Ichnofossil record of selective predation by Cambrian trilobites

Selly, Tara; Huntley, John Warren; Shelton, Kevin L.; Schiffbauer, James D.

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.11.033

Cited by 16 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…; Selly et al . ). Jensen () hypothesized that their prey might have been priapulid‐like worms (= scalidophorans hereafter) because of the presence of radiating ridges at the end of the worm burrows possibly resulting from the action of a tooth‐bearing proboscis (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Gut evolution in early Cambrian trilobites and the origin of predation on infaunal macroinvertebrates: evidence from muscle scars inMesolenellus

Lerosey‐Aubril

Peel

2018

Palaeontology

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Trilobites are particularly common Cambrian fossils, but their trophic impact on the rapidly evolving marine ecosystems of that time is difficult to assess, due to uncertainties on how diverse their feeding habits truly were. Gut anatomy might help to constrain inferences on trilobite feeding ecology, but preservation of digestive organs is exceedingly rare. Muscle scars on the glabella, known as ‘frontal auxiliary impressions’ (FAIs), have been interpreted as evidence of the evolution of a pouch‐like organ with powerful extrinsic muscles (i.e. a crop) in some trilobites. Here we describe FAIs in Mesolenellus hyperboreus from Cambrian Stage 4 strata of North Greenland, which represents the oldest example of such structures and their first report in the Suborder Olenellina. Mesolenellus FAIs suggest that the crop in trilobites was clearly differentiated from the rest of the digestive tract, and essentially located under a hypertrophied glabellar frontal lobe. Reviews of the digestive anatomy of trilobite sister‐taxa and the glabellar morphology of the oldest‐known trilobites suggest that the gut of the trilobite ancestor was an essentially simple tract (i.e. no well‐differentiated crop) flanked laterally by numerous midgut glands. A