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Taphonomy is the study of decaying organisms over time and how they may become fossilized. The term ''taphonomy'' (from the Greek ''taphos'', τάφος meaning "burial", and ''nomos'', νόμος meaning "law") was introduced to paleontology in 1940 by Russian scientist Ivan Efremov to describe the study of the transition of remains, parts, or products of organisms, from the biosphere, to the lithosphere, ''i.e.'' the creation of fossil assemblages.〔 Efremov, I. A. (1940) ("Taphonomy: a new branch of paleontology" ) ''Pan-American Geology'' 74: pp. 81-93〕〔Martin, Ronald E. ((1999) "1.1 The foundations of taphonomy" ''Taphonomy: A Process Approach'' ) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, p. 1, ISBN 0-521-59833-8〕 ==Description== Taphonomists study such phenomena as biostratinomy, decomposition, diagenesis, and encrustation and bioerosion by sclerobionts.〔See Taylor and Wilson, 2003 〕 (Sclerobionts are organisms which dwell on hard substrates such as shells or rocks.) One motivation behind taphonomy is to better understand biases present in the fossil record. Fossils are ubiquitous in sedimentary rocks, yet paleontologists cannot draw the most accurate conclusions about the lives and ecology of the fossilized organisms without knowing about the processes involved in their fossilization. For example, if a fossil assemblage contains more of one type of fossil than another, one can infer either that the organism was present in greater numbers, or that its remains were more resistant to decomposition. During the late twentieth century, taphonomic data began to be applied to other paleontological subfields such as paleobiology, paleoceanography, ichnology (the study of trace fossils) and biostratigraphy. By coming to understand the oceanographic and ethological implications of observed taphonomic patterns, paleontologists have been able to provide new and meaningful interpretations and correlations that would have otherwise remained obscure in the fossil record. Archaeologists study taphonomic processes in order to determine how plant and animal (including human) remains accumulate and differentially preserve within archaeological sites. This is critical to determining whether these remains are associated with human activity. In addition, taphonomic processes may alter biological remains after they are deposited at a site. Some remains survive better than others over time, and can therefore bias an excavated collection. Forensic taphonomy is concerned with the study of the decomposition of human remains, particularly in the context of burial sites. Experimental taphonomy ''testing'' usually consists of exposing the remains of organisms to various altering processes, and then examining the effects of the exposure. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Taphonomy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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