Taphonomic Analysis of Micromammal Remains from Striped Owl (Pseudoscops clamator) Pellets in Northeastern Buenos Aires Province, Argentina: Implications for Archaeological Sites Formation

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to determine the taxonomic and taphonomic characteristics of the micromammal remains recovered from pellets of Pseudoscops clamator (striped owl), collected at three localities in northeastern Buenos Aires Province, Argentina (Punta Lara Natural Reserve, 34 49'02,6''S, 58 03'03,9''W; Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve, 34 36'6,44"S, 58 21'33,22"W; Los Robles Park, 34 40'22,03''S, 58 52'18,88''W). The main taphonomic variables (e.g. evidence of digestive action, breakage patterns and relative abundance of skeletal elements) suggest that this owl mainly produces intermediate to moderate modification. On the other hand, P. clamator preyed mainly upon large-sized (>150 g) micromammals (e.g. Lutreolina crassicaudata, Cavia aperea, Holochilus brasiliensis and Rattus sp.), and to a lesser degree on medium-(50-150 g) and small-sized species (<50 g) (e.g. Scapteromys aquaticus, Calomys sp., Oligoryzomys flavescens, Akodon azarae and Mus musculus). Fossil assemblages with a dominance of large-sized micromammals are commonly associated with humans as agents of accumulation. However, this study demonstrates that this owl produces assemblages with abundant large-sized micromammals, which introduces an equifinality problem. In that sense, digestive corrosion marks, breakage patterns and the relative abundance of skeletal remains are the main attributes to differentiate P. clamator from humans, as agents of accumulation. Finally, our results might serve as an analytical model for the taphonomic interpretation of the fossil record of micromammals from paleontological and archaeological sites, which fall within the distributional range and habitat of P. clamator.

Review of the Actualistic Taphonomy of Small Mammals Ingested by South American Predators. Its Importance in the Interpretation of the Fossil Record

“…The average curve is characterized by a higher abundance of maxillae, mandibles, humeri and femora, and the low representativity of isolated teeth, vertebrae, ribs and autopodials. Some raptors, such as Bubo and P. clamator (Gómez, 2007;Rudzik et al, 2015;Montalvo et al, 2016b), follow this tendency. However, T. alba displays great variability, and the other species showed some differences as well (Gómez, 2007;Iglesias, 2009;Fernández et al, 2009a).…”

“…For South America, several papers related to micromammal assemblage evaluations have dealt with the categorization of predators according to the modifications that they produce on prey bones, using their own methodologies for each case (Pardiñas, 1996(Pardiñas, -1998(Pardiñas, , 1999aSaavedra and Simonetti, 1998;Mondini, 2000Mondini, , 2001Mondini, , 2012Mondini, , 2017Cruz, 2008;Mondini and Muñoz, 2008). However, in the last 20 years, the number of actualistic papers has increased, especially those concerning central Argentina (see , in which the methodology proposed by Andrews (1990) and Fernández-Jalvo and Andrews (1992) Lontra longicaudis (Olfers, 1818)], enabled the allocation of these predators within the different modification categories that had been previously proposed (Gómez, 2005(Gómez, , 2007Gómez and Kaufmann, 2007;Montalvo et al, 2007Montalvo et al, , 2008bMontalvo et al, , 2012aMontalvo et al, , 2014Montalvo et al, , 2015Montalvo et al, , 2016bMontalvo and Tallade, 2009;Fernández et al, 2009a;Carrera and Fernández, 2010;Fernández, 2012;Rudzik et al, 2015;Quintana, 2015;López et al, 2017aLópez et al, ,b, 2018.…”

The Role of Bubo virginianus magellanicus as Rodent Bone Accumulator in Archaeological Sites: A Case Study for the Atuel River (Mendoza, Argentina)

“…Strigiformes birds produce micromammal assemblages with light to moderate alteration by digestive corrosion (e.g. Andrews, 1990;Gómez, 2005Gómez, , 2007 Bubo bubo (Andrews, 1990) Bubo lacteus (Andrews, 1990) Bubo africanus (Andrews, 1990) Bubo virginianus nacurutu (Gómez, 2005) Tyto alba (Andrews, 1990) Average Rudzik et al, 2013). Among the analysed skeletal elements, 32.33% of them did not have any evidence of digestion, 28.93% had light digestion evidence, 23.83% had moderate digestion evidence, 11.33% had heavy digestion evidence and 3.58% had extreme digestion evidence.…”

“…In Argentina, these studies began in the 1990s, and they have increased over the last few years due to the need for an actualistic local model for comparison with the archaeological record (e.g. Pardiñas, 1999;Gómez, 2005Gómez, , 2007Fernández et al, 2009;Montalvo & Tejerina, 2009;Rudzik et al, 2013).…”

Tafonomía De Los Microvertebrados Del Sitio Arqueológico Cueva Tixi (Pleistoceno Tardío–holoceno Tardío), Tandilia Oriental (Provincia De Buenos Aires, Argentina)

“…intensas en los esqueletos y frecuencias de digestión de huesos largos hasta de 88% con categorías fuertes y extremas (Isaach et al, 2000;Pautasso, 2006;Martínez et al, 1996;Rudzik et al, 2015) (Fig. 32); Athene cunicularia (Molina, 1782), no usa reparos rocosos como perchas, presenta un tamaño corporal que orienta su caza a presas muy pequeñas, es consumidora principalmente de insectos (Bellocq, 1987;Bó et al, 2007) y ocasiona más del 40% de alteraciones por digestión en los huesos largos (Gómez, 2007;Montalvo y Tejerina, 2009).…”