a whole. Indeed, petroleum companies continue to exploit the predictability of the ostracods in South Atlantic operations due to the fact that they are often able to provide accurate constraints on stratigraphic position for a relatively low cost. However, the ostracod biozonations of the pre-Salt section for several eastern Brazilian basins, such as the Reconcavo–Tucano, Sergipe–Alagoas and Campos, have not been thoroughly revised since the 1980s, and the taxonomy of these remains somewhat outdated. Furthermore, ostracod biozonations for many basins on both coasts (e.g. the Brazilian Espirito Santo and the western African Namibe basins) have never been published. An updated and revised taxonomy of the ostracods of the basins of eastern Brazil and western Africa is presented (Appendix I), as well as a revision of the biozonation on both sides of the modern day Atlantic Ocean. It is hoped that this paper will act as a catalyst for further work in the basins surrounding the modern day South Atlantic, which hold much interest for petroleum companies and micropalaeontologists alike.

International audience; This paper provides the sedimentological, palaeontological and biostratigraphical characteristics of a newly discovered lignite-bearing sedimentary succession in western France. The lignitic bed, which is reminiscent of some Wealden facies in southern England, is located in Angeac in the Charentes region. The plant remains occur as three-dimensionally preserved mesofossils (cuticles, charred ferns and seeds, cones and twigs) and larger pieces of wood. The deposits contain variable amounts of such material and at one horizon in particular, an outstanding accumulation of dinosaur teeth and bones. Among the vertebrate remains are the longest sauropod femur (ca. 220 cm) yet found and bones representing an ornithomimosaur herd of at least eight individuals. The palynomorph content of the clay associated with the bones and lignitic material indicates a Hauterivian Barremian age. The abundance in the fossil assemblage of freshwater unionoid bivalves, some preserved in life position, the presence of freshwater algae, and the scarcity of brackish or marine species indicate that the depositional environment was a swamp only very occasionally connected to the sea. The forest bordering the swamp was dominated by cheirolepidiaceous trees co-occurring with a diverse assemblage of ferns

The non-marine ostracod genus Frambocythere Colin, 1980 (Limnocytheridae, Timiriaseviinae) had a previously known stratigraphical range from the Albian (Lower Cretaceous) through to the Lutetian (middle Eocene). However, during surveys of Seongryu Cave in Uljin-gun Province, South Korea, specimens of an extant species of Frambocythere were recovered. This extends the stratigraphic range of the genus by more than 40 million years to the present, and the species is, therefore, considered to be a relict ‘living fossil’. This newly described species is most similar in morphology to Frambocythere gr. tumiensis (Helmdach, 1978), reported from Thanetian (Paleocene) deposits of the Paris Basin. The living species was found in the hypogean realm, in contrast to the fossil species, which were all epigean. It is hypothesized that, like the genus Kovalevskiella Klein, 1963, which belongs to the same lineage, Frambocythere migrated from epigean to hypogean habitats.

The Early Cretaceous non-marine ostracod genera Hourcqia Krömmelbein and Pattersoncypris Bate are reinstated. A previously published referral of Hourcqia to Cypridea Bosquet is rejected due to the absence of an anteroventral rostrum in the holotype of the type species Hourcqia africana Krömmelbein. The genus Hourcqia is characterized by an “inverse” valve ratio (right valve larger than left) and the lack of an anteroventral rostrum, and the diagnosis of the genus is broadened to accommodate ornamented forms, resulting in the acceptance of five species: Hourcqia africana, H. confluens (Krömmelbein and Weber), H. kouilouensis (Grosdidier), H. bateke (Grosdidier) and H. sylvesterbradleyi (Bate). The previously published synonymy of Pattersoncypris with the genus Harbinia Tsao is also rejected. The diagnosis of Pattersoncypris is refined, meaning that three species are recognized: Pattersoncypris micropapillosa Bate, P. salitrensis (Krömmelbein and Weber), and P. sinuata (Krömmelbein and Weber). The new genus Kroemmelbeincypris is erected for two species initially assigned to Hourcqia, and subsequently to Pattersoncypris and Harbinia by different authors: Kroemmelbeincypris symmetrica (Krömmelbein and Weber) and K. angulata (Krömmelbein and Weber). The genus Hourcqia is diagnostic of latest Barremian non-marine settings, whilst Pattersoncypris and Kroemmelbeincypris characterize Aptian saline lacustrine environments. The geographic ranges of all three genera are restricted to northeastern and eastern Brazil and northern and western Africa, though a species of Pattersoncypris (P. dakotaensis Tibert and Colin) is also present in the United States.

