The upper Eocene-Oligocene carnivorous mammals from the Quercy Phosphorites (France) housed in Belgian collections

1. Introduction The Quercy region (southwestern France; Fig. 1) contains many deposits with more than 80 distinct mammal localities that correspond to karstic fissure fillings. These paleokarst faunas range from the lower Eocene to the lower Miocene (Renaud et al., 1978; Remy et al., 1987; Sige et al., 1991; Legendre et al., 1992; Maitre et al., 2006, 2008; Escarguel et al., 2008; Maitre, 2014). This expanded temporal record, in addition to the quality and richness of the mammal fossils makes Quercy a key area for understanding the evolution of the European Paleogene mammals (Remy et al., 1987; Legendre & Hartenberger, 1992; Escarguel et al., 2008). However, from the beginning of the exploitation of the Quercy Phosphorites Formation in 1870 until its end in 1907, the exact sources of the fossils have rarely been recorded, and only toponyms were provided (e.g., Caylus, Lamandine, Bach). These names do not correspond to clearly defined fossiliferous sites, but that of close-by villages, resulting in occasional mixing of faunas of different ages. The fossils collected during that period make up for the so-called ‘old Quercy collections’ (see Rage, 2006: p.162; Maitre, 2014: p.143). However, since 1965, paleontologists from the Universite des Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc at Montpellier (now part of the Universite de Montpellier), the Universite Paris 6 (former Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, UMPC, now Sorbonne Universite), the Universite Claude-Bernard Lyon I, and later