thanatocoenose

plural thanatocoenoses

1. A collection of dead life forms that are found together, having previously interacted as a community within an ecosystem.

   The fossil diatom assemblage or thanatocoenose found in sediments typially represents as little as 1-5% of the original living assemblage or biocoenose.

   1989, Hans M. Bolli, John B. Saunders, Katharina Perch-Nielsen, Plankton Stratigraphy, volume 2, page 764

   2 more examples

   This sort of thanatocoenose is typical of lakes with a semi-arid climate (Early Triassic period in the Kuznetsk Basin, Middle Jurassic- Lower Cretaceous of Middle Asia).

   1977, H. Löffler, D. Danielopol, Aspects of Ecology and Zoogeography of Recent and Fossil Ostracoda, page 454

   Given that paleozoologists sample the geological record (i.e., where faunal remains are deposited as a particular kind of sedimentary particle), they don't always have a complete thanatocoenose lying on the lab table.

   2008, R. Lee Lyman, Quantitative Paleozoology, page 23

   Synonyms: thanatocoenosis, death assemblage