A revision and a redescription of the external and internal morphology of the carapace, ontogeny and sexual dimorphism of Sergipella transatlantica Krommelbein, 1967, from the uppermost Aptian and lower Albian of Brazil and West Africa is presented. Two new species are described: S. grosdidieri nov. sp. and S. viviersae nov. sp. The three species of Sergipella are restricted to areas of the South Atlantic during the late Aptian-early Cenomanian. The present data provide detailed taxonomic criteria for the identification of the type-species of Sergipella and its closely related species. A detailed analysis of the internal and external characteristics of the valves shows that the genus Sergipella that belongs to the Family Trachyleberididae, although it possesses some characteristics close to those of Protocytheridae. This study is based on samples from Riachuelo Formation, lower Albian, Sergipe/Alagoas basin, Sergipe State, NE-Brazil and from wells in West Africa, Madiela Formation, lower Albian, Gabon basin, east of Libreville, Gabon.

This paper describes twenty-five new species and three new genera of marine ostracodes from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) deposits of Jamaica. The new species include Amphicytherura grandicribra, Amphicytherura occulta, Asciocythere cabbagehillensis, Aysegulina chapeltonensis, Aysegulina riominhoensis, Aysegulina sagitta, Aysegulina ventrocurva, rachycythere jamaicaensis, Buntonia nana, Buntonia vulgaris, Cytherelloidea guineacornensis, Eocytheropteron hazeli, Eocytheropteron jamaicaensis, Eucytherura mitchelli, Floricythereis exquisita (new genus and species), Hemiparacytheridea exquisita, Leiocythereis polita (new genus and species), Loxoconcha pindarsensis, Ovocytheridea rotunda, Phrixocythere unionensis (new genus and species), Pterygocythereis babinoti, Schizoptocythere pinna, Schizoptocythere nana, Schuleridea exiguus, and Spinicytheridea compta (new genus and species). One of the new genera, Floricythereis, together with Schizoptocythere, is considered to include previously-described species from North America, indicating a faunal link during the Late Cretaceous. The description of the Late Cretaceous faunas of Jamaica is a step in understanding the relationship between biological evolution and plate tectonics in the Caribbean region during the Late Cretaceous.

High-resolution biostratigraphy has been established on the basis of fossil ostracodes from cores of the Cretaceous Continental Scientific Drilling borehole-Songke 1 (south) (SK1(s)) in the Songliao Basin, northeast China. More than 80 species belonging to 13 genera have been identified and 15 ostracode assemblage zones have been recognized. On the basis of ostracode paleoecological analysis, paleoenvironments, for example lake levels and salinity, have been reconstructed. Two inferred deep-water phases occurred during the deposition of the lower Qingshankou and lower Nenjiang formations, whereas shallower water phases probably occurred during deposition of the upper Quantou and uppermost Qingshankou to Yaojia formations. The salinity of paleo-Songliao lake is interpreted as predominantly freshwater to oligohaline. Oligohaline to mesohaline water environments may have occurred during the first and middle third members of the Qingshankou formation and the lower first and lower second members of the Nenjiang formation.

International audience; Six localities in western France contain deposits of mid Cretaceous age that have yielded small assemblages of megaspores. These are Archingeay-Les Nouillers, Puy-Puy, Les Renardières, La Buzinie and Le Brouillard quarries, and Fouras tidal flat. With one exception, all are within the Charente and Charente-Maritime regions; Le Brouillard is further north in Anjou Province. The productive horizons are in sub-units of previously defined stratigraphic units A, B and C, and range in age from latest Albian or earliest Cenomanian to earliest mid Cenomanian. Owing to a scarcity of records of mid Cretaceous megaspores that can be relied upon for comparison with those recovered in this study, a cautious approach to identification has been adopted. Most forms are only compared to previously described species or referred to in open nomenclature. The most productive sample was from the lower part of sub-unit A1 at Puy-Puy. The assemblage recovered is dominated by spores referable to isoetalean Minerisporites and Paxillitriletes, with a few baculate, rugulate and other lycopsid spores and marsilealean Molaspora rugosa in association. The occurrence of the last of these in particular might indicate that this lowermost unit of the mid Cretaceous succession is earliest Cenomanian rather than latest Albian in age, but the evidence is equivocal. The composition of the assemblages from sub-unit B2 (Fouras tidal flat) and higher levels (La Buzinie, Le Brouillard) is consistent with a Cenomanian age determination and, in common with those from Puy-Puy, Archingeay-Les Nouillers and Les Renardières, indicates a bias towards parent plants that lived in and adjacent to water bodies. Among the forms recorded are species of Ariadnaesporites, Dijkstraisporites and Tenellisporites. The mixed character of the assemblages and the presence of damaged specimens and fragments in all of them lend support to previous interpretations of lacustrine to paralic environments of deposition for the sedimentary units concerned.

Resume En Tunisie centrale, le passage Aptien-Albien est marque, en domaine de plate-forme, par une lacune stratigraphique majeure dont la duree n’est pas connue avec precision. Celle-ci est accompagnee, localement au Jebel Kebar (Tunisie centrale), par le developpement des depots de la Formation Kebar. La decouverte d’une association de charophytes formee de Sphaerochara verticillata , Atopochara trivolvis trivolvis et Clavator harrisii zavialensis , permet de dater cette Formation de l’Aptien superieur-Albien moyen, avec une plus grande probabilite pour l’Albien inferieur. Une nouvelle variete de charophytes, Sphaerochara verticillata var. kebariensis , est decrite pour la premiere fois. Du point de vue biogeographique, l’association floristique identifiee est tres similaire a celle du meme âge decrite sur la marge nord de la Tethys dans la Peninsule Iberique. L’environnement de depot de la Formation Kebar, considere auparavant exclusivement continental, oscille entre le milieu continental et le margino-littoral (lagunaire) comme en temoigne l’association des charophytes et des ostracodes decrite.

