Post-Doctoral Fellow

Phone: (412) 622-1917
Fax: (412) 622-6569 or (412) 622-8837
Email: metaisg@CarnegieMNH.org

Education and Postdoctoral Experience

• M.S. Geology, University of Poitiers, 1999
• Ph.D. Integrative Biology, University of Montpellier II, 2002
• Postdoctoral position and Junior lecturer, University of Nantes, 2003-2004
• Postdoctoral position, Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh PA, 2005-2006

Research Interests

• Evolutionary history of mammals
• Adaptative radiation of Cetartiodactyla: systematics, phylogeny (intra, inter, and confrontation with molecular data), and paleobiogeographic implications
• Early evolution of Selenodontia and origin of the clade Ruminantia
• Functional anatomy and eco-morphology
• Tertiary of Asia: biostratigraphy and paleoenvironments

Current Research Projects

• Systematic study of the artiodactyl faunas from the middle Eocene Shanghuang fissure fillings (Jiangsu, China), and from the Heti Formation (Shanxi, China): implication for the early evolution and diversification of Selenodontia (sensu lato) in Asia.
• Post-cranial fonctional morphology and ecomorphology of these small Paleogene terrestrial cetartiodactyls.
• Systematic and phylogeny of Paleogene cetartiodactyls from the Indian Subcontinent (especially Pakistan) and dynamics of faunal exchanges in the Old World.

Field Experience

• Mesozoic and Cenozoic of France, Pakistan, Myanmar, Thailand, USA.

Publications

• Métais, G., Benammi, M., Chaimanee, Y., Jaeger, J.-J., Than Tun, Tin Thein & Ducrocq, S. 2000. Discovery of new ruminant dental remains from the Middle Eocene Pondaung Formation (Myanmar): reassessment of the phylogenetic position of Indomeryx. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences de la Terre et des Planètes 330: 805-811.

• Métais G., Chaimanee Y., Jaeger J.-J., & Ducrocq S. 2001. New remains of primitive ruminants from Thailand: evidence of the early evolution of the Ruminantia in Asia. Zoologica Scripta 30: 231-249. Click here for PDF (840 Kb).

• Welcomme J.-L., Benammi M., Crochet J.-Y., Marivaux L., Métais G., Antoine P.-O., & Baloch I. S. 2001. Himalayan Forelands: palaeontological evidence for Oligocene detrital deposits in the Bugti Hills (Balochistan, Pakistan). Geological Magazine 138: 397-405. Click here for PDF (1.6 Mb).

• Marivaux L., Welcomme J.-L., Antoine P.-O., Métais G., Baloch I. M., Benammi M., Chaimanee Y., Ducrocq S., & Jaeger J.-J. 2001. A fossil Lemur from the Oligocene of Pakistan. Science 294: 587-591.

• Métais, G., Antoine, P.-O., Marivaux, L., Welcomme, J.-L., & Ducrocq, S. 2003. Palaeohypsodontus zinensis nov. sp. : an unusual artiodactyl ruminant from the Oligocene of the Bugti Hills (Balochistan, Pakistan). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 48: 375-382.

• Antoine, P.-O., Shah, S.M.I., Cheema, I.U., Crochet, J.-Y., de Franceschi, D., Marivaux, L., Métais, G. & Welcomme, J.-L. 2004. New remains of the baluchithere Paraceratherium bugtiense (Pilgrim, 1910) from the late/latest oligocene of the Bugti hills, Balochistan, Pakistan. Journal of Asian Earth Science 24: 71-77.

• Aguilar, J.-P., Antoine, P.-O., Crochet, J.-Y., Lopez-Martinez, N., Métais, G., Michaux J. & Welcomme, J.-L. 2004. Les mammifères du Miocène inférieur de Beaulieu (Bouches-du-Rhône, France), comparaison avec Wintershof-West et le problème de la limite MN3/MN4. Coloquios de Paleontología, Volumen Extraordinario, 1: 1-24. Click here for PDF (1.0 Mb).

• Métais, G., Guo Jianwei & Beard, K.C. 2004. A new small dichobunid artiodactyl from Shanghuang (middle Eocene, eastern China). Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History 36: 177-197. Click here for PDF (1.6 Mb).

• Métais, G., T. Qi, J. Guo, and K.C. Beard. 2005. A new bunoselenodont artiodactyl from the middle Eocene of China and the early record of selenodont artiodactyls in Asia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 24: 994-997. Click here for PDF (134 Kb).

• Métais, G., Qi Tao, Guo Jianwei & Beard, K.C. 2005. Early Selenodontia from the middle Eocene of China. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25, Supplement to number 3: 92A.

