Bones found by sailor (South American) (6)
I believe the answer is:
tarsus
'bones' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'by sailor south american' is the wordplay.
'by' says to put letters next to each other.
'sailor' becomes 'tar' (term for a sailor).
'south' becomes 's' (abbreviation).
'american' becomes 'US' (United States).
'tar' next to 's' is 'tars'.
'tars'+'us'='TARSUS'
'found' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for tarsus that I've seen before include "Saul of ......" , "Bones of the ankle and heel" , "St Paul was born there" , "saint's birthplace" , "biblical city" .)