Neo-taphonomy of prey bones ingested by pumas in central western Argentina

J. MANUEL LOPEZ; CLARA OTAOLA; GIARDINA, MIGUEL A.; CAROLINA HUCZAK; SOLEDAD ALBANESE; FERNANDA CUEVAS; MONICA CONA

Journal of archaeological Science Reports

Elsevier

Año: 2022

2352-409X

Pumas are American top predators that commonly frequent places that may also be inhabited by humans. Withthe aim of contributing to the evaluation of the accumulating processes and agents of vertebrate remains of ar-chaeological and paleontological sites, we analyzed a modern puma scat-derived vertebrate bone assemblagefrom an area of the central Monte Desert, one of the most arid regions of South America. We evaluated the tapho-nomic signature of vertebrate remains recovered in such scats without discriminating among the different typesof fauna, which strengthens this taphonomic contribution. Despite the high availability of domestic and exoticfauna from livestock fields in the surroundings of the area, the assemblage was dominated by typical native smalland medium-sized fauna from xeric environments of the Monte biome. The armadillo Zaedyus pichiy was the mostfrequent taxon, followed by the caviid rodents Microcavia maenas and Galea leucoblephara, and the Tinamidae Eu-dromia elegans. The most remarkable taphonomic signatures are high breakage; a high proportion and degree ofelements with evidence of digestion; and a low number of tooth marks. We find a good proportion of identifiablespecimens, considering the previous assumptions on the extreme destruction of felid scat-derived vertebratebone assemblages. A first assessment was made of specimens little known from a regional taphonomic perspec-tive, such as armadillo osteoderms or bird remains. The taphonomic analysis of this multi-taxa accumulat