The subfossil is a term that is once applied to the body of a living organism where the residue is not considered fully fossilized for one of two possible reasons: that the organism has not spent enough time in the event that residual deposition was not favorable to the fossil. Partial fossils may be present because the animal did not spend enough time after dying for the entire fossil or the circumstances in which the conditions were submitted were not favorable for the fossil. So, for example, with remnants like molluscan seashells, which do not frequently change their chemical composition over geological time, and can sometimes hold such properties as original color marks for millions of years, the label “subfossil” is thousands of years old. Is said to have been applied to shells but it is not as old as the Holocene and therefore from the Pleistocene era. For remnants such as molluscan seashells that often do not change their chemical composition over geological time, and can sometimes hold such properties as original color marks for millions of years, the “subfossil” label is applied to shells that are thought to be several thousand years old, However, the Holocene era, and therefore not as old as the Pleistocene age.
Further, Nucititello records the presence of southwestern species that are very rare or limited today, such as Sheru Tennarek (M. nassoloi) of Nassolo, Grandidier mongoose (Galidictis grandidarii), the slender-striped mongoose (Mojmotjitz mojimotz Antimena). Incomplete or partial fossils may eventually accumulate in bone, exoskeleton, nests, skin impressions or feces. Spinal subfossils are often found in caves or other shelters, where this debris have been preserved for thousands of years. An easy cause of abnormal small mammals occurring at Dicitello is not clear. The consistent interactions between climate change, recent partitioning, and human-initiated degradation of forest habitats, and community-level processes such as projections, probably explain the discontinuous distribution of small mammals documented in Niccitello. Of major importance to the remains of this vertebrate subfossil (vs. whole fossils) is the fact that they contain organic matter that can be used for radiocarbon dating or extraction and sequencing of DNA, protein or other biological substances. Additionally, isotope ratios can provide information about the conditions under which the extinct animals lived. Subfossils are useful for studying the evolutionary history of an environment and may be important for studies in paleoclimatology.
The consistent interactions between climate change, recent partitioning, and human-initiated degradation of forest habitats, and community-level processes such as projections, probably explain the discontinuous distribution of small mammals documented in Niccitello. Subfossils are also often found in depositional environments such as lake sediments, ocean sediments, and soils. Once deposited, the physical and chemical weather conditions can change, and small subfossils can also be consumed by living organisms. Although specimens of nocturnal mammals have been collected from a multidisciplinary deposit in Madagascar, they are not commonly seen in the literature. A large amount of subfossil material comes from quartile sediments, including many sub fossilized chironomid head capsules, ostracoded carapaces, diatoms, and foraminifera.