Cenomanian–Turonian ostracodes are reported from the western Colorado Plateau (Western Interior Basin) in the United States. Fifteen genera and twenty species are illustrated, six of which are new: Cytheromorpha perornata nov. sp., Looneyella leckiei nov. sp., Asciocythere posterangulata nov. sp., Asciocythere arizonensis nov. sp., Cytheropteron clavifragilis nov. sp. and Hourcqia dakotaensis nov. sp. Three ostracode interval zones are proposed that broadly correspond to the existing late Cenomanian through to Middle Turonian Ammonite-zones of Kauffman et al. (1993). Paleoenvironments range from estuarine to coastal plain.

Rosacythere first appeared in the Bajocian and for a long time was only a minor genus that flourished during the Early Cretaceous in freshwater lakes of humid and hot tropical climate and characterized by a dominance of charophytes. An apparent decline of morphologically diversified Rosacythere with the beginning of the Late Cretaceous could be related to marine transgression and expansion and domination of angiosperms in freshwater macrophytic communities. Rosacythere reappeared in Santonian–Campanian organodetritic limestone with the dasyclad alga Munieria, adapted to limnic conditions. Rosacythere carpathica sp. nov., Neuquenocypris (Alleniella) colloti, and two unidentified ostracod taxa colonised this environment, which offered ostracods similar living condition to the Early Cretaceous charophyte meadows.

International audience; A Cretaceous amber deposit has recently been discovered in a quarry of Charente-Maritime (southwestern France), at Cadeuil. This paper presents the sedimentary and palaeoenvironmental settings of the uppermost Albian-lowermost Cenomanian series including the amber deposit. A preliminary analysis of the amber samples reveals diverse fossil arthropods (a few mites and at least 20 insect families within 9 orders), as well as numerous micro-organisms, mainly algae and mycelia. A myceloid colony of bacteria, a flagellate algae and four especially well preserved insects are illustrated (Diptera Dolichopodidae, Diptera Chironomidae, Hymenoptera Parasitica, and Heteroptera Tingidae). The abundance of the limnic micro-organisms is discussed in terms of bloom events. Their relative scarcity in almost all the amber pieces containing fossil arthropods is attributed to differences in the origin of resin: production along trunk and branches for amber with arthropods; production by aquatic roots for amber rich in algae. The absence of pollen and spores in amber is attributed to differences in the respective periods of resin and palynomorph production, which may be related to a seasonal climate during the Albian-Cenomanian transition in Western Europe.

A new genus of ostracod, Globotalicypridea gen. nov., and two new species, Globotalicypridea vulcanosa sp. nov. and Heterocypris berthoui sp. nov., are described. The new genus belongs to the subfamily Talicyprideinae. These taxa occur in marginal-marine deposits from the Middle Cenomanian of Lisbon region (Portugal). The relationship of the new genus with other members of the sub-family is discussed, and the palaeoecology and stratigraphy of the new species are addressed. Other fossils (foraminifers, algae, macrofossils) and main sedimentary features of the succession are also used for the stratigraphical framework and palaeoecological interpretation. The identification in Portugal of Globotalicypridea expands the geographic distribution of the Talicyprideinae into Western Europe; however, the earliest record of this subfamily occurs in the Lower Cretaceous (Barremian–Aptian) of Spain, with the presence of the genus Altanicypris, recorded as Mantelliana uniensis, Brenner, 1976. Contrary to other freshwater-oligohaline representatives of the Talicyprideinae, Globotalicypridea seems to tolerate brackish conditions. The new species of the Recent non-marine genus Heterocypris (Cyprinotinae) in the Middle Cenomanian of Portugal is the earliest record of this genus, revealing a gap of around 40 My until the next known documented record from the Eocene of USA. Similar to other Recent species of Heterocypris, H. berthoui sp. nov. seems to tolerate brackish conditions.

Resume Une association de 11 especes d’ostracodes appartenant a 11 genres est decrite dans la Formation de Bhanness, d’âge kimmeridgien, au Liban central. Quatre especes nouvelles sont erigees : Ektyphocythere dahressawanensis nov. sp., Dicrorygma (Orthorygma) libanensis nov. sp., Citrella ? elongata nov. sp. et Procytherura inflata nov. sp. D’un point de vue paleobiogeographique, cette faune caracterise la province Nord Gondwana qui se differencie de la province Sud Gondwana, en particulier par la presence du genre Schuleridea et l’absence du genre Majungaella.

