ACTUALISTIC TAPHONOMY OF SOUTH AMERICAN SMALL MAMMALS INGESTED BY PREDATORS. ITS IMPORTANCE IN THE INTERPRETATION OF THE FOSSIL RECORD

FERNANDO J. FERNÁNDEZ; CLAUDIA MONTALVO

Valencia

Congreso; 1st Palaeontological Virtual Congress; 2018

Universitat de Valencia

Neogene and Quaternary small mammal assemblages constitute a particular part of the fossil record. This type of accumulations is well represented through all South America, and they are very important in several zooarchaeological and palaeontological localities in Argentina.It is interesting to explain the mechanisms that intervened in the production of these fossil or zooarchaeological assemblages, since this allows adjusting the interval of their formation, and to make more precise paleoecological interpretations. Predation is one of the most recurring causes of small mammal accumulations. In this opportunity, the current state of knowledge of the taphonomic characteristics of rodents and marsupials remains accumulated by the action of the different avian raptors and carnivore mammals of Argentina -as example of South American predators- known through actualistic studies, is reviewed. The taphonomic attributes analyzed, allowed the adjustment, through large comparisons among different groups of predators and prey, of the modification categories indicated in the original papers by different authors. The data here revised and assessed suggest that predators evaluated may be gathered into four categories of modification: a. Light (Tyto alba, Bubo virginianus, Strix chacoensis and Asio flammeus); b. Moderate (Athene cunicularia, Geranoaetus melanoleucus, Geranoaetus polyosoma and Pseudoscops clamator); c. Heavy (Circus buffoni, Caracara plancus, Elanus leucurus, Didelphys albiventris, Leopardus geoffroyi and Lontra longicaudis); d. Extreme (Milvago chimango, Puma concolor, Puma yagoauroundi, Conepatus chinga and Lycalopex griseus).