Measurements of bite traces on bones

Carnivores make traces on bones with their teeth when feeding. A true predatory bite trace (predichnia) forms when a predator catches and kills its prey or attempts to do so. Both predators and scavengers may leave their non-predatory feeding traces during postmortem food processing. Despite the interpretative uncertainties as to the ethology such ichnofossils may represent, the bite traces have been traditionally classified as predichnia – traces of predation. Previously, there was no alternative ethological category available for workers to classify them. The present paper fills that gap and describes tooth-made ichnofossils from the continental Upper Triassic Grabowa Formation of southern Poland. It discusses modes the serration and striations might have formed along Linichnus edges, potential makers of the trace fossils, feeding strategies and food-processing behaviors the ichnites may represent. All the bite traces are thought to act as a record of carnivorous behaviors and are cla...