The southwestern region of the Dominican Republic (Enriquillo Valley) contains exceptionally well-preserved, relict marine and saline lake deposits of mid-Holocne age. Abundant euryhaline ostracodes found in this deposit include Cyprideis salebrosa, C. mexicana, C. similis ,a ndC. edentata. Morphometric and geochemical analyses performed on Cyprideis spp. provide high 18 Oa nd 13 C values that are coincident with relative abundances of irregularly shaped pores that permeate the ostracode carapace. We recognize three stratigraphic intervals with distinct ostracode pore shape and stable isotope trends: (I) a 4.5-5.0m interval that contains ostracodes with highly irregular shaped pores (multiradiate) and high amplitude variability in 18 Oa nd 13 C values; (II) a 5.0-5.6m interval com- prised of ostracodes with circular pores and an overall trend towards low 18 Oa nd 13 C values; and (III) a 5.6-6.5m interval containing ostracodes with an upward increasing abundance of circular pore shapes coincident with a decreasing trend in 18 Oa nd 13 Cv alues. When the Enriquillo lagoon was first separated from the Caribbean Sea approximately 4.3 ka, an arid and evaporative climate led to hypersaline water in a restricted lagoon environment. By the middle to late-Holocene, increased precipitation in the valley resulted in a coastal lake system that became progressively oligohaline. Moderate to small amplitude variability in the salinity proxy data ( 18 O) sug- gest short-term oscillations in the precipitation-evaporation budgets at that time. At least two marine incursions likely contributed to the observed variability in ostracode 18 Oa nd 13 C values. Evidence for abrupt changes in base level indicate that climatic factors or also tec- tonic activity may have contributed to the observed paleoenvironmental trends recorded in these deposits.

[A new genus of marine Ostracoda, Neocopytus gen. nov. (Cytheroidea, Neocytherideidae) with as type species Cytherideis cylindrica Brady, 1868 is described from the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Neocopytus gen. nov. has some characters in common with other neocytherideid genera, like Neocytherideis Puri, 1952 and Copytus Skogsberg, 1939, but there are evident differences in both carapace and soft parts. Un nouveau genre d'ostracode marin, Neocopytus gen. nov. (Cytheroidea, Neocytherideidae) ayant comme espece-type Cytherideis cylindrica Brady, 1868, est decrit a partir de materiel en provenance de la cote mediterraneenne de la Turquie. Neocopytus gen. nov. possede quelques caracteres en commun avec les autres genres de Neocytherideidae, Neocytherideis Puri, 1952 et Copytus Skogsberg, 1939, mais il y a des differences evidentes en ce qui concerne a la fois la carapace et les appendices., A new genus of marine Ostracoda, Neocopytus gen. nov. (Cytheroidea, Neocytherideidae) with as type species Cytherideis cylindrica Brady, 1868 is described from the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Neocopytus gen. nov. has some characters in common with other neocytherideid genera, like Neocytherideis Puri, 1952 and Copytus Skogsberg, 1939, but there are evident differences in both carapace and soft parts. Un nouveau genre d'ostracode marin, Neocopytus gen. nov. (Cytheroidea, Neocytherideidae) ayant comme espece-type Cytherideis cylindrica Brady, 1868, est decrit a partir de materiel en provenance de la cote mediterraneenne de la Turquie. Neocopytus gen. nov. possede quelques caracteres en commun avec les autres genres de Neocytherideidae, Neocytherideis Puri, 1952 et Copytus Skogsberg, 1939, mais il y a des differences evidentes en ce qui concerne a la fois la carapace et les appendices.]

We describe a new species (Gomphocythere besni n. sp.) from the Tavaş man-made pool in Besni town (Adıyaman, Turkey). The species has several differences from its congeners in furcal structures (forked organ, seta of caudal ramus), numbers of setae on maxillula and maxillular palp, particular ornamentation with up to eight fossae in each mesh of the reticulation and in the presence of two types of lateral pore-canals (single pore opening with a sensillum and sieve plates) on the carapace. The finding of the new species extends the known geographical distribution of the living forms of the genus further to the North. The new species was found from relatively cool (16.6 ºC) and medium oxygenated waters (7.36 mg/L) in a mixture of sand and gravel substrate. Details about its ecology and taxonomic status are also compared and discussed with other species of the same genus.

A taxonomic study was carried out on ostracodes from outcrop and core samples across the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary in the Poty quarry, Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil. Thirty species belonging to 13 genera are described; one genus, Langiella, and eight species—Schizoptocythere potyensis, Paracosta recifeiensis, Protocosta reticulata, Protobuntonia glabra, Loxoconcha mariafarinhensis, Cytheropteron brasiliensis, Bythoceratina inflata, and Paracypris pernambucensis—are new.

