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The last stages of dinosaur faunal history in Europe: a succession of Maastrichtian dinosaur assemblages from the Corbières (southern France)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

Jean Le Loeuff ,
Eric Buffetaut  and
Michel Martin
Jean Le Loeuff
Affiliation:
Musée des Dinosaures, 11260 Espéraza, France URA 1761 du CNRS, Laboratoire de Paléontologie des Vertébrés, Case 106, Université Paris 6, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France
Eric Buffetaut
Affiliation:
URA 1761 du CNRS, Laboratoire de Paléontologie des Vertébrés, Case 106, Université Paris 6, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France
Michel Martin
Affiliation:
Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Boulogne-sur-Mer, 115 boulevard Eurvin, 62200 Boulogne-sur-Mer, France
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Abstract

We report the discovery of a dinosaur assemblage in the non-marine Late Maastrichtian of the Corbieres region of southern France; this allows the reconstruction of the succession of dinosaur faunas during the Maastrichtian in western Europe. An Early Maastrichtian fauna dominated by titanosaurid sauropods was replaced by a Late Maastrichtian assemblage dominated by hadrosaurs. This important faunal replacement seems to coincide with environmental changes (documented by sedimentological and palynological evidence) which have been linked to a marine regression during the Maastrichtian. This suggests that sea-level changes influenced the evolution of dinosaur faunas in Europe during the Late Cretaceous, but were not sufficient to cause the final extinction of dinosaurs, for which other causes must be sought.

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 131 , Issue 5 , September 1994 , pp. 625 - 630
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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