• Dawson, M.R., Marivaux, L., Chuan-kui Li, Beard, K.C., & Métais, G. 2006. Laonastes and the "Lazarus Effect" in Recent mammals. Science 311:1456-1458. Click here for PDF (493 Kb).

• Métais, G., Aung Naing Soe & Ducrocq, S. in press. A new basal tapiromorph (Perissodactyla, Mammalia) from the middle Eocene of Myanmar. Geobios.

• Métais, G., Antoine, P.-O., Baqri, S.R.H., Benammi. M., Crochet, J.-Y., de Franceschi, D., Marivaux, L. & Welcomme, J.-L. in press. New remains of the enigmatic cetartiodactyl Bugtitherium grandincisivum Pilgrim, 1908 from the upper Oligocene of the Bugti Hills (Balochistan, Pakistan). Naturwissenschaften.

• Métais, G. in press. New basal selenodont artiodactyls from the Pondaung Formation (late middle Eocene, Myanmar) and the phylogenetic relationships of early ruminants. Annals of Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

• SVPCA-1998, September 9-12, 1998 (Bournemouth, England): [Poster: Jean-Michel Mazin, M-C. Buchy, F. Métayer, G. Metais & P. Hantzpergue : "New occurence about pterosaurian stance and gait from the trackways of Crayssac (Tithonian, France)"]. Conference Abstract Volume: 17.
  
• Distribution and migration of Tertiary mammals in Eurasia, May 17-19, 2001 (Utrecht, Netherlands): [oral communication: "New data on the late Paleogene ruminants from South Asia"]. Abstract Volume: 35-36.
  
• Asian Monsoon Workshop, October 26, 2001 (University of Paris XI-Orsay, France): [oral communication: "The Himalayan Oligo-Miocene fluvio-deltaic series of the Bugti Hills (Balochistan, Pakistan) : a forthcoming key for the understanding of the paleoenvironmental evolution of India and the evolution of the Asian monsoon"]. Abstract Volume: 23-24.
  
• Séance spécialisée de la Société Géologique de France: Paléobiodiversité, crise, Paléoenvironnement, December 6-7, 2001 (Paris, France): [poster: "Comparative paleoecology of three mammalian communities from the Paleogene of South Asia"]. Abstract Volume: 53.
  
• Colloque Eclipse : Environnements et Climats du Passé : Histoire et Evolution, Octobre 21-22, 2002 (Paris, France) : [poster : “Paléoenvironnements de l’Asie du Sud-Est à l’Eocène moyen et supérieur et au Miocène moyen”]. Abstract Volume: 22-23. [poster : “Les séquences continentales Oligo-Miocènes en piémont Himalayen (Collines Bugti, Balouchistan, Pakistan) et leur contribution à la compréhension de l’évolution paléoenvironnementale du Sous-Contient Indien”]. Abstract Volume: 13-14.
  
• Symposium of Vertebrate Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy-2004, September 7-11, 2004 (Leicester, UK): oral communication: "A new assemblage of dichobunid artiodactyls from Shanghuang (middle Eocene, Eastern China): implications in the emergence of the selenodont grade in Asia". Conference Abstract Volume: 21. Poster: "Characterization of three mammalian communities around the Eocene/Oligocene boundary in South Asia". Conference Abstract Volume: 35.
  
• 64th annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. November 3-6, 2004 (Denver, CO). Poster: "A new Oligocene ruminant assemblage from the Bugti Hills (Balochistan, Pakistan): its significance for the early evolution of traguloids in South Asia."
• Symposium in Honour of Mary R. Dawson, 15-17 September, 2005 (Powdermill, PA, USA) : [oral communication: "Diversity of artiodactyls from the middle Eocene Shanghuang fissure-fillings, Jiangsu Province, China"].
  
• 65th annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology: October 19-22, 2005 (Mesa, AZ, USA) : [oral communication: "Early selenodontia (artiodactyla) from the middle eocene of China"]. Abstract: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25 (supplement to number 3): 92A.

Popular Articles

• Métais, G. (2001) – Le grand passage: les reptiles mammalians. In: La Fabuleuse Histoire de la Terre. Editions du Reader’s Digest, 182-183.
  
• Métais, G. (2001) – Des débuts mal connus: les premiers mammifères. In: La Fabuleuse Histoire de la Terre. Editions du Reader’s Digest, 184-185.
  
• Métais, G. (2001) – Quand ongulé rime avec diversité: les artiodactyles, porcins et ruminants. In: La Fabuleuse Histoire de la Terre. Editions du Reader’s Digest, 212-213.
  
• Métais, G. et Antoine, P.-O. (2001) – Des créatures d’apocalypse: les périssodactyles. In: La Fabuleuse Histoire de la Terre. Editions du Reader’s Digest, 214-215.

CMNH Research | Carnegie's Dinosaurs | CMNH Home