We give a preliminary account on the taxonomy of ostracodes species gathered from a composite bottom sediment sample taken from recent reefal flat deposits off the East coast of Bali at a depth of about 1.50 m. A total of 34 ostracod species were recovered belonging to 24 genera. Most species identified are well known from previous investigations; however, their taxonomic range is rather confused and needs modern revision. The fauna is generally widely distributed in the tropical littoral zone of Indo-West Pacific. Only six species are shared with the Red Sea, five have also been recorded from the Caribbean area, and only one species is common with the Mediterranean. Resume Cette etude preliminaire est focalisee sur la systematique des especes d'ostracodes recoltees sur un platier recifal actuel de la cote Est de Bali, a une profondeur d'environ 1,50 m. Trente quatre especes appartenant a 24 genres ont ete identifiees. La majorite des especes sont bien connues par les travaux anterieurs ; neanmoins, leur position taxonomique est souvent confuse et necessite d'etre revisee. Cette faune est largement repartie dans la zone tropicale littorale du domaine indo-pacifique. Seulement six especes sont communes avec la Mer Rouge, cinq autres avec la province caribeenne, et une seule avec la Mediterranee.

Resume Des depots continentaux d'âge pleistocene de la region de Boliqueime (Algarve, Sud du Portugal) ont livre de nombreux exemplaires de Darwinulidae appartenant a cinq especes. Elles sont associees a d'autres ostracodes limniques representes surtout par des juveniles de Candonidae, Ilyocyprididae, Limnocytheridae, Cyprididae et Cypridopsidae. Des charophytes, de petits gasteropodes et des rhizoconcretions calcaires apparaissent aussi dans quelques niveaux. Cette association faunistique met en evidence un paleoenvironnement fluvio- ou alluvio-palustre, d'eau douce a legerement saumâtre, sous un climat plus chaud que l'actuel. La taxonomie, variabilite et distribution geographique des Darwinulidae du Quaternaire ont fait l'objet de plusieurs travaux recents (Martens et al., 1997 ; Rossetti et Martens, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002 ; Pinto et al., 2003, 2004) qui ont contribue a la description de nouveaux genres et especes, dont Vestalenula et Penthesilenula. Ces derniers genres ont une distribution mondiale, mais la plupart de leurs especes ont une distribution restreinte. La decouverte au Portugal de Vestalenula cylindrica, Vestalenula pagliolii , Vestalenula cf. sp. B et Penthesilenula brasiliensis permet donc de mieux preciser leur distribution et leur âge en Europe.

The nonmarine ostracod genus Cypridea s.l., characterized by an antero-ventral “beak” (rostrum and alveolus) in both valves, achieved high diversity and global distribution in the Early Cretaceous but declined in the Late Cretaceous and became extinct during the Paleogene. Although it clearly belongs to the Superfamily Cypridoidea (Order Podocopida, Suborder Cypridocopina), the precise affinities of Cypridea s.l. have been controversial, different authors variously suggesting it to be most closely related to the cypridoidean families Ilyocyprididae, Cyprididae or Notodromadidae. Since Cypridea s.l. was responsible for much of the explosive radiation of nonmarine cypridoidean taxa during the Mesozoic, a clear understanding of its affinities is crucial to the elucidation of nonmarine ostracod phylogeny. We evaluate some of the key morphological features of cypridoidean carapaces as indicators of phylogenetic affinity, paying special attention to adductor muscle scar patterns and the structure of the anterior marginal zone. The morphology of Cypridea s.l. is compared with certain cypridoideans that bear similar beak-like or lip-like antero-ventral marginal structures, notably genera of the Family Cyprididae such as Bennelongia, Chlamydotheca, Cypris and Talicypridea, and consider whether these similarities represent close phylogenetic relationships or homeomorphy.

Living specimens of the marine ostracode, Loculicytheretta pavonia were found in Iskenderun Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The geographical distribution of this species, which is largely restricted to the Mediterranean Sea, is reviewed. Spherical bodies in the loculi (the latter feature being restricted to females) are tentatively identified as eggs. This new evidence supports the idea that this genus has brood care.

The distribution of 218 Campanian marine ostracod genera from 38 geographical areas was used for a quantitative palaeobiogeographical analysis. The data were analysed using multivariate statistical methods, ordination methods and parsimony analysis of endemicity. These methods resulted in distinct geographical area groupings of the studied regions. With these groupings, seven palaeobiogeographical units based on Campanian ostracod occurrences are distinguished. The composition of the area groupings and the distribution of the palaeobiogeographical units are discussed. Their development and spatial distribution are broadly controlled by Campanian palaeoclimates, partly modified by palaeogeographical conditions.

Resume Anterieurement attribuees a l'Albo-Aptien et considerees comme resultant du diapirisme des evaporites triasiques, les breches de Bosmendiette se seraient, pour certains auteurs recents, mises en place au Selandien (Paleocene), dans des canyons sous-marins etablis au sein d'un profond sillon, le long de la chaine des Pyrenees, du Roussillon jusqu'a l'Atlantique. Leur âge serait fonde sur la decouverte d'une riche microfaune pelagique de globigerinides. Nos recherches montrent qu'azoiques a leur base, pourvues de radiolaires et de rares foraminiferes benthiques au sommet, ces breches resultent en realite de la destruction de boucles de slumps affectant l'« Infralias ». Recouvertes en onlap par les calcaires et marnes de l'Albo-Aptien, elles traduisent, conformement a nos precedentes interpretations, l'effondrement par collapse et le glissement vers le nord, en milieu marin graduellement ouvert, de la plate-forme jurassique, lors de la mise en place du diapir de Beloscare–Apoura, au cours du Cretace inferieur. Pour citer cet article : J. Canerot et al., C. R. Geoscience 336 (2004).

