Guntupalli V.R. Prasad (editor) - Biological Consequences of Plate Tectonics: New Perspectives on Post-Gondwana Break-up–A Tribute to Ashok Sahni (Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology)

Focal topics for volumes in the series will include systematic paleontology of all vertebrates (from agnathans to humans), phylogeny reconstruction, functional morphology, Paleolithic archaeology, taphonomy, geochronology, historical biogeography, and biostratigraphy. Other fields (e.g., paleoclimatology, paleoecology, ancient DNA, total organismal community structure) may be considered if the volume theme emphasizes paleobiology (or archaeology). Volumes in the series may either be monographic treatments (including unpublished but fully revised dissertations) or edited collections, especially those focusing on problem-oriented issues, with multidisciplinary coverage where possible. The two Series Editors are assisted by an Editorial Advisory Board. All contributions in the series (whether monographs or chapters in edited volumes) will be peer-reviewed by at least three readers, at the level of a journal submission.

Series Editors:

Eric Delson, City University of New York and American Museum of Natural History, NY, USA. E-mail: eric.delson@lehman.cuny.eduHome page: http://www.nycep.org/ed/Eric J. Sargis, Yale University, New Haven, USA. E-mail: eric.sargis@yale.eduHome page: http://www.yale.edu/anthro/people/esargis.html

Ross D.E. MacPhee (American Museum of Natural History), Peter Makovicky (The Field Museum),Sally McBrearty (University of Connecticut), Jin Meng (American Museum of Natural History),Tom Plummer (Queens College/CUNY).Editorial Advisory Board:

Ross D.E. MacPhee, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA Peter Makovicky, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

Sally McBrearty, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA Jin Meng, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA Tom Plummer, Queens College/CUNY, Queens, NY, USA

Cover image: Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary paleogeographic map in the background (from The PALEOMAP PaleoAtlas [Scotese 2016], modified from Figure 10.1 of Rage and Gheerbrant [this volume]); Reconstruction of the stem proboscidean Phosphatherium from the earliest Eocene (55 Ma) of Morocco (top centre) (Fig. 10.6. of Rage and Gheerbrant [this volume]); Ornithischian dinosaur tooth (top right) (Fig. 1.3B of Prasad and Parmar [this volume]) from the Middle Jurassic Kota Formation, India; Left mandible (holotype) of Bishops whitmorei (in labial view), a tribosphenic mammal from the Early Cretaceous of Australia (bottom center) (Fig. 3.4B of Rich et al. [this volume]); Skull of Indohyus (left center) (Fig. 14.1C of Thewissen et al. [this volume]) from the Middle Eocene Subathu Formation, India.

It is with great emotion and respect that we dedicate this volume to the memory of our French colleague Jean-Claude Rage, a researcher at the CNRS (MNHN-CR2P) paleontological team, Paris, who passed away recently. Jean-Claude contributed to this volume as a leading author of two chapters on two of his most important research specializations, paleoherpetology and continental paleobiogeography, for which his work is well-known globally. He worked for more than 50 years in collaboration with many colleagues from around the world, identifying remains of squamates and amphibians from various Mesozoic and Cenozoic microvertebrate localities of Europe, Africa, India, South and North Americas. In particular, Jean-Claude had a long association with Ashok Sahni and worked on the Late Cretaceous herpetofaunas of India since 1980 in collaboration with the Indian colleagues.

Jean-Claude graduated in 1967 from the University of Lyon, France and received his Ph.D. under the mentorship of Prof. Robert Hoffstetter in 1976. He started his CNRS career at University Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris) in 1975, where he stayed until 1997, and then moved to the MNHN Paleontology Lab (current CR2P team). Jean-Claude retired from MNHN in 2008 but continued as Emeritus Research Director until his demise on March 30, 2018. Jean-Claude published 226 research papers, 3 books, and 29 chapters in books.

Jean-Claude was a very simple, endearing, and warm personality, and was a source of inspiration to the work and research of many students and colleagues in France and abroad. We will miss our great friend, colleague, and mentor, Jean-Claude.