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We report here on evidence of early Homo around 1.0 Ma (millions of years ago) in the central plains of southern Africa. The human material, a first upper molar, was discovered during the systematic excavation of a densely-packed bone bed in the basal part of the sedimentary sequence at the Cornelia-Uitzoek fossil vertebrate locality. We dated this sequence by palaeomagnetism and correlated the bone bed to the Jaramillo subchron, between 1.07 and 0.99 Ma. This makes the specimen the oldest southern African hominine remains outside the dolomitic karst landscapes of northern South Africa. Cornelia-Uitzoek is the type locality of the Cornelian Land Mammal Age. The fauna contains an archaic component, reflecting previous biogeographic links with East Africa, and a derived component, suggesting incipient southern endemism. The bone bed is considered to be the result of the bone collecting behaviour of a large predator, possibly spotted hyaenas. Acheulian artefacts are found in small numbers within the bone bed among the fossil vertebrates, reflecting the penecontemporaneous presence of people in the immediate vicinity of the occurrence. The hominine tooth was recovered from the central, deeper part of the bone bed. In size, it clusters with southern African early Homo and it is also morphologically similar. We propose that the early Homo specimen forms part of an archaic component in the fauna, in parallel with the other archaic faunal elements at Uitzoek. This supports an emergent pattern of archaic survivors in the southern landscape at this time, but also demonstrates the presence of early Homo in the central plains of southern Africa, beyond the dolomitic karst areas.

A new species of Equus, E. (Sussemionus) ovodovi n. sp., was excavated in Proskuriakova Cave (Khakassia, Southwestern Siberia) in deposits carbon dated at 40 000 BP. This slender, middle-sized equid was first considered as related to E. hydruntinus Stehlin & Graziosi, 1935 but biomolecular analyses showed that it actually belonged to a group hitherto unknown of Equus. Indeed, a more detailed study of the fossils evidenced features characteristic of the subgenus Sussemionus Eisenmann, 2010, common during the middle Pleistocene but supposed extinct after. The current article describes this new species.

The Southern Levant is a pivotal area for the study of hominin paleoecology during the Lower Paleolithic, because of its location on the out-of-Africa dispersal route and its significant ecological diversity. Important information has been gained by archaeofaunal studies, which usually reveal that exploitation of diverse Mediterranean environments with woodlands, marshes and lake margins, represents a dominant subsistence strategy for Lower Paleolithic hominins. Here, we present new taxonomic and taphonomic data from two sites in the southern coastal plain of the Southern Levant, at the fringe of the Negev Desert: Bizat Ruhama (Early Pleistocene) and Nahal Hesi (Middle Pleistocene). The sites preserve anthropogenic faunas, with the former signaling a marrow-exploitation strategy, perhaps related to scavenging from carnivore kills, and the latter showing evidence for primary access to fleshed ungulate carcasses. The species composition of these Northern Negev sites is unique for the Levantine Lower Paleolithic in that these sites lack typical woodland and riparian species, probably indicating an open, relatively uniform environment with patchy water sources and trees, much like this semiarid region today. Bizat Ruhama and Nahal Hesi are among the only Levantine Lower Paleolithic faunas associated with such a setting, thereby widening the known spectrum of environments exploited by hominins in the region. It is suggested that the two sites, coupled with the nearby Late Pleistocene evidence, reflect a largely stable semiarid environment on the northwestern fringe of the Negev Desert throughout much of the Pleistocene.

The new subgenus of Equus, Sussemionus, is defined by peculiar dental characters so far unknown, or exceptional in late Pleistocene and extant Equus; it was in consequence assumed to be restricted to the early and middle Pleistocene. During that period, it was highly successful, ranging from North America to Ethiopia, and included dry-adapted (E. granatensis-like) and more humid-adapted (E. coliemensis-like) species. Recent molecular and osteological analyses concurred to prove its survival until ca 45 KYBP in Khakassia, southwest Siberia, Russia.

