Taphonomy and whale-fall analysis of the Tortonian baleen whales from the Stirone river, Emilia Romagna (northern Italy)

The taphonomy of three balaenopterid skeletons is examined in order to describe the traces left by whale fall communities. The whale specimens include two partial skeletons and an isolated periotic; one of the partial skeletons is the holotype of Plesiobalaenoptera quarantellii, while the other two specimens represent two indeterminate balaenopterid species. The high number of trace fossils observed in these specimens was not observed in previous paleontological records of whale fall communities. The diversity of the trace fossils and the broad stratigraphic context in which the assemblages are included are investigated in order to investigate into the origin and evolution of the specialized whale fall communities since the Neogene.