
The current biodiversity of the Mediterranean area results from a complex history combining geodynamic features, climatic impacts, local and global biogeochemical constraints and influence of the living communities. Crisis periods are special opportunities to analyse the modifications of the biosphere after environmental disturbances and to assess the return of new states of equilibrium. With numerous and extended Neogene sedimentary basins, North Africa constitutes a particular research field concerning the biodiversity evolution in Mediterranean area. This thematic volume follows the communications of the specialized meeting of the Association paléontologique française (APF) “Biodiversité et crises de la biodiversité au Néogène en Afrique du Nord” (28-29 november 2006, held in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris).