Not only boring issues: bioerosion on bones from the Upper Cretaceous of the Haţeg Basin (Romania) and the implications for carcass decomposition on Haţeg Island

Fossil Record

卷:29

Research Article

Anne Bettermann¹  Zoltán Csiki-Sava^2,3,4  Hervé Bocherens^1,5,6,7  Felix J. Augustin¹ 

[1] Faculty of Geology and Geophysics, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, 010041, Romania, Faculty of Geology and Geophysics, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania, https://ror.org/02x2v6p15

[2] Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment (SHEP), University of Tübingen, Tübingen, 72074, Germany, Cluster of Excellence (EXC 3101): HUMAN ORIGINS - Excellence Cluster of Integrative Human Origins studies, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany, https://ror.org/03a1kwz48

[3] Research Institute of the University of Bucharest (ICUB), University of Bucharest, Bucharest, 050663, Romania, Research Institute of the University of Bucharest (ICUB), University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania, https://ror.org/02x2v6p15

[4] Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Department of Paleontology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest 1117, Hungary, Department of Geosciences, Biogeology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany, https://ror.org/03a1kwz48

[5] Department of Geosciences, Biogeology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, 72074, Germany, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Department of Paleontology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary, https://ror.org/01jsq2704

[6] Cluster of Excellence (EXC 3101): HUMAN ORIGINS - Excellence Cluster of Integrative Human Origins studies, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, 72074, Germany, Cluster of Excellence (EXC 3121): TERRA - Terrestrial Geo-Biosphere Interactions in a Changing World, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany, https://ror.org/03a1kwz48

[7] Cluster of Excellence (EXC 3121): TERRA - Terrestrial Geo-Biosphere Interactions in a Changing World, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, 72074, Germany, Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment (SHEP), University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany, https://ror.org/03a1kwz48

关键词: Bite marks;    Late Cretaceous;    paleoecology;    taphonomy;   

DOI  :  10.3897/fr.29.189421

 received in 2026-03-03, accepted in 2026-07-14,  发布年份 2026

来源: Pensoft

【 摘 要 】

AbstractBioerosion of fossil bones provides insights into trophic relationships as well as carcass decomposition processes in past ecosystems. Despite this potential, however, exhaustive documentation of traces of bioerosion for specific deep-time vertebrate assemblages is rarely done. Such occurrences are present in the uppermost Cretaceous continental deposits from Haţeg Basin, famous for their rich, island-dwelling vertebrate faunas, that previously yielded several examples of bioerosion on bones although only few instances have been described in detail and those are largely limited to a single lithostratigraphic unit. For this study, an extensive survey of these vertebrate assemblages was conducted, yielding several new examples from three further lithostratigraphic units. The newly identified traces occur on turtle and dinosaur remains, and include six morphotypes attributable to termites, dermestid beetles, and multituberculate mammals. These results demonstrate that bioerosional traces are more widely distributed in the uppermost Cretaceous of Haţeg Basin, both spatially and temporally, than previously recognized and occur on bones from various paleoenvironmental settings. Notably, all traces indicate a prolonged exposure before final burial, which appears to have been a consistent feature of the sampled paleoenvironments. Nonetheless, regional differences are evident, and bioerosional traces are less common in poorly drained paleoenvironments than in better-drained ones. Finally, the mode of carcass decomposition appears to have been similar across all sampled localities, irrespective of geological age or depositional environment, and involved a consistent set of saprophagous animals, suggesting a stable composition of the saprophagous communities, aligning well with the presumed faunal stability of Haţeg Island.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
Anne Bettermann, Zoltán Csiki-Sava, Hervé Bocherens, Felix J. Augustin

【 图 表 】

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