Taphonomy of small mammal bone accumulations generated by the Chaco owl (Strix chacoensis, Strigiformes) from the Monte Desert (Mendoza, Argentina): a contribution to South American archaeological and palaeontological studies

Abstract

The present study analyses the taphonomic features of recent small mammal bone and teeth accumulations recovered from pellets generated by Strix chacoensis in a Natural Protected Area in the central Monte Desert of Mendoza, Argentina. In order to identify the taphonomic signature of this predator in the formation of zooarchaeological and palaeontological accumulations, taxonomic profiles, relative abundances, bone breakage patterns and digestive corrosion were evaluated. Taphonomic results locate S. chacoensis in modification category 2 (intermediate). Although the general taphonomic patterns detected in the present study were similar to a typical owl pattern, some differences from that pattern were detected. This sample showed lesser relative abundances of skeletal elements, greater loss of teeth and a larger number of incisors modified by digestion than those generated by other strigiforms. The comparison with reported archaeological accumulations suggested that the small mammal remains recovered in some sites from the Monte Desert may correspond to the predatory activity of S. chacoensis. The identification of the action of S. chacoensis in archaeological and palaeontological small mammal bone and teeth accumulations is a promising tool to evaluate the conservation status of native forests in the past.

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

“…This methodology was followed with most samples of South American predators. Fernández-Jalvo et al (2016) and recently suggested that modifications on incisors and molars were enough to give pertinent information; these updated criteria were used in the evaluation of South American samples of G. melanoleucus, G. polyosoma and S. chacoensis (López et al, 2017a(López et al, , 2018.…”

“…For example, A. cunicularia yields greater abundance of pelves (Gómez, 2007;Montalvo and Tejerina, 2009) while A. flammeus shows higher values of radii and lesser values in the other elements (Gómez, 2007), and S. chacoensis produces a pattern similar to that of the average strigiforms but with lower values (López et al, 2018).…”

“…In our sample of B. v. magellanicus, most of the skull fragments corresponded to maxilla without zygomatic arches though 49 skulls were more complete (Montalvo et al, 2016b); however, in those studied by Gómez (2005Gómez ( , 2007, all skulls showed breakages. In the sample of A. cunicularia, there are no complete skulls (Montalvo and Tejerina, 2009) whereas, in those of P. clamator and S. chacoensis, most skulls are complete (Carrera and Fernández, 2010;Rudzik et al, 2015;López et al, 2018). Among the mandibles of this predator group, the situation is different because the values of broken mandibles ranged from 17.02% to 80%, with a mean of 56.65%, and the samples of S. chacoensis and T. alba were marked by yielding the highest number of complete mandibles.…”

“…As the fossil accumulations that can be interpreted as a result of predation become older, the difficulty to interpret the possible predators through the evaluation of their prey increases. In Argentina, actualistic analyses turned out to be very useful and have allowed us to adjust the possible predators up to the species level when evaluating zooarchaeological records (Pardiñas, 1999b;Fernández et al, 2009a;Fernández, 2012;Montalvo et al, 2014;Quintana, 2016a,b;López et al, 2017aLópez et al, , 2018Mignino et al, 2018) or palaeontological accumulations from the Pleistocene and Holocene (Pardiñas, 1999b;Pardiñas et al, 2000;Montalvo et al, 2012bMontalvo et al, , 2017Tomassini et al, 2017).…”

“…APA Publicación Electrónica -2019 -Volumen 19(1): 18-46 (Iglesias, 2009;Fernández et al, 2009a;Gómez, 2007); 2, Bubo v. magellanicus (Montalvo et al, 2016b), Bubo magellanicus (Gómez, 2005); 3, Athene cunicularia average samples (Gómez, 2007;Montalvo and Tejerina, 2009), Asio flammeus (Gómez, 2007); 4, Pseudoscops clamator average samples (Rudzik et al, 2015;Carrera and Fernández, 2009), and Strix chacoensis (López et al, 2018 (Gómez, 2007;Montalvo and Tejerina, 2009) and Bubo (Gómez, 2005;Montalvo et al, 2016b).…”