Microborings in mid-Cretaceous fish teeth

Abstract

SUMMARY Fish teeth and other remains from the British Cretaceous contain abundant evidence for post-mortem colonization by endolithic organisms. The borings are here recognized as occurring in three morphotypes, including a flask-shaped form not previously recorded. There is strong evidence to suggest that each of these boring types shows a strong preference for a particular substrate histology. The damage and destruction of vertebrate remains by microborings is here considered to exert a major taphonomic conrol on microvertebrate assemblages. The relationships between the intensity of colonization of vertebrate material by endolithic organisms and palaeoenvironment have implications for using these bone microborings as palaeoenvironmental indicators.