This work identifies and interprets taphonomic features of the deer fossil assemblage recovered from the Gruta do Urso cave, located in Tocantins State, Northern Brazil. Consequently, its results shed light on the origin of the vertebrate assemblages in cave deposits and paleoecological aspects of Quaternary deer of northern Brazil. The cervid fossil accumulation of the Gruta do Urso cave includes individuals of three species that died outside the cave and, then, underwent disarticulation and weathering during a time span between one and five years. During the necrolysis, they experienced scavenging by large-sized felids and small-sized canids. Then, the disarticulated remains and a mummified hindlimb were transported into the cave by multiple events of low-energy hydraulic flows. Inside the cave, some specimens experienced exposure on the water table and incrustation. The biostratinomic data suggest the taphonomic history of deers around Gruta do Urso cave occurred in arid conditions.
, have revealed important fossil accumulations attributed to the Upper Pleistocene-Holocene. Recently, the first fossil records were recovered from the Tacho de Ouro cave, which are assigned to Tayassu pecari, Cervidae indet., Odocoileus virginianus, Mazama sp., Palaeolama major, Tapirus sp., Coendou sp. and Catonyx cuvieri. The presence of extinct taxa suggests that this fossil assemblage maybe attributed to the late Pleistocene-Holocene interval. Information on the recognized habitats for the species found in the cave indicates an environment affected by climatic variations in this interval, corroborating with the hypothesis of non-contemporaneity of the species. The presence of O. virginianus in Tacho de Ouro cave represents the southmost occurrence of the species in Brazil. The taphonomical analysis indicates that the animals probably perished externally to the cave and then were carried into the cave by a low-energy hydraulic flow, being quickly buried in contact with the vadose level of the cave. Trace fossils observed in some specimens are associated with the predation or scavenging by carnivores (Fodinichnia).
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