ABSTRACT. Predation is one of the most recurrent sources of bone accumulations.The influence of predation is widely studied for large mammal sites where humans, acting as predators, produce bone accumulations similar to carnivore accumulations.Similarly, small mammal fossil sites are mainly occupation levels of predators (nests or dens). In both cases, investigations of past events can be compared with present day equivalents or proxies. Chewing marks are sometimes present on large mammal predator accumulations, but digestion traits are the most direct indication of predation, and evidence for this is always present in small mammal (prey) fossil assemblages.Digestion grades and frequency indicates predator type and this is well established since the publication of Andrews (1990). The identification of the predator provides invaluable information for accurate interpretation of the palaeoenvironment.Traditionally, palaeoenvironmental interpretations are obtained from the taxonomic species identified in the site, but rather than providing direct interpretations of the surrounding palaeoenvironment, this procedure actually describes the dietary preferences of the predators and the type of occupation (nests, marking territory, dens, etc). This paper reviews the identification of traits produced by predators on arvicolins, murins and soricids using a method that may be used equally by taxonomists and taphonomists. It aims to provide the "tools" for taxonomists to identify the predator based on their methodology, which is examining the occlusal surfaces of teeth rather than their lateral aspects. This will greatly benefit both the work of taphonomists and taxonomists to recognize signs of predation and the improvement of subsequent palaeoecological interpretations of past organisms and sites by identifying both the prey and the predator.

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Africa. This article presents the first taphonomic analysis realised on amphibian and squamate remains coming from a North-African quaternary site. The bones were not transported/sorted by water; they were quickly buried and no significant perturbation occurred within deposits. The main origin of the amphibian and squamate assemblages is predation, although some animals probably died in the cave from natural causes. A comparison with taphonomic data from small mammals of the same cave gave more accurate taphonomic and reliable palaeoecological interpretation of the site. This study also highlights the numerous problems of interpretation linked to the lack of taphonomic referentials based on predator pellets/scats and on weathering/burying experiments in North Africa.