Pourcy (Paris Basin, France): preliminary assessment of an early Eocene NW European tropical coastal environment from molluscs and vertebrate fossils

We have studied the fossil fauna from the locality of Pourcy (Marne) in the northeast of the Paris Basin, France, housed in various collections, in order to assess the nature and diversity of the fauna and gain an insight into the nature of the conditions that could have produced this assemblage. The mollusc fauna is strongly indicative of varied tropical estuarine environments probably vegetated with mangroves, but may also contain material derived from underlying mangrove facies. Both coastal marine and terrestrial mollusc and vertebrate faunas are also represented. The terrestrial community contained indicators of subtropical rainforest lowland with broad river banks and lakes, but some reworking of materials seems likely. The early-middle Ypresian Falun de Pourcy probably reflected ongoing estuarine/mangrove conditions that characterised the late Sparnacian period. Preliminary species lists of mollusc and vertebrate fossils are given, together with a comparison of mollusc feeding guilds to those of a modern Indo-Pacific estuary system.