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Disarticulation patterns of some modern East African mammals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2016

Andrew Hill  and
Anna K. Behrensmeyer
Andrew Hill
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
Anna K. Behrensmeyer
Affiliation:
Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution, NHB-E207 M.S. 121, Washington, D.C. 20560
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Abstract

The sequences of skeletal disarticulation in a broad range of African mammals in a tropical savanna environment suggest that in general the process is very consistent. There is some variation among species, but this cannot yet be convincingly related to higher taxonomic categories or to body size. Disarticulation begins shortly after death, proceeds more or less continuously, and is almost complete after 5 yr. Because of the overall predictability of disarticulation, the stage of disarticulation reached by comparable fossil skeletons provides useful information about their taphonomic history prior to burial.

Type
Articles
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 10 , Issue 3 , Summer 1984 , pp. 366 - 376
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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References

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