All of the following are types of taphonomic processes EXCEPT…
a) Scavenging by animals.
b) Bleaching by the sun.
c) Disease.
d) Decomposition.
Answer: c) Disease.
Taphonomy is a branch that deals with post-dead processes that affect an organism which may lead to its fossilization / disintegration. The animals’ scavenging, the sun’s bleaching, and the decomposition are the taphonomic processes that in most cases either change the organic matter or just destroy it.
Animals trace down the skeletons which they disarticulate and scatter. Dietary interactions can lead to the breakdown of organic matter like bones from sun bleaching and changes in color. The natural course of decomposing comprises of various chemical and biological processes in which organic matter gradually breaks down.
It is not a process of disease. Disease is a condition that emerge the whole the living organisms, though taphonomic involves the effects that occur after the death of such organisms. Hence, the definition of disease is the only wrong alternative as it is not a Taphonomic phenomenon.