Rivers as repositories for fossil vertebrates: a case study from the Upper Cretaceous of southern France

An accumulation of vertebrate remains in Late Cretaceous continental deposits at Cruzy (Herault, southwestern France) is studied, using sedimentological (clay mineralogy, granulometry, cathodoluminescence) and taphonomic approaches, in order to reconstruct the depositional environment under which it was formed. The fossil-bearing conglomerates, sands and clays were apparently deposited during brief flood episodes affecting a braided river system, under a ``tropical'' type of climate with alternating dry and wet seasons. This type of depositional environment shows close similarities with those reconstructed for Late Cretaceous vertebrate sites in Romania. (C) 2014 The Geologists' Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.