TY - JOUR
T1 - Biological modification of bones in the Cretaceous of North Africa
AU - Ozeki, Christina Shears
AU - Martill, David M.
AU - Smith, Roy E.
AU - Ibrahim, Nizar
PY - 2020/10/1
Y1 - 2020/10/1
N2 - Bones displaying evidence of modification by macro, meso and microorganisms occur frequently in the ?Albian - early Cenomanian Cretaceous Kem Kem Group of the Tafilalt in southeast Morocco. Excluding the traces made by vertebrates (bite marks, tooth punctures, scratch marks, trample fractures) the different types of modification identified include a variety of borings referable to the ichnogenera Cubiculum, Cuniculichnus, Osteichnus and Osteocallis. Although the identity of the borers cannot always be confirmed several are attributed to dermestid beetles, possibly mayflies of the family Polymitarcidae, and perhaps to the activity of plant roots or fungal hyphae. Microbial damage to Kem Kem Group bones appears to be minimal.
AB - Bones displaying evidence of modification by macro, meso and microorganisms occur frequently in the ?Albian - early Cenomanian Cretaceous Kem Kem Group of the Tafilalt in southeast Morocco. Excluding the traces made by vertebrates (bite marks, tooth punctures, scratch marks, trample fractures) the different types of modification identified include a variety of borings referable to the ichnogenera Cubiculum, Cuniculichnus, Osteichnus and Osteocallis. Although the identity of the borers cannot always be confirmed several are attributed to dermestid beetles, possibly mayflies of the family Polymitarcidae, and perhaps to the activity of plant roots or fungal hyphae. Microbial damage to Kem Kem Group bones appears to be minimal.
UR - https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0195667120302159
U2 - 10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104529
DO - 10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104529
M3 - Article
SN - 0195-6671
VL - 114
SP - 104529
JO - Cretaceous Research
JF - Cretaceous Research
ER -