The Fauresmith lithic industry of South Africa has been described as transitional between the Earlier and Middle Stone Age. However, radiometric ages for this industry are inadequate. Here we present a minimum OSL age of 464 ± 47 kyr and a combined U-series–ESR age of 542 −107 +140 kyr for an in situ Fauresmith assemblage, and three OSL ages for overlying Middle and Later Stone Age strata, from the site of Kathu Pan 1 (Northern Cape Province, South Africa). These ages are discussed in relation to the available lithostratigraphy, faunal and lithic assemblages from this site. The results indicate that the Kathu Pan 1 Fauresmith assemblage predates transitional industries from other parts of Africa e.g. Sangoan, as well as the end of the Acheulean in southern Africa. The presence of blades, in the dated Fauresmith assemblages from Kathu Pan 1 generally considered a feature of modern human behaviour ( McBrearty and Brooks, 2000 , The revolution that wasn't: a new interpretation of the origin of modern human behavior, J. Human Evolution 39, 453–563),-provides evidence supporting the position that blade production in southern Africa predated the Middle Stone Age and the advent of modern Homo sapiens .

Equus hydruntinus inhabited Europe and the Middle East for more than 300 000 years. For a long time, palaeontological data failed to place E. hydruntinus into the equid phylogenetic tree, confronted with the fact that it shares primitive Equus characters with both zebras and asses, and derived characters with asses and hemiones. However, the study of a recently discovered skull points to a relationship with hemiones. Extraction of DNA from ancient samples from Crimea (E. hydruntinus) and Iran (E. cf. hydruntinus) yielded 134-288 bp of the mtDNA control region and 143 bp of the cytochrome b gene. This DNA analysis supports the proximity of E. hydruntinus and Equus hemionus suggested by skull and limb bone analyses, and rejects proximity to either Equus burchelli or the asses suggested by tooth morphology. Dental morphology may thus be of poor taxonomical value if used alone for establishing equid phylogenetic relationships. Furthermore, the small genetic distance between E. cf. hydruntinus of Iran and the classical E. hydruntinus of Crimea suggests that both samples belong to the same species. Accordingly, the geographic range of E. hydruntinus -- until now believed to be restricted to Europe, Israel, and Turkey -- can be extended towards East as far as Iran.

Resume En complement de l'etude comparative des Equides recoltes recemment dans deux niveaux superposes de Saint-Vallier (LD2 et LD3), la plupart des restes squelettiques des anciennes collections sont decrits statistiquement. Evaluations du poids et de la hauteur au garrot. L'ensemble du materiel est elabore suivant la nouvelle technique des indices de taille. Il apparait que les Equides du niveau le plus ancien (LD2) sont significativement plus grands et ressemblent a ceux du gisement espagnol d'El Rincon 1. La plupart des fossiles du niveau recent (LD3) peuvent etre attribues a Allohippus stenonis vireti ; mais il existe aussi quelques restes d'un equide plus petit et plus gracile. Classement des Equides europeens d'âges compris entre 2,5 et 1,5 Ma environ, en fonction de leur poids et de leur morphologie squelettique. Remarques taxonomiques et chronologiques, en particulier sur Livenzovka.

Resume Les nouvelles fouilles entreprises a Saint-Vallier de 1993 a 1999 ont montre que le site possede deux horizons fossiliferes, le plus important etant le niveau superieur de lœss durci LD 3 qui doit etre considere comme le niveau-type du Villafranchien moyen. Le niveau inferieur LD 2, beaucoup plus pauvre, se distingue surtout par la presence d'un Allohippus stenonis bien different de celui de LD 3. La liste faunique du gisement compte desormais six genres de mollusques, huit especes d'oiseaux et 42 especes de mammiferes dont trois insectivores, six rongeurs, deux lagomorphes, un primate, quinze carnivores, deux proboscidiens, quatre perissodactyles, neuf artiodactyles. quatorze taxons nouveaux pour le gisement ont ete decouverts: quatre Mollusques, un Oiseau, trois Insectivores, deux Rongeurs, deux Perissodactyles et deux Artiodactyles. Les pollens sont relativement rares, on y note la presence de cedres et de platanes. La communaute mammalienne temoigne d'un paysage en mosaique avec un melange de steppe et de zones boisees ouvertes, a proximite d'un corps d'eau, sous un climat relativement humide et pas particulierement froid. L'âge du niveau superieur est d'environ 2 Ma ; sa faune de mammiferes se caracterise par la presence de huit especes correspondant chacune a un stade evolutif dans une lignee connue, de deux associations caracteristiques, et par la premiere apparition de sept taxons. De nombreux gisements europeens possedent une faune comparable presentant tout ou partie de ces caracteres, leur âge correspond a la meme biozone MNQ 17.

