TAPHONOMY OF VERTEBRATES IN A TEMPERATE FOREST SETTING: A TIME-TRANSGRESSIVE SEQUENCE

For the last four years, a juvenile pig carcass was placed near a prairie/forest boundary were placed within a forest-prairie border environment. In the summer of 2012 the four carcasses were recovered for examination. The skeletal remains were collected, cleaned and reconstructed in the lab. Missing and damaged bones were recorded and photographed. The major bone elements (skull, mandible, and long bones) were evaluated for taphonomic grade, using the Behrensmeyer evaluation criteria. The time-transgressive series showed the sequence of bone decay within a temperate forest setting. Bone decomposition for the two carcasses exposed the longest reached beyond Stage 5, with full destruction. The two least exposed carcasses did not advance beyond stage 3. The highest level of damage occurred in the head and scapula. These carcasses experienced faster bone weathering in a temperate setting compared to the setting in Amboseli National Forest, where the decay scale was originally developed.