BURROWING INTO TERRESTRIAL PALEOECOLOGY WITH MODERN ANALOGUES: OBSERVATIONS OF DERMESTID BEETLE DAMAGE ON SKELETAL MATERIAL

Taphonomic damage to fossil bones provides insight into past environments and the communities that they contain – how organisms lived and interacted with each other. Actualistic taphonomic studies help elucidate the processes acting on skeletal material before it enters the geologic record, which can in turn provide valuable information about the environment in which past animals lived and died. Previous studies in terrestrial paleoecology highlight the impacts of dermestid beetle damage to bones, providing insight into the taphonomic processes acting on bones before burial. Despite these documented impacts, modern analog evidence showing beetle damage to bones remains understudied. Here, we document the process of dermestid beetle removal of soft tissue from skeletons, focusing on the following dimensions: 1) beetle preference for certain body parts/bones as well as bone size; 2) categories of bone damage and borehole morphology of beetle interaction; 3) comparison across groups of vertebrates. To investigate the interactions between the beetles and our vertebrate specimens, we documented the removal of soft parts from skeletons of two vertebrate groups: reptiles and birds. Specimens remained in dermestid beetle colonies for several months, during which time we documented changes in the specimen carcasses' appearance. We then imaged select skeletal material using an SEM to obtain images of dermestid beetle damage on the skeletal material. Insights obtained from our experimental procedures provide potential mechanisms for organismal decay in modern settings – and how those decay mechanisms may apply to the fossil record. Beyond understanding the decay mechanisms, we also obtain insight into how organisms within communities interact with each other, and how these modern interactions might provide insight into the environments of the past.