Stratotype Sinémurien

The Sinemurian stratotype–a Lower Jurassic stage–is an international geological reference site located in the region of Semur-en-Auxois, a medieval town in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Alcide d’Orbigny, one of the most productive French naturalists during the first half of the 19th century, defined this stratotype in 1849 in his ‘Cours élémentaire de paléontologie et de géologie stratigraphiques’. At that time, he beneficiated greatly from the help of the active ‘Société des sciences de Semur’ and more particularly from several of its members. This stratotype is now materialised by several geological sections in the Semur-en-Auxois area, but also by the remarkable collection of palaeontology in the city museum, which constitutes a world reference for Sinemurian marine biodiversity. Making the most of many complementary approaches, this book presents the current state of knowledge on the Sinemurian stage, mainly from the type area. In particular, it gathers for the first time a large set of photographic plates showing remarkable fossils from this stage.