Natural and anthropogenic factors as taphonomic agents in the differential preservation of paleontological remains from the fossil deposit “Las Llanadas”, Central Cuba

Abstract

The results of a taphonomic analysis carried out on the vertebrate fossil deposit “Las Llanadas”, Sancti Spíritus, Cuba, are presented. The origin of the deposit is analyzed through features of the accumulated sediments, combined with the geological structure of the study area. The type of fossiliferous deposit represented was determined according to the categorizations proposed for Cuba by several authors. Differential preservation registered, between the recent material and the fossil and subfossil material, was analyzed by considering the mechanisms of taphonomic alteration identified as direct evidence of specific biostratinomic and fossildiagenetic processes to which the extracted remains were subjected. Anthropogenic and natural factors are discussed as responsible for the current accumulation features of the deposit. The historical reconstruction of the paleontological interventions on the site, during the last century, had been an important element to understand the features of the current fossil assemblage.