1. a layer or deposit of rock containing an accumulation of fossil bones, typically from ancient vertebrates
Usage: geology; paleontology

Examples

• The paleontologists excavated a rich bonebed containing remains of dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period.
• This bonebed reveals important information about the fauna that lived in this region millions of years ago.
• The exposed bonebed along the cliff face attracted geologists from around the world.
• Researchers discovered a bonebed with well-preserved mammal fossils in the sedimentary rock formation.
• The bonebed provided evidence of a mass extinction event that occurred in the late Pleistocene.