Charles Jean Julien Depéret (25 June 1854 – 18 May 1929)
/ref> was a French

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

and

paleontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

. He was a member of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at ...

, the Société géologique de FranceObituary at ''Annales des Mines''
and dean of the Science faculty of

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

.Obituary at ''Les Études rhodaniennes'', Year 1929, Vol. 5, Issue 5-2, pp. 342-343
Professeur Charles Depéret UCBL Doua

Charles Depéret was born in

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...

. He started his career as a military doctor from 1877 to 1888. Initially posted in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, he was later active in Sathonay. In 1888, he became lecturer at

Aix-Marseille University Aix-Marseille University (AMU; french: Aix-Marseille Université; formally incorporated as ''Université d'Aix-Marseille'') is a public research university located in the Provence region of southern France. It was founded in 1409 when Louis II o ...

, and in 1889 he became professor of geology at the

University of Lyon The University of Lyon (french: Université de Lyon), located in Lyon and Saint-Étienne, France, is a center for higher education and research comprising 11 members and 24 associated institutions. The three main universities in this center are: C ...

. He died in Lyon. In 1892 he introduced the Burdigalian Stage (Lower

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

) based on

stratigraphic unit A stratigraphic unit is a volume of rock of identifiable origin and relative age range that is defined by the distinctive and dominant, easily mapped and recognizable petrographic, lithologic or paleontologic features (facies) that characterize ...

s found near

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectu ...

and in the

Rhône Valley The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At ...

. He was an advocate of the controversial prehistoric artifacts findings of

Glozel The Glozel artifacts are a collection of over 3,000 artifacts, including clay tablets, sculptures and vases, some of which were inscribed, discovered from 1924 to 1930 in the vicinity of French hamlet of Glozel. Glozel () is part of the commun ...

. Along with

Edward Drinker Cope Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) was an American zoologist, paleontologist, comparative anatomist, herpetologist, and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interes ...

, his name is associated with the so-called "

Cope-Depéret rule Cope's rule, named after American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope, postulates that population lineages tend to increase in body size over evolutionary time. It was never actually stated by Cope, although he favoured the occurrence of linear e ...

", a law which asserts that in population lineages, body size tends to increase over evolutionary time.

Taxa described by Depéret

* ''

Amphirhagatherium ''Amphirhagatherium'' is an extinct genus of artiodactyl that lived in northern Europe during the middle to late Eocene. The dentition of ''Amphirhagatherium'' suggests that the genus had a mixed diet of leaves and fruits likely eaten at ground ...

'' (1908). * '' Carcharodontosaurus saharicus'' (with Justin Savornin, 1925). * ''

Gazella borbonica ''Gazella borbonica'', commonly known as the Bourbon gazelle or European gazelle, is an extinct gazelle which existed in Europe during the Pleistocene epoch. It was described by Charles Depéret in 1884. It had rather long, moderately divergent ...

'' (1884). * '' Megalosaurus crenatissimus'', now referred to as ''

Majungasaurus crenatissimus ''Majungasaurus'' (; ) is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in Madagascar from 70 to 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period, making it one of the last known non-avian dinosaurs that went extinct during the ...

'', (1896). * ''

Protragocerus ''Protragocerus'' is an extinct genus of antelope from the late Serravallian Age (around 13 to 11 million years ago) of the Miocene Epoch. Fossils of the genus have been found in France, India, and Saudi Arabia. It is classified under the ...

'', (1887). * ''Pseudosinopa'', synonym ''

Cynohyaenodon ''Cynohyaenodon'' ("dog-like ''Hyaenodon''") is an extinct paraphyletic genus of hyaenodontid mammals from family Hyaenodontidae that lived during the early to middle Eocene in Europe. Phylogeny The phylogenetic relationships of genus ''Cyno ...

'', (1917).

Selected works

In 1909 his book ''Les transformations du monde animal'' (1907) was translated into English and published with the title "The transformations of the animal world". The following list contains a few of his other noted writings: * ''Description géologique du bassin tertiaire du Roussillon'', 1885 – Description of the tertiary geological basin in

Roussillon Roussillon ( , , ; ca, Rosselló ; oc, Rosselhon ) is a historical province of France that largely corresponded to the County of Roussillon and part of the County of Cerdagne of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is part of the ...

. * ''Les animaux pliocènes du Roussillon'', 1890 –

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

vertebrates of Grive-Saint-Alban (

Isère Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Rhône basin. * ''Note sur les dinosauriens sauropodes & théropodes du Crétacé supérieur de Madagascar'', 1896 – Note on the

sauropod Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', ' lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their ...

and

theropod Theropoda (; ), whose members are known as theropods, is a dinosaur clade that is characterized by hollow bones and three toes and claws on each limb. Theropods are generally classed as a group of saurischian dinosaurs. They were ancestrally c ...

dinosaurs from the

Upper Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...

. * ''Monographie des pectinidés néogènes de l'Europe et des régions voisines'', 1902 – Monograph on

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

pectinids of Europe and neighboring regions. * ''Monographie de la faune de mammifères fossiles du Ludien inférieur d'Euzet-les-Bains (Gard)'', 1917 – Monograph on fossil mammal fauna of the lower Ludian at Euzet-les-Bains, (

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;IDREF.fr
lengthy bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deperet, Charles 1854 births 1929 deaths Aix-Marseille University faculty French paleontologists French geologists Members of the French Academy of Sciences People from Perpignan University of Lyon faculty

Taxa described by Depéret

Selected works

See also

References