A revision of Prolebias stenoura Sauvage, 1874 from the Stampian (= Rupelian) of Limagne (central France), type species of the genus Prolebias (Teleostean fish, Cyprinodontiform).

The revision of Prolebias stenoura Sauvage, 1874, the type species of the genus Prolebias Sauvage, 1874, a cyprinodontid fish from the Upper Stampian (= Rupelian) (Oligocene) of the surroundings of Corent (Limagne, central France), has made possible the preparation of a detailed anatomical study and of an emended diagnosis. The occurrence of coccolithophorids and of dinoflagellates has determined several authors to suggest an incursion of marine waters into this basin during the Stampian. However, the fact that all the species of the genus Prolebias hitherto known by articulated skeletons have been living in fresh and brackish waters is, on the contrary, more in agreement with the hypothesis of a shallow meromictic lake, the superficial part of which was filled by seasonal rains, suitable for the life of this species.