Plant and vertebrate fossil-lagerstätten from the Albian-Cenomanian of Charente-Maritime (Western France)
Uppermost Albian and Lower Cenomanian limestones, sands and coaly clays were extensively deposited in the region Charente-Maritime of Western France. These fossil-lagerstätten are exposed locally at the lowermost parts of coastal cliffs and inland in sand quarries. They are of two types: (1) fossil-lagerstätten by preservation (e.g. plant beds at Puy-Puy), and (2) fossil-lagerstätten by concentration (e.g. sands bearing teeth and bones microremains at Les Renardières). They delivered very abundant and diverse palaeontological assemblages consisting of plants (leaf cuticles and wood of ferns, conifers, cycads and angiosperms), and vertebrates (bones and teeth of selachians, actinopterygians, turtles, crocodiles, snakes, pterosaurs, dinosaurs and mammals). From the palaeoenvironmental point of view, these settings represent transgressive deposits formed in an internal estuary and coastal lakes or lagoons, which were more or less continental (freshwater) or marine influenced. Interestingly, plants and vertebrates share palaeogeographical affinities with North America and North Africa.