Le Naturaliste Vendéen, Numéro 3 (2003)
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In 1869 Tacite Letourneux described a new species of gasteropod, Valvata bourguignati, in a spring in south-east Vendée. The name of this new species was later considered to be synonymous with Neohoratia globulina. Recent samplings in the Locus typicus have permitted the revision of this taxon, now named Islamia moquiniana.
It has been forty years since the Jurassic site of Veillon in Talmont-Saint-Hilaire (Vendée, France), where footprints of vertebrates were found, was plundered. This outstanding site belonging to Vendée's geological patrimony needs to be preserved and developed. Some footprints from Veillon are displayed in the collections of about thirty public institutions and six museums.
Un busard cendré, Circus pygargus, consommateur d'oeufs de Sternes pierregarins, Sterna hirundo
(2003)
On the lagoon of Bouin, in the Baie of Bourgneuf in Vendée (France), a Montagu’s harrier has been observed on several occasions eating the eggs of Common Tern. This type of predation does not appear to be very frequent with this species of raptor.
Tandonia rustica (Millet 1843) (Mollusca : Gastropoda), nouvelle espèce de limace pour la Vendée
(2003)
The slug Tandonia rustica has recently been discovered in the forest of Mervent, in Vendée. After a brief description of the site where the gastropod was found, the author describes the biology, ethology and distribution in France of this species.
In the Talmondais (Vendée) the Hettangian sedimentation locally begins with fluviatil clastic deposits prior to the deposition of shallow marine carbonates. These clastics, including the footprint-bearing beds of Le Veillon (south of Talmont- Saint-Hilaire) are subject to important and frequent variations in thickness. Drilling and geophysic data indicate a tectonic control of these variations. A fault-block pattern is proposed. At a small scale, it gives an illustration of the extensional tectonic processes related to the evolution of the Biscay rift during the early Liassic.
Numerous footprints areas has been found, since 1962, in Permian, Triassic and Hettango-Sinemurian. All show precised oriented trackways. So that they were undestood like walking ways but their precise meaning is still enigmatic.
One of the remaining French otter populations lives on Noirmoutier island where the marine environment offers food resources. A study of the otters' diets will prove if these resources are used or not.
Using the fossil dinosaur footprints of the lower Lias of Le Veillon at Talmont-Saint-Hilaire, (Vendée) as a starting point, the reconstitution by pupils of a unique fossil-bearing site is under consideration. The paleobiology and paleoecology of reptiles in this geological site are dealt with.
Palichnites et muséologie
(2003)
After they had intrigued the inquiring or observant mind for decades, it was realised that certain "natural curiosities" were tracks of extinct creatures, related to gigantic birds or other antediluvian animals. At the beginning of the XIXth century a new science, ichnology, came into being and developed, thanks to the collection, preservation and study of fossil prints. The increasing quantity of evidence thus unearthed reveals the diversity of vertebrate faunas which have trod the earth’s surface and left behind valuable information about their characteristics and behaviour. Like other institutions labouring on behalf of conservation, knowledge of nature and the preservation of our natural heritage, the Nantes Natural History Museum has, for nearly two centuries, collected, conserved, displayed and brought to the attention of the public those valuable pieces of evidence, fossil footprints. Displays of fossil prints are regularly presented during different exhibitions. Examples of them permit one to follow the evolution of our knowledge of these prints and illustrate how the information yielded by these prints has been transmitted.
Footprints are numerous in France where they found from Carboniferous to Quaternary levels. Those of Middle Triassic (Anisian-Ladinian) are especialy interesting because they are tridactyl footprints made probably by first dinosaurs. First skelettons are known from Upper Ladinian / lower Carnian.