Characterisation of a modern taphocoenosis with terrestrial mammals in a mediolittoral setting
Résumé
Characterisation of a modern taphocoenosis with terrestrial mammals in a mediolittoral setting. Neotaphonomic observations have been made on 47 vertebrate osteological remains recovered from a beach (Crete, Almiros Bay). Bones and teeth are those of modern terrestrial mammals, excepted one fossil flake of bone. The whole bones are abraded by transport under water according to different degrees. The most rounded remains are also the most numerous ones (n=28). The ability of these environments to accumulate remains of terrestrial taxa is underlined. These observations bring some clues according to the kind of skeletal element and the degree of rounding of remains in order to suggest the presence of reworking within fossil assemblages.