To obtain a pdf version for private use only, please contact the authors.; International audience; In a series of papers, Sahnouni et al. (1996, 2002) and Sahnouni and de Heinzelin (1998) have reported the results of their renewed excavations atthe important Algerian localities of Ain Hanech and Ain Boucherit, first studied by Arambourg (e.g., Arambourg, 1970, 1979). According to the latest paper by Sahnouni and co-workers (Sahnouni et al., 2002), Ain Hanech would belong to the Olduvai subchron, dated to 1.77–1.95 Ma. This would make it by far the earliest North African site with evidence of hominid presence, and the time-equivalent of Olduvai Bed I, circum- KBS tuff levels at Koobi Fora, and Omo Shungura Member H. However, a review of the evidence put forward by Sahnouni et al. (2002) casts doubt on their conclusions. This evidence consists of 1) paleomagnetism, 2) biochronology, and 3) archaeology. They are discussed in this order below, preceded by a review of the more continuous Moroccan Atlantic sequence.; Discussion de l'appartenance au subchron Olduvai pour le gisement de l'Ain Hanech proposée par Sahnouni et al. sur la base des éléments connus pour la longue séquence continue du Plio-pléistocène du Maroc atlantique (région de Rabat-Casablanca principalement).

A sample of 225 skulls belonging to all extant species of Equus and of 33 fossil skulls of ages comprised between 3.4 Ma and 0.7 Ma was studied by multivariate analyses of size, shape, and form on four axial lengths. A simple bivariate discrimination using the overall palatal length and the cranial length allows an almost complete discrimination between modern (extant and young) equids (subgenus Equus) and old plesippine and stenonine forms. The modern pattern, possibly related to a bigger brain case, seems to appear less than 1.5 Ma ago in fossil species that can already be recognized as closely related to the extant Grevy's zebras, plains zebras, and horses. This does not support separate branchings of Equus species from a common plesippine stem.

Most of the remains of the small pleistocene equid of Binagady usually considered as an E. hydruntinusmay be referred to a new subspecies, E. hemionus binagadensis. A few teeth and bones really resemble E. hydruntinus. In the holocene of the plain of Qazvin, beside numerous remains of an average Hemione, there are several first phalanges similar to those of E. hemionus binagadensis, and several teeth similar to those of E. hydruntinus. We decided to consider them as representative of separate taxa. If, however, they are just variations of E. hemionus, our insight of E. hydruntinus has to be modified in one of two ways: either E. hydruntinus is a Hemione (not an Ass, nor a kind of E. stenonis or Zebra), or the “specific” characters of E. hydruntinus result of a parallel evolution.

Resume Les symphyses mandibulaires de 47 tapirs [folivores) et 46 equides (tondeurs d'herbe) modernes differentpar leurs proportions. Au Turolien, des proportions que nous avons interpretees comme tondeuses se trouvent associees a des dents jugales inferieures hipparioniennes (Samos, Salonique). Au Plio-Pleistocene, tous les Hipparion tondeurs ont des doubles boucles caballines, mais tous les Hipparion caballins ne paraissent pas etre des tondeurs. Il n'y a pas non plus de correlation avec la forme des incisives inferieures. Differentes modalites de caracteres etant associees differemment suivant les especes, il est quasiment impossible de reconnaitre une espece a partir d'un caractere, aussi specialise qu'il paraisse.

Three Pleistocene vertebrate localities in lacustrine deposits which accumulated in interdune depressions were discovered in the south-western part of the An Nafud sand sea (northern Saudi Arabia). Although the fossil vertebrate fauna is restricted in diversity, its composition and stage of evolution suggest an Early Pleistocene age in contrast with the recent Pleistocene or Holocene lake beds occurring in several other interdune depressions in central and southern An Nafud. The Nafud fauna has clear African affinities whereas faunas from the Levant, dating from the Middle Pleistocene onwards, contain typically European elements.