The discovery of a new species of Terebratulid (Xestosina sera nov. sp.) in the Lower Tithonian allows to specify the biostratigraphical subdivision of the Gigas Zone. This also allows to improve the correlations, when ammonites are lacking, among the Tithonian deposits of Aquitaine, the northern Jura and the eastern border of the Paris Basin. The critical revision of the Xestosina genus gives a nomenclatural setting argued to the index-species of biozones. It constitutes a brachiopods based parallel scale for the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian Stages.

Resume Une association d'ostracodes limniques a ete decouverte dans la partie superieure de la Formation d'Irbzer, d'âge maastrichtien, dans le Moyen-Atlas marocain. Une espece nouvelle est decrite, Gomphocythere alchloujensis nov. sp. Paracandona occitanica , tres commune dans les depots non-marins de la fin du Cretace d'Europe meridionale (France, Espagne), est trouvee pour la premiere fois sur la marge sud-tethysienne.

Resume Les facies purbeckiens de la marge septentrionale du Bassin aquitain affleurent sur une epaisseur de 30 m environ dans la carriere de gypse de Champblanc, commune de Cherves-de-Cognac situee a une dizaine de kilometres au nord-est de Cognac (Charente, SW France). Deux unites lithologiques ont ete identifiees. L'unite basale (U1) representee par une alternance de gypse et de marnes noires finement litees presente occasionnellement un aspect stromatolithique. L'unite superieure (U2) est une alternance marno-calcaire plus ou moins fossilifere. Dans la partie superieure de cette unite, un niveau d'environ 1 m d'epaisseur a livre une riche faune de vertebres. Une analyse micropaleontologique de ces niveaux, jusqu'a present consideres comme d'âge Jurassique terminal, a livre de riches associations d'ostracodes lagunaires et limniques et de charophytes permettant de leur attribuer un âge Berriasien et de proposer une correlation avec la partie inferieure du Middle Purbeck du Sud de l'Angleterre. Pour citer cet article : J.-P. Colin et al., C. R. Palevol 3 (2003).

Resume Les associations d’ostracodes recoltees dans les « Couches Rouges » continentales du Haut Atlas Central, Maroc, se composent de 35 especes, appartenant a 17 genres, dont quatre sont nouvelles et decrites. Elles permettent de rapporter le membre inferieur de la Formation des Iouaridenes au Jurassique superieur (?)–Hauterivien superieur, et la Formation du Jbel Sidal a l’Hauterivien superieur–Aptien inferieur. Les populations d’ostracodes caracterisent des environnements lacustres (dulcaquicoles) et lagunaires (oligo a mesohalins). Sur la base d’especes limniques et lagunaires, des communications fauniques sont proposees pour le Barremien–Aptien entre le Maroc et la Peninsule Iberique.

The ostracode genus Fossocytheridea Swain and Brown 1964 is emended herein. A summary of the diagnostic characters include: (1) a median sulcus, (2) a tripartite antimerodont hinge with distinct heart-shaped terminal elements, (3) distinct sexual dimor- phism; (4) a narrow inner margin that has 20-28 straight radial pore canals, and (5) variability in the external carapace (pore shape, pore density, and patterns of reticulation) that bears close resemblance to Cyprideis. Two new species are described from southwest Utah (U.S.A): Fossocytheridea mosbyense sp. nov. and Fossocytheridea kirklandi sp. nov. and 21 taxa previously assigned to Fabanella, Sarlatina, Ovocytheridea, Dolocytheridea, Antibythocypris, and Cytheridea are assigned to the emended genus. Fossocytheridea resem- bles Cyprideis with respect to both shell morphology and ecology since it occurs in association with euryhaline biota in coal-bearing strata. Expansion of marginal marine environments during the highest sea level of the Mesozoic saw Fossocytheridea successfully mi- grate and dominate restricted coastal environments. Since this expansion, the prominent characters of Fossocytheridea have been pre- served in descendent genera belonging to the tribe Cyprideidini Kollmann 1960 that are preserved to this day in Cyprideis.

