Resumen

LABARCA, Rafael Osvaldo. The paleontologic site "kamac mayu": taphonomy and genesis in the karstic quaternary of the calama basin (región de antofagasta-chile). Ameghiniana [online]. 2009, vol.46, n.1, pp.3-16. ISSN 1851-8044.

The results of the taphonomic analysis of the fossil remains discovered in the paleontological site "Kamac Mayu" (Región de Antofagasta, Chile) are presented. The paleofaunistic record, represented by Macrauchenia cf. M. patachonica, Hippidion saldiasi, Camelidae and Xenarthra, was found in an exocarstic formation originated by dissolution, moulded over the superior share of loam deposits and filled up with pebbly sandstone and sandstone. The bone accumulation in the channel, suggests a depositacional scenario of natural deaths originated upstream from an old system of drained lake formations, being the fossil remains dragged differentially and deposited dowstream. The presence of Macrauchenia cf. M. patachonica and Hippidion saldiasi, suggests a late Pleistocene age for the sediments.

Palabras clave : Taphonomy; Fluvial transport; Extinct fauna; Late Pleistocene; Northern Chile.