Between 8 and 6 million years ago, there was a global increase in the biomass of plants using C4 photosynthesis as indicated by changes in the carbon isotope ratios of fossil tooth enamel in Asia, Africa, North America and South America. This abrupt and widespread increase in C4 biomass may be related to a decrease in atmospheric CO2 concentrations below a threshold that favoured C3-photosynthesizing plants. The change occurred earlier at lower latitudes, as the threshold for C3 photosynthesis is higher at warmer temperatures.

Two equid species have been documented in the Pleistocene of the Iberian Peninsula, the horse Equus caballus, and the Eurasian hemione Equus hydruntinus. While the former survived the Holocene–Pleistocene until now, the timing for the extinction of the latter is unclear. Scarce, fragmented archaeological remains assess the presence of small equids living in the Holocene of Iberia. Those could possibly correspond to the Eurasian hemione although unambiguous morphological identification is often not possible. With the find of an equid tooth from Leceia, a Chalcolithic fortified site in Portugal, and using both morphological and mitochondrial genome analyses, we demonstrate for the first time the presence of a new equid species in Holocene Iberia, namely a donkey (Equus asinus). Radiocarbon dating of the tooth to Cal 2340–2130, and 2080–2060 BC with 95% probability, demonstrates that donkeys were present in Iberia well before the arrival of Phoenicians in the first quarter of the first millennium BC (900–750 years BC), which were considered so far as the first who introduced donkeys in the region.

Resume Trois especes de tapirs ont ete definies dans le Miocene superieur d'Europe occidentale: Tapirus priscus, T. antiquus et Tapiriscus pannonicus. L'etude de presque tous les restes connus de Tapirus priscus Kaup nous permet de redefinir cette espece sur le plan antomique. Nous avons verifie sa presence dans plus de quinze gisements d'Europe occidentale. Bien que toujours rare, Tapirus priscus est une forme caracteristique du Vallesien; ses exigences ecologiques sont celles des tapirs actuels: foret tropicale dense en climat chaud et humide, et proximite de l'eau. Ses ressemblances anatomiques avec le T. arvernensis du Ruscinien et du Villafranchien d'Europe montrent une proximite phylogenetique evidente. Il pourrait etre issu du T. telleri du Miocene moyen. Tapirus antiquus Kaup n'est connu que par deux molaires isolees du Vallesien inferieur d'Allemagne; l'une d'entre elles (l'holotype) est perdue; l'autre depasse largement les dimensions de la dent correspondante de T. priscus. Tapiriscus pannonicus Kretzoi, du Turolien de Hongrie, que nous figurons pour la premiere fois, n'a jamais ete clairement defini. Les quelques dimensions mesurables montrent que l'espece, tres petite, ne saurait etre confondue avec les precedentes. Elle est signalee dans un site turolien allemand sans avoir ete decrite et est peut-etre presente dans un autre, ainsi que dans un site italien de meme âge.

Philippe Michel, Ballesio Roland, Crégut-Bonnoure Evelyne, Eisenmann Véra, Faure Martine, Guérin Claude, Mein Pierre, Mourer-Chauviré Cécile, Rage Jean-Claude. Liste du matériel paléontologique sorti et laissé sur place. In: Nouvelles archives du Muséum d'histoire naturelle de Lyon, tome 31, 1994. L'autre Padirac. Spéléologie, karstologie, paléontologie et préhistoire, dans l'affluent Robert de Joly. pp. 128-138.

Vera Eisenmann, paléontologue au Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, relate les grandes lignes de l'évolution des Équidés sur quelque 54 millions d'années, examinant les possibilités de liens entre espèces sauvages et domestiques, dénonçant au passage quelques idées reçues sur l'origine de la domestication ou le cheval de Prjevalski, et vient à conclure que ce dernier, unique cheval sauvage actuellement en survie, est le seul qui ne puisse être placé à l'origine des chevaux domestiques. Vera Eisenmann, paleontologist at the Museum of Natural History (Paris), relates the history of the evolution of Equids over some 54 million years. She examines the possible links between wild and domestic species, argues against some generally accepted ideas about the origins of the domestication of the horse or about Przewalski's horse and concludes that the latter, the only wild horse still in existence, cannot be the ancestor of domestic horses.

