René Lavocat (August 24, 1909-August 9, 2007) was a French paleontologist who described several genera of African dinosaurs 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 bo ...

'' Rebbachisaurus'', as well as several extinct mammals such as the family Kenyamyidae. The mammal ''

Lavocatia ''Lavocatia'' is a genus of extinct mammal from the Lower Cretaceous of Spain. It was a member of the also extinct order Multituberculata, and lived alongside of dinosaurs. Like most Mesozoic mammals, it was a shrewish-sized animal. It's in the ...

'', the notosuchian '' Lavocatchampsa'', the sauropod ''

Lavocatisaurus ''Lavocatisaurus'' (meaning "René Lavocat's lizard") is a genus of sauropod in the family Rebbachisauridae from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian to Albian) Rayoso Formation of the Neuquén Basin, northern Patagonia, Argentina. Description ''La ...

'' and the phorusrhacid '' Lavocatavis'' are named after him.

Paleontological discoveries

Eager to try paleontological research in Africa to find

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

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 most commonly defined are the animals in the Class (biology), class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsid, sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, Squamata, squamates (lizar ...

(dinosaurs and crocodiles) and fish 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 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 geological formations ...

. In 1954, Lavocat described a new species of

, Rebbachisaurus, discovered in the region. In addition, in 1955 he described a new genus of theropod, 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 rodent, which he placed in the family Kenyamyidae.

References

French paleontologists 1909 births 2007 deaths {{Paleontologist-stub