OICC Press Geoconservation Research 2588-7343 4 2 2021 10 26 Beyond Eocene and Oligocene Epochs: The Causses du Quercy Geopark and the Grande Coupure 10.30486/gcr.2021.1913051.1050 EN Thierry Pélissié UNESCO Global Geopark Causses du Quercy, BP 10, 11 rue Traversière, 46240, Labastide-Murat, Cœur de Causses, France https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2975-2903 Maëva J Orliac Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution, UMR 5554, Université de Montpellier-CNRS-IRD-EPHE – CC64, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier cedex 05, France Pierre Olivier Antoine Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution, UMR 5554, Université de Montpellier-CNRS-IRD-EPHE – CC64, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier cedex 05, France Vincent Biot UNESCO Global Geopark Causses du Quercy, BP 10, 11 rue Traversière, 46240, Labastide-Murat, Cœur de Causses, France Gilles Escarguel Laboratoire d'Ecologie des Hydrosystèmes Naturels et Anthropisés, UMR CNRS 5023 LEHNA -- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Boulevard du 11 Novembre 1918, F-69622 Villeurbanne Cedex. France Journal Article 2021 10 26 The “phosphatières du Quercy” are karstic fillings exploited for phosphate at the end of the 19th century. They yield countless continental fossils through some 30 million years, ranging from late early Eocene to early Miocene. This exceptional paleontological series documents the ‘Grande Coupure’, a major biogeographical event involving a profound renewal of vertebrate faunas, recorded in Eurasia during the Eocene–Oligocene transition. This exceptional fossil record is key to understanding the impact of biotic and abiotic factors during this turbulent time of global change. The presence of natural mummies and the 3D preservation of numerous vertebrate skulls, as well as remains of arthropods and plants, are all attractive means to raise public awareness and promote an internationally unique geoheritage.