Ludovic Orlando et al., The rich fossil record of the family Equidae (Mammalia: Perissodactyla) over the past 55 MY has made it an icon for the patterns and processes of macroevolution. Despite this, many aspects of equid phylogenetic relationships and taxonomy remain unresolved. Recent genetic analyses of extinct equids have revealed unexpected evolutionary patterns and a need for major revisions at the generic, subgeneric, and species levels. To investigate this issue we examine 35 ancient equid specimens from four geographic regions (South America, Europe, Southwest Asia, and South Africa), of which 22 delivered 87–688 bp of reproducible aDNA mitochondrial sequence. Phylogenetic analyses support a major revision of the recent evolutionary history of equids and reveal two new species, a South American hippidion and a descendant of a basal lineage potentially related to Middle Pleistocene equids. Sequences from specimens assigned to the giant extinct Cape zebra, Equus capensis, formed a separate clade within the modern plain zebra species, a phenotypicically plastic group that also included the extinct quagga. In addition, we revise the currently recognized extinction times for two hemione-related equid groups. However, it is apparent that the current dataset cannot solve all of the taxonomic and phylogenetic questions relevant to the evolution of Equus. In light of these findings, we propose a rapid DNA barcoding approach to evaluate the taxonomic status of the many Late Pleistocene fossil Equidae species that have been described from purely morphological analyses.

Resume Les Chevaux quaternaires europeens se distinguent entre eux par les dimensions et proportions de leurs dents et de leurs metacarpiens. Les dimensions discriminent bien les grandes formes antewurmiennes et les formes wurmiennes plus petites. Les longueurs relatives des protocones permettent de definir trois types qui contiennent chacun des formes de tailles differentes. Le type I, ou les protocones des M 1 M 2 sont relativement longs, se trouve en general dans un contexte climatique tempere (Lunel-Viel, interglaciaire ante-Ipswichien d'Angleterre, faune chaude d'Achenheim, Chevaux mousteriens). Les types II et III, ou les protocones des M 1 M 2 sont relativement courts, se trouvent en general dans un contexte frais ou froid (Mosbach, Arago, La Fage, couches 22–25 de Combe Grenal, Chevaux magdaleniens). Les discordances entre taille, type, âge et conditions climatiques sont discutees. Une biostratigraphie fiable, combinant taille et type, n'est possible que pour les Chevaux wurmiens ( E. germanicus et E. arcelini ) et peut-etre eemiens ( E. taubachensis ); E. taubachensis et E. germanicus appartiennent probablement a la meme lignee. Une autre lignee moins certaine comprend E. mosbachensis et E. achenheimenis; E. palustris de Lunel-Viel occupe une place a part. Il existe des arguments biologiques et morphologiques a l'appui d'une distinction specifique d' E. caballus, E. przewalskii et E. ferus .

Resume Les diagrammes de Simpson et les profils centres reduits des longueurs des os des membres et de la largeur dusabot permettent de distinguer trois groupes de Chevaux fossiles : 1. Le grand E. mosbachensis qui differe peu des Chevaux de race Arabe actuels et du Cheval de Przewalski. 2. Les Chevaux paleolithiques moyens (Jaurens), superieurs (Mezine et Sunguir) et le premier Cheval domestique (Dereivka) se distinguent par des premieres phalanges relativement longues, comme les Chevaux de trait actuels. 3. Les Chevaux du Paleolithique moyen de l'Oural et de Kostenki ont des premieres phalanges courtes qui les rapprochent du Tarpan, mais leurs sabots sont extremement larges. Ces differences de proportions posent de difficiles problemes d'interpretation fonctionnelle et systematique.

In order to test the possibility of large migrations of wild horses between the North and the South of Western Europe during the Late Glacial, we addressed the population diversity in this area, especially during the Bolling/Allerod periods. We based this appreciation upon the detailed morphology of the distal part of the metapodials. Landmark approaches were applied to archaeological and palaeontological samples from three distinct areas: Switzerland Plateau, Paris Basin, and Charente (France). Little differences of isometric size characterized the three regional samples. Multivariate analyses of shape (principal component analysis, discriminant, canonical variates and neural network analyses) revealed similar sets of complex shape features on both metacarpals and metatarsals. In addition, regional groups appeared clearly differentiated by well defined shape patterns, the functional implications of which remain to be established. These results evidence the existence of a regional structuration of populations (particularly clear on the CVA of both metacarpals and metatarsals) suggesting the absence of long distance migrations. Finally, it appears that the distinction between size and shape systematically operated by geometric morphometrics can provide better insights into the study of the mobility of ancient populations. Geometric morphometrics approaches such as 3D Procrustes superimpositions, appear therefore to be of great interest for archaeological purposes.

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Unusual equids named hippidions inhabited South America for more than 2 MY (million years). Like many other animals they succumbed to the worldwide climatic change that occurred 10 KY (thousand years) ago and completely disappeared during the great late Pleistocene megafaunal extinction. According to fossil records and numerous dental, cranial, and postcranial characters, Hippidion and Equus lineages are known to have diverged prior to 10 MY. Some equid bones from Rio Verde and Ultima Esperanza (Patagonia, Chile) dating back to the late Pleistocene period (8–13 KY) have been identified as Hippidion saldiasi, while a few teeth have been assigned to Equus. Six samples of those remains have been obtained from the Zoological Museum of Amsterdam for ancient DNA analysis to try to place Hippidion in the evolutive tree of Perissodactyla. Two samples of Hippidion and one sample of Equus yielded 241–394 bp of the mtDNA control region and 172–296 bp of the cytochrome b gene. Unexpectedly, all the sequences clustered deep inside the Equus genus, casting doubt on the initial identification of the bones. For paleontologists, one of the striking and classical diagnostic characters of Hippidion is their extremely short and massive metapodials, a probable locomotory adaptation to the Andine steep slopes. However, our DNA analysis reveals that a very Hippidion-like metapod might also have been possessed by another South American equid, i.e., Equus (Amerhippus), an interpretation supported by complementary anatomical observations. This adaptive convergence between members of the two South American equid genera may lead paleontologists to limb bone misidentification.

Guérin Claude, Ballesio Roland, Crégut-Bonnoure Evelyne, Eisenmann Véra, Faure Martine, Mourer-Chauviré Cécile, Mein Pierre, Philippe Michel, Rage Jean-Claude. Conclusions sur la faune pléistocène de l'affluent Robert de Joly. In: Nouvelles archives du Muséum d'histoire naturelle de Lyon, tome 31, 1994. L'autre Padirac. Spéléologie, karstologie, paléontologie et préhistoire, dans l'affluent Robert de Joly. pp. 188-190.

All six known specimens of the early hominid Sahelanthropus tchadensis come from Toros-Menalla site 266 (TM 266), a single locality in the Djurab Desert, northern Chad, central Africa. Here we present a preliminary analysis of the palaeontological and palaeoecological context of these finds. The rich fauna from TM 266 includes a significant aquatic component such as fish, crocodiles and amphibious mammals, alongside animals associated with gallery forest and savannah, such as primates, rodents, elephants, equids and bovids. The fauna suggests a biochronological age between 6 and 7 million years. Taken together with the sedimentological evidence, the fauna suggests that S. tchadensis lived close to a lake, but not far from a sandy desert, perhaps the oldest record of desert conditions in the Neogene of northern central Africa.

Eisenmann Véra. Les équidés. In: Nouvelles archives du Muséum d'histoire naturelle de Lyon, tome 31, 1994. L'autre Padirac. Spéléologie, karstologie, paléontologie et préhistoire, dans l'affluent Robert de Joly. pp. 150-160.

Nature 418, 145–151 (2002). Owing to an editorial oversight, the sentence in the second column of page 150 that reads ‘Lower c and the lower and upper premolars each have three pulp canals and two roots’ is in error. Instead, it should read ‘Lower and upper premolars each have three pulp canals and two roots’.

Cerling et al. reply — suggest that phenomena other than floral change may be involved in the late Miocene global vegetation change, such as monsoonal dynamics or unnamed “other factors”. Citing evidence from Spain and Pakistan, they do not believe that there is necessarily a synchronicity or a causal link between faunal and vegetation change in the late Miocene epoch. However, on the contrary, it seems highly unlikely that a vegetation change on the scale documented1 would be uncorrelated with faunal change.

Revised macrommals from Ubeidiya point to anUppermost or even Post-Villafranchian age for this Hominid site (younger than 1.5 MY). A few months ago another paper on Ubeidiya fauna insisted on a substantially earlier age (1.9 to 2.5 MY) with the effect of changing the current ideas on the African origin of man. Why and how such disagreements are possible? Answers to this question seem to be mostly methodological: the differences in the biochronological interpretations result from the source of information: fossils or faunal lists and sometime from the preeminence given to paleontological or radiometric datations. The Ubeidiya case shows that more attention should be paid to a correct determination of the fossils than to a striking interpretation of old faunal lists.

Resume A partir des Perissodactyles actuels, nous avons recherche des correlations entre facteurs de l'environnement et traits anatomiques. Les porportions des segments de membres et les types locomoteurs definis par Gregory et Osborn ont fait l'objet d'un developement particulier: representation graphique par des logarithmes des types graviportal, mediportal et coureur, position de divers Rhinocerotides, de Tapirus et d'Equus par rapport a ces trois types. Les Equus sont de bons indicateurs de milieux: deux sous-especes de E. stenonis permettent de distinguer les paleoenvironnements de Saint-Vallier (plutot forestier, humide, a sol assez meuble) et de la Puebla de Valverde (ouvert, sec et a sol dur). Parmi les Ceratomorphes les formes aquaphiles (Tapirs, Aceratheres, Dicerorhinus schleiermacheri) presentent des particularites anatomiques communes et concordantes. D'autres Rhinoceros posent des problemes interessants en associant des caracteres anatomiques marqueurs d'environnements differents, comme la brachyodontie et la constitution coureuse des Dicerorhinus etruscus et D. mercki, ou l'hypsodontie et la constitution graviportale des Ceratotherium simum et Coelodonta antiquitatis. Ces derniers presentent une remarquable convergence adaptative.

Biometrical study of the metapodials of modern wild species (E. grevyi, E. burchelli boehmi, E. zebra hartmannae, E. africanus, E. hemionus and E. przewalskii) and some fossil forms (E. stenonis vireti and cf. vireti from the Villafranchian of France and Spain; E. tabeti and E. mauritanicus from the Lower and Middle Pleistocene of Northern Africa; E. mosbachensis from the Middle Pleistocene of Germany). Classical functional and evolutive interpretations of some characters are discussed: development of the distal keel, of the distal supra-articular and articular widths, of the proximal widths and antero-posterior diameters.

L'étude, par la nouvelle mission franco-israélienne, des faciès, des structures sédimentaires et de leurs enchaînements a mis en évidence une séquence régressive de dépôts lacustres à des dépôts côtiers, puis deltaïques dans les couches fossilifères les plus anciennes du gisement Villafranchien terminal d'Oubeidiyeh.

Resume Les couches plio-pleistocenes des formationsd'Hadar (Ethiopie) et Koobi Fora (Kenya) ont livre un materiel crânien exceptionnellement riche (6 crânes et 6 mandibules) dont on donne la description detaillee. Certains crânes presentent une structure vomerienne jusqu'a present inconnue dans le genre Hipparion . Une nouvelle espece, H. afarense , moins evoluee que H. ethiopicum , est decrite dans la formation d'Hadar. Dans la formation de Koobi Fora, un crâne et deux mandibules fragmentaires peuvent etre atribuees a H. ethiopicum et cf. ethiopicum .

VERA EISENMANN', PAUL SONDAAR2, MARIA-TERESA ALBERDI3, and CLAUDIO DE GIULI4, UA 12 du CNRS, Institut de Paleontologie, 8 rue Buffon, 75005 Paris, France; 2Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht, Instituut voor Aardwetenschappen, Budapestlaan 4, 3508 TA Utrecht, Nederlands; 3Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, Jose Gutierrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain; 4Istituto di Geologia e Paleontologia dell'UniversitA di Firenze, Via La Pira 4, 50121 Firenze, Italy