Vivian de Buffrénil is a French histologist and paleobiologist who has worked at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris from 1982 to 2021.
His doctorate (1980) and his doctorat d'état (1990), a diploma now replaced by the habilitation, were supervised by Armand de Ricqlès.
He is also interested in life history and population dynamics of exploited or threatened reptile taxa, especially among Varanidae and Crocodilia.
[4] Other extinct taxa on which he has published include the Ypresian crocodilian Dyrosaurus phosphaticus,[5] thalattosuchian crocodilians,[6] the Triassic presumed ichthyosaur Omphalosaurus nisseri,[7] other ichthyosaurs,[8] the Permian diapsid Claudiosaurus germaini,[9] champsosaurids,[10] the placodont Placodus,[11] Plesiosauria,[12] the early snakes Simoliophis[13] and Eupodophis,[14] and the mosasaur Carentonosaurus mineaui[15] among reptiles, and early cetaceans[16] and sirenians[17] among mammals.
[20] As a recognized leader in bone histology, he evaluates drafts regularly for several journals and serves on the editorial board (as Reviewing Editor) of the Comptes Rendus Palevol of the Académie des sciences (France).