Title: DO TERRESTRIAL VERTEBRATE FOSSIL ASSEMBLAGES SHOW CONSISTENT TAPHONOMIC PATTERNS?
Abstract: Abstract The assumption that particular depositional environments are associated with certain taphonomic patterns has given rise to the concepts of taphofacies and taphonomic mode. This association has been well tested in the marine invertebrate realm—albeit often with restricted geographic and stratigraphic sampling—but less so among terrestrial vertebrates. Here I characterize the overall taphonomic patterns of 36 published terrestrial vertebrate fossil assemblages based on a suite of 12 well-reported taphonomic characteristics, and assess which factors could influence the observed modification patterns. Very little systematic pattern is observable in the distribution of taphonomic characteristics among any of the published data with respect to sedimentary environment of preservation, preserved taxa or average taxon size, inferred mode of mortality, time, or place of deposition. This suggests that the factors controlling the taphonomic modification of terrestrial vertebrate assemblages are extremely com...
Publication Year: 2012
Publication Date: 2012-04-03
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 17
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