René Lavocat (24 August 19099 August 2007) was a French

palaeontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

who described several genera of African

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

s including 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 b ...

'' Rebbachisaurus'', as well as several extinct

mammals A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three middle e ...

such as the family

Kenyamyidae Kenyamyidae is an extinct family of rodents from Africa that lived in the Lower Miocene era. There are two genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and ...

. The mammal '' Lavocatia'', the notosuchian '' Lavocatchampsa'', the sauropod '' Lavocatisaurus'' and the phorusrhacid '' Lavocatavis'' are named after him.

Paleontological discoveries

Eager to try palaeontological research in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

to find

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

mammals,
Le Père Lavocat, éminent paléontologue, dans les Kem-Kem
'' Lavocat was strongly endorsed by

Camille Arambourg Camille Arambourg (February 3, 1885 – November 19, 1969) was a French vertebrate paleontologist. He conducted extensive field work in North Africa. In the 1950s, he argued against the prevailing model of Neanderthals as brutish and simian. Du ...

. In 1947, he obtained leadership of a research mission in the Algerian-Moroccan desert. He did not find any Oligocene mammals, but instead came across a rich fauna of Cretaceous vertebrates. His first notes on this subject were made in 1948 entitled ''les Comptes Rendus Sommaires de la Société géologique de France'' (''English: Report Summary to the Geological Society of France'') in which Lavocat explains the discovery of a large number of Cretaceous

reptiles Reptiles, as commonly defined, are a group of tetrapods with an ectothermic metabolism and Amniotic egg, amniotic development. Living traditional reptiles comprise four Order (biology), orders: Testudines, Crocodilia, Squamata, and Rhynchocepha ...

(dinosaurs and crocodiles) and

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

in the bedrock of the desert. A year later, a second note appeared in the same journal and extends his discoveries to the southwestern

Kem Kem The Kem Kem Group (commonly known as the Kem Kem beds) is a geological group (stratigraphy), group in the Kem Kem region of eastern Morocco, whose strata date back to the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous. Its strata are subdivided into two ...

. In 1954, Lavocat described a new species of

, Rebbachisaurus, discovered in the region. In addition, in 1955 he described a new

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

theropod Theropoda (; from ancient Greek , (''therion'') "wild beast"; , (''pous, podos'') "foot"">wiktionary:ποδός"> (''pous, podos'') "foot" is one of the three major groups (clades) of dinosaurs, alongside Ornithischia and Sauropodom ...

, Majungasaurus. In 1960, Lavocat returned to Africa and described a second species of Rebbachisaurus, ''R. tamesnensis''. In 1973, Lavocat discovered two genera and three species of

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), 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 mea ...

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

, which he placed in the family

References

French paleontologists 1909 births 2007 deaths {{Paleontologist-stub