Cécile Mourer-Chauviré (born 1939) is a French

paleontologist 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 ...

specializing in birds of the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

and the

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 ...

. In her early career, she discovered with her husband the Laang Spean cave site of prehistoric humans in Cambodia.

Career

Cécile Chauviré was born on 5 November 1939 in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, France. She studied at University of Lyon. Her early work was on large Quaternary mammals. She then proceeded in 1961 to a doctorate in

Centre national de la recherche scientifique The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ...

focusing on

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

birds, a topic few at the time studied in France or Europe. Following her marriage in 1964 to Roland Mourer, she relocated to Cambodia where he was assigned by the French military as a "coopérant" in Kampong Chhnang. In 1965 she was appointed as a geology professor at

Royal University of Phnom Penh The Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP; , ; ) is a national university, national research university of Cambodia, located in the Phnom Penh capital. Established in 1960, it is the country's largest university. It hosts around 30,000 studen ...

, a post she held until the civil war in 1970. During this time she discovered with her husband the Laang Spean cave site of prehistoric humans.Sophady, Heng, et al. "Laang Spean cave (Battambang province): A tale of occupation in Cambodia from the Late Upper Pleistocene to Holocene." Quaternary International 416 (2016): 162-176. In 1970, at the outbreak of civil war in Cambodia, she returned with her two small children to France. In 1971, she secured an appointment with CNRS at

Claude Bernard University Lyon 1 Claude Bernard University Lyon 1 (, UCBL) is one of the three public universities of Lyon, France. It is named after the French physiologist Claude Bernard and specialises in science and technology, medicine, and sports science. It was establis ...

. In 1975 she completed her "Thèse d’Etat", in 1984 her

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

, and in 1985 she was appointed director of research in CNRS which she held until her retirement in 2005. Since her return to France, and also following her retirement, she focused on research of avian fossils. Between 1987 and 1999 she was secretary of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution (SAPE). In 2011, she published with her colleagues on '' Lavocatavis africana'', an African fossil that may belong to the Phorusrhacidae clade (terror birds). The Algerian find is significant as previous finds from the era in Africa were not land-dwelling birds and Phorusrhacidae was not previously known outside of the Americas. Below is a list of taxa that Mourer-Chauviré has contributed to naming:

Recognition

The eighth international meeting of SAPE, in 2012, was dedicated to Mourer-Chauviré in tribute to her role as founder and secretary. Colleagues have honoured Mourer-Chauviré by naming fossil bird species and genera after her. As of 2013, the following were named after her: '' Aythya chauvirae'', '' Cypseloides mourerchauvireae'', '' Chauvireria balcanica'', '' Pica mourerae '', '' Oligosylphe mourerchauvireae'', '' Tyto mourerchauvireae'', '' Afrocygnus chauvireae'', '' Asphaltoglaux cecileae''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile 1939 births French paleontologists Living people University of Lyon alumni Scientists from Lyon Royal University of Phnom Penh alumni French women paleontologists