Following Gondwana break-up and the separation of Africa from Antarctica, India and South America, significant climate fluctuations and epeirogenic uplift have influenced the formation of the Kalahari Plateau (also known as the ‘African Surface’) and the Congo Basin (also known as the ‘Cuvette centrale’), two iconic landscapes of central sub-Saharan Africa. Both landscapes are covered by an extensive Upper Cretaceous-Cenozoic sedimentary sequence with hard-caps (duricrusts) of calcrete and silcrete of the Kalahari Group. These terrestrial sediments preserve a record over more than 80 million years of the climatic and tectonic history of south-central Africa, yet they represent a major challenge to accurately date, and to correlate precisely, because of lack of suitable materials for radiometric dating techniques, and because episodes of bioturbation, weathering, and erosion have left a condensed sequence of less than 500 m. Based on recent drilling and field investigations across the Kalahari Plateau in Botswana, and eroded surfaces exposed along the southern margin of the Congo Basin, in southwest Democratic Republic of Congo, new regional correlations of the Kalahari Group reveal that a large part of the carapace of silcrete and calcrete, here named the ‘Kalahari Surface’, across the Congo Basin disintegrated during the Cenozoic, exposing a vast area with up to 500–600 m of underlying poorly consolidated Jurassic-Cretaceousred-beds to fluvial erosion. When linked to the off-shore sedimentation history of the Congo Fan along the Atlantic margin, the terrestrial observations suggest that accelerated erosion of more than 0.5 × 106 km3 of the red-beds and collapse of the Kalahari Surface across the Congo Basin closely match the sudden increase of sedimentation and the estimated accumulation of ca. 0.7 × 106 km3 of Oligocene to Recent marine sediments. Discharge of the proto-Congo river systems draining the Congo Basin through the Congo delta was possibly linked to increasingly humid conditions during the mid-Cenozoic and may, in turn, have had significant effect on the global ocean water chemistry.

The 1st International Symposium on Ostracoda (ISO) was held in Naples (1963). The philosophy behind this symposium and the logical outcome of what is now known as the International Research Group on Ostracoda (IRGO) are here reviewed, namely ostracodology over the last 50 years is sociologically analysed. Three different and important historic moments for the scientific achievements of this domain are recognised. The first one, between about 1963 and 1983, is related to applied research for the oil industry as well as to the great interest in the better description of the marine environment by both zoologists and palaeontologists. Another important aspect during this period was the work by researchers dealing with Palaeozoic ostracods, who had their own discussion group, IRGPO. Gradually, the merger of this latter group with those dealing with post-Palaeozoic ostracods at various meetings improved the communication between the two groups of specialists. A second period was approximately delineated between 1983 and 2003. During this time-slice, more emphasis was addressed to environmental research with topics such as the study of global events and long-term climate change. Ostracodologists profited also from the research “politics” within national and international programmes. Large international research teams emerged using new research methods. During the third period (2003–2013), communication and collaborative research reached a global dimension. Amongst the topics of research we cite the reconstruction of palaeoclimate using transfer functions, the building of large datasets of ostracod distributions for regional and intercontinental studies, and the implementation of actions that should lead to taxonomic harmonisation. Projects within which molecular biological techniques are routinely used, combined with sophisticated morphological information, expanded now in their importance. The documentation of the ostracod description improved through new techniques to visualise morphological details, which stimulated also communication between ostracodologists. Efforts of making available ostracod information through newsletters and electronic media are evoked.

The Congo Cuvette (or Basin) is a large depression with an average elevation of 350 m, surrounded by topographic highs: the Central African Atlantic Swell (west), the Cameroon Highlands and the Ubangian Rise (north), the western flank of the East African Dome (east) and the Kalahari and Angolese Plateau (south). Our objective is to perform a geomorphological and stratigraphical study of the Congo Cuvette and its flanking relief to characterize the Cenozoic landscape evolution of Central Africa and associated vertical movements.

International audience; The Congo Basin is characterized by an extensive and relatively thick (ca. 1 km) succession of Jurassic-Cretaceous sedimentary sequences that preserves a unique record of the tectonic and climatic evolution of central Africa during the main period of break-up of Gondwana and the emergence of the Indian and South Atlantic Oceans. New facies analysis and detailed correlations of these ‘Congo’ sequences are described from field observations in the southwestern Congo Basin and by re-logging cores and well logs from four deep boreholes drilled in the center of the basin in the 1950s and 1970s. The lowermost Upper Jurassic sequence (the Stanleyville Group) records a short marine incursion of the proto-Indian Ocean into the northern Congo Basin, and is in turn overlain to the south by widespread aeolian dune deposits (the Lower Kwango Group), which correlate well with other Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous aeolian sequences in Namibia and eastern Brazil, attesting to a giant ‘Sahara-like’ paleo-desert across central West Gondwana, just before the separation of Africa from South America. U-Pb detrital zircons geochronology from this aeolian sequence in the Congo Basin dates mid-Silurian (ca. 430 Ma), Permian-Triassic (ca. 240 and 290 Ma) and Jurassic (ca. 190 Ma) magmatic zircons, here proposed to have been sourced from abundant volcanic activity along the proto-Andes, in southernmost Gondwana. Two successive middle Cretaceous lacustrine sequences in the center of the Congo Basin (the Loia and Bokungu Groups), first analcime-rich and episodically anoxic, and then more carbonated, are interpreted to record an episode of basin stagnation following the eruption of the Paraná-Etendeka Large Igneous Province and a subsequent hot/humid climate maximum during the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean. Late Cretaceous sedimentation in the Congo Basin terminated with fluvial sediments (the Upper Kwango Group) suggesting marginal uplifts during the Kalahari epeirogeny. The top of these sequences is truncated by a regional Cenozoic peneplanation surface.

