Nouveaux sites à vertébrés paléogènes dans la région des Gour Lazib (Sahara nord-occidental, Algérie)

Abstract

Recent fieldworks in the Palaeogene of the Gour Lazib area (Hammada du Dra, Algeria) led us to reassess the stratigraphic allocations of the Glib Zegdou formation and to complement the lithostratigraphy of this formation. This continental series unconformably overlies a Palaeozoic substratum. The prospecting-exploration works in the middle member of the formation allowed us to discover several new vertebrate sites (with lungfish, actinopterygians, chelonians, and notably mammals), associated with Early to Middle Eocene charophyte oogones. We describe a hyracoid (Titanohyrax tantulus) and a macroscelidid (?Chambius sp.). We here also report the discovery of two rich mammalian sites. © 2007 Académie des sciences.