THE THEROPOD DINOSAUR FEMUR OF THE GRAY N ATURAL-HISTORY MUSEUM (HAUTE-SAONE, FRANCE) - IDENTIFICATION, DATING AND DETERMINATION OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL ORIGIN OF AN UNUSUAL FOSSIL

A dinosaur femur kept in the Natural History Museum of Gray, with no i ndication of origin, is referred to the genus Megalosaurus. A palynolo gical study of the matrix (a ferruginous oolite) indicates a probable late Callovian age. As a result, it is suggested that the specimen ver y probably comes from the late Callovian ferruginous oolite north of G ray. Palaeogeographical reconstructions for that period show no land a rea in that part of France, and the femur must be part of a carcass wh ich drifted over a long distance, possibly from the Ardennes-Rhenish l andmass.