From Charles Darwin’s comments to the first mention of South American giant fossil birds: Auguste Bravard’s catalogue of fossil species from Argentina (1860) and its significance

Abstract

In 1860, the French geologist and palaeontologist Auguste Bravard (1803–1861) circulated a small number of copies of a hand-written and lithographed catalogue of the fossils he had collected in various parts of Argentina over a period of about eight years. Although the existence of this catalogue has been mentioned by various authors, it has never been really published in full. A facsimile reproduction is provided here. The contents of the catalogue and reactions to them are discussed, with special attention to comments in the correspondence between Charles Lyell and Charles Darwin. These comments were largely about Bravard’s identification among his fossils from Argentina of the genera Palaeotherium and Anoplotherium , well known components of the Late Eocene mammal fauna from the Montmartre gypsum, in the Paris Basin. This identification was later shown to be erroneous by Gervais, Burmeister and Ameghino. Bravard’s catalogue also includes what appears to be the first mention of fossil giant ground birds (Phorusrhacidae) in South America. # Note added in proof {#article-title-35}