Given that the biology of the recently extinct aepyornithids is poorly understood, we undertook a histological study of 29 skeletal elements of adult and juvenile specimens of Aepyornithidae, i.e. Aepyornis maximus, Aepyornis hildebrandti and Vorombe titan, in addition to a group of taxonomically unidentifiable juvenile Aepyornithiformes. Comparative analysis of the histology of the different skeletal elements showed that although the femur retained a good record of growth during early ontogeny, the tibiotarsus provided the best record of growth. Our data showed that, like other insular birds and their extant relative, the kiwi, Aepyornithidae experienced protracted growth. We also found that intracortical remodelling began early in ontogeny and continued throughout their lives, becoming more extensive throughout the compacta with age, albeit more restricted to the perimedullary region in the femora. We also deduced that the different skeletal elements experienced variable amounts of intracortical remodelling, which was most likely to be related to biomechanical constraints, size of the element and ontogenetic age. Additionally, we documented the occurrence of an unusual endosteal tissue within the large perimedullary erosional spaces of a femur of A. maximus. Overall, our study provided a lot of new information about the life history of these giant, recently extinct ratites.

The site of Goulmima (south Morocco) is well known for its rich marine fauna of Turonian age (Late Cretaceous). It has yielded a large variety of invertebrates but also of vertebrate taxa, represented by actinopterygians and marine reptiles including Plesiosauria (Sauropterygia) and Mosasauroidea (Squamata). The Plesiosauria are known so far by two major clades of Plesiosauroidea: the Elasmosauridae (Libonectes atlasense Buchy, 2005) and the Polycotylidae (Thililua longicollis, Bardet, Suberbiola & Jalil, 2003a; Manemergus angirostris Buchy, Metayer & Frey, 2005). Here we describe a new specimen of plesiosaur found in the same outcrop, differing from those previously cited and belonging to the other large plesiosaur clade, the Pliosauroidea. Comparison of this specimen with other Plesiosauria shows that it belongs to Brachauchenius lucasi Williston (1903), a species previously known only from the Cenomanian–Turonian stages of the Western Interior Seaway of North America and in the upper Barremian succession of northern South America (Colombia). The description of this species on a contemporaneous site of North Africa significantly expands its palaeobiogeographic distribution. This discovery confirms the affinities between marine faunas of the Western Interior Seaway and those of North Africa at this time, and also permits a better understanding of the palaeobiology of the Goulmima outcrop. A discussion about the systematical status of Polyptychodon Owen, 1841 is also provided.