Charles Jean Julien Depéret (25 June 1854 – 18 May 1929) was a French geologist and paleontologist. He was a member of the French Academy of Sciences, the Société géologique de FranceObituary at Annales des Mines and dean of the Science faculty of Lyon.Obituary at Les Études rhodaniennes, Year 1929, Vol. 5, Issue 5-2, pp. 342-343
Charles Depéret was born in Perpignan. He started his career as a military doctor from 1877 to 1888. Initially posted in Algeria, he was later active in Sathonay. In 1888, he became lecturer at Aix-Marseille University, and in 1889 he became professor of geology at the University of Lyon. He died in Lyon."Deperet, Charles." Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. 2008. Retrieved November 21, 2010 from Encyclopedia.com
In 1892 he introduced the Burdigalian Stage (Lower Miocene) based on stratigraphic units found near Bordeaux and in the Rhône Valley.A Geologic Time Scale 2004 by Felix M. Gradstein, James G. Ogg, Alan G. Smith He was an advocate of the controversial prehistoric artifacts findings of Glozel.Webpage about Charles Depéret at Glozel Museum website
Along with Edward Drinker Cope, who appears not to have written on this topic, his name is associated with the so-called "Cope-Depéret rule", a law which asserts that in population lineages, body size tends to increase over evolutionary time. In his book Les transformations du monde animal, he denied that any instance of reduction in body size in evolution had been documented. For instance, he argued (chapter XIX of the book) that the small extinct elephants of Mediterranean islands (like "Elephas melitensis", now called Palaeoloxodon melitensis) were not dwarfed elephants but rather, descendants of ancient elephants that had always retained a small body size, a hypothesis that has been refuted by subsequent research. Some authors have thus suggested to call this Depéret's rule.
Taxa described by Depéret Amphirhagatherium (1908).Amphirhagatherium Depéret, 1908 GBIF Carcharodontosaurus saharicus (with Justin Savornin, 1925).Carcharodontosaurus saharicus Depéret and Savornin 1925 Paleobiology Database Gazella borbonica (1884). Megalosaurus crenatissimus, now referred to as Majungasaurus crenatissimus, (1896).Majungasaurus crenatissimus Depéret 1896 Paleobiology Database Protragocerus, (1887).Protragocerus Deperet 1887 Paleobiology Database Pseudosinopa, synonym Cynohyaenodon, (1917).Cynohyaenodon Filhol 1873 Paleobiology Database
Selected works In 1909 his book Les transformations du monde animal (1907) was translated into English and published with the title "The transformations of the animal world".HathiTrust Digital Library (published works) The following list contains a few of his other noted writings: Description géologique du bassin tertiaire du Roussillon, 1885 – Description of the tertiary geological basin in Roussillon. Les animaux pliocènes du Roussillon, 1890 – Pliocene animals of Roussillon. La faune de mammifères miocènes de la Grive-Saint-Alban (Isère) et de quelques autres localités du bassin du Rhone : documents nouveaux et revision générale, 1892 – On Miocene vertebrates of Grive-Saint-Alban (Isère) and some other localities of the Rhône basin. Note sur les dinosauriens sauropodes & théropodes du Crétacé supérieur de Madagascar, 1896 – Note on the sauropod and theropod dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous of Madagascar. Monographie des pectinidés néogènes de l'Europe et des régions voisines, 1902 – Monograph on Neogene pectinids of Europe and neighboring regions. Monographie de la faune de mammifères fossiles du Ludien inférieur d'Euzet-les-Bains (Gard), 1917 – Monograph on fossil mammal fauna of the lower Ludian at Euzet-les-Bains, (Gard).IDREF.fr lengthy bibliography
Legasy Deperetella, an extinct perissodactyl, is named after Depéret.
See also Burdigalian Cope-Depéret rule Majungasaurus
References