How heating and cooling and wetting and drying can destroy dense faunal elements and lead to differential preservation
How heating and cooling and wetting and drying can destroy dense faunal elements and lead to differential preservation
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DOI：
10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.03.036
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发表时间：
2008-09-05
影响因子：
3
通讯作者：
Kandel, Andrew W.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Conard, Nicholas J.;Walker, Steven J.;Kandel, Andrew W.
最近的埋藏学研究表明，在许多考古学和古生物学背景下，骨密度显着决定生存。研究人员经常假设，高密度的骨骼元素总是比低密度的骨骼元素保存得更好。然而，这一假设并不普遍有效。在这里，我们提出的数据埋藏和保存的组合从Geelbek沙丘的西开普省，南非。这些数据表明，骨骼保存化石组合从放气空洞可以反映出一个出乎意料的高比例的多孔，低密度的骨骼部分。高密度的骨骼部分，包括牙齿和长骨的骨干，经常由于在吉尔贝克观察到的那种反复的热冲击和潮湿和干燥而破碎。这种影响对于大型哺乳动物的高度矿化的骨骼是最大的。来自Geelbek的数据表明，生存能力受到动物大小的影响。小型哺乳动物以高比例的非矿化、致密的骨骼部分为代表，特别是长骨。(c)2008 Elsevier B.V.保留所有权利。
Recent taphonomic research has demonstrated that bulk bone density significantly determines survivability in many archaeological and paleontological contexts. Researchers often assume that higher density skeletal elements invariably preserve better than lower density skeletal elements. This assumption, however, is not universally valid. Here we present data on the taphonomy and preservation of assemblages from the Geelbek Dunes of the Western Cape Province, South Africa. These data indicate that skeletal preservation of fossil assemblages from deflation hollows can reflect an unexpectedly high proportion of porous, low density skeletal parts. High density skeletal parts including teeth and the shafts of long bones often shatter as a result of the repeated thermal shock and wetting and drying of the kind observed at Geelbek. This effect is greatest for highly mineralized bones from large mammals. The data from Geelbek demonstrate that survivability is affected by the size of the animal. Small mammals are represented by high proportions of non-mineralized, dense, skeletal parts, especially long bones. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.