International audience; The Congo Basin is a large Phanerozoic sedimentary basin with up to 3–6 km of Carboniferous to Triassic sequences, comparable to those of the Karoo Basins of southern Gondwana. Here, we present a substantially revised stratigraphy for the Congo Basin, based on new field observations, seismic and borehole data, together with paleontology and new geochronology. In the center of the basin, the deepest boreholes intercept 3 to 4 km thick successions of conglomerates and red sandstones that overlie carbonate rocks, which correlate to deformed upper Neoproterozoic (Pan African) platform sequences extending beyond the Congo Basin into the Pan African orogenic zones (e.g. the West Congolian Group). The overlying sequences are dated biostratigraphically to be Carboniferous-Permian (the Lukuga Group) and Triassic (the Haute Lueki Group) in age. A regional erosion surface separates these two groups, possibly related to late Paleozoic intracontinental deformation associated with the Mauritanian-Variscan and Cape-de la Ventana orogens flanking the northwestern and southern margins of Gondwana, respectively. This change in basin paleogeography is consistent with detrital zircons dated from these sequences that suggest the ca. 1.4 Ga Kibaran Belt along the eastern margin of the Congo Basin stopped acting as a major source during the early Mesozoic.

Resume Des associations d'Ostracodes du Danien de la region de Mahajanga, au NW de Madagascar, sont decrites. Vingt-cinq especes sont reconnues parmi lesquelles cinq nouvelles sont creees: Cytherelloidea furcafera, Keijcyoidea antekeiji, Haughtonileberis postfissilis, Dutoitella dinglei, Paragrenocythere alfuraihi . Une espece semble s'identifier a Occultocythereis arabica connue au Nord de l'Ocean Indien mais aucune ne se rapproche des especes guineennes contemporaines. Au point de vue ecologique, les ostracodes indiquent un milieu neritique bien oxygene et de profondeur progressivement croissante de quelques metres a plusieurs dizaines de metres.

A new genus of limnic ostracode, Sinuocythere n. gen., belonging to the family Limnocytheridae, subfamily Timiriaseviinae, and three new species, Sinuocythere subsinuosa n. sp., Sinuocythere pedrogaensis n. sp. and Sinuocythere candeeirosensis n. sp. are described. This genus belongs to the Timiriasevia-Metacypris group, which first appeared at the end of the Triassic and began to diversify during the Middle Jurassic. It differs from other members of the group by its elongate subovate carapace, slightly compressed posterior margin, and its sinuous and posteriorly upturned dorsal margin. All the known species of this genus have a stratigraphical distribution limited to the Middle and early Upper Jurassic (Bathonian-Oxfordian) of the southern Tethyan realm (Tunisia, Morocco and Portugal). Sinuocythere has a typical euryhaline behavior, contrasting with the salinity tolerance of living and fossil species of the genera Metacypris and Vecticypris, which are essentially limnic-oligohaline.

Resume Les sediments inter-trappeens, d'âge maastrichtien terminal-paleocene basal, de la region d'Anjar (Kachchh, Etat de Gujarat) dans le NW de l'Inde, ont livre des associations relativement bien diversifiees d'ostracodes limniques. Deux especes et sous-especes nouvelles sont decrites, Frambocythere tumiensis anjarensis n. subsp. et Zonocypris gujaratensis n. sp., presentes de part et d'autre de la limite supposee Cretace-Tertiaire. Les autres especes rencontrees appartiennent aux genres Gomphocythere?, Candona, Typhlocypris, Paracandona?, Potamocypris? Mongolianella et Valdonniella? . Une interpetation paleoecologique est proposee, et les relations paleobiogeographiques discutees. Les affinites sont importantes avec la Chine et la Mongolie (province sino-mongole), plus restreintes avec l'Europe meridionale, tres faibles avec l'Afrique et l'Amerique du Sud. Ces affinites laurasiennes vont dans le sens des hypotheses avancant une collision precoce entre l'Inde et l'Asie au Cretace terminal. Comme cela a deja ete observe dans d'autres regions, il semble que les associations d'ostracodes limniques n'aient pas ete beaucoup affectees qualitativement par un evenement qui aurait eu lieu a la limite Cretace-Tertiaire.

Resume Deux nouvelles especes de Limnocytheridae, ostracodes limniques, sont decrites dans l'Aptien de l'Algarve, au Sud du Portugal : Stenestroemia mosensis n. sp. et Rosacythere lacobrigensis n. sp. Le genre Stenestroemia (sous-famille Limnocytherinae), proche du genre actuel Limnocythere, caracterise un milieu lagunaire, mesohalin alors que le genre Rosacythere (sous-famille Timiriaseviinae), affilie au genre actuel Kovalevskiella indique un environement nettement dulcaquicole a oligohalin.