Editing Taphonomy (section)

== Significance ==
Taphonomic processes allow researchers of multiple fields to identify the past of natural and cultural objects. From the time of death or burial until excavation, taphonomy can aid in the understanding of past environments.<ref name=":3">Lyman, R. Lee. Vertebrate taphonomy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.{{page needed|date=April 2021}}</ref> When studying the past it is important to gain contextual information in order to have a solid understanding of the data. Often these findings can be used to better understand cultural or environmental shifts within the present day.

The term taphomorph is used to collectively describe fossil structures that represent poorly-preserved and deteriorated remains of various taxonomic groups, rather than of a single species. For example, the 579–560 million year old fossil [[Ediacaran biota|Ediacaran]] assemblages from [[Avalonia]]n locations in [[Newfoundland]] contain taphomorphs of a mixture of [[taxon|taxa]] which have collectively been named [[Ivesheadiomorphs]]. Originally interpreted as fossils of a single genus, ''Ivesheadia'', they are now thought to be the deteriorated remains of various types of frondose organism. Similarly, Ediacaran fossils from England, once assigned to ''Blackbrookia'', ''Pseudovendia'' and ''Shepshedia'', are now all regarded as taphomorphs related to [[Charnia]] or [[Charniodiscus]].<ref name="Liu2011">{{cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Alexander G. |last2=Mcilroy |first2=Duncan |last3=Antcliffe |first3=Jonathan B. |last4=Brasier |first4=Martin D. |title=Effaced preservation in the Ediacara biota and its implications for the early macrofossil record: EDIACARAN TAPHOMORPHS |journal=Palaeontology |date=May 2011 |volume=54 |issue=3 |page=607 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2010.01024.x |s2cid=128785224 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/213772758 |access-date=20 February 2022|doi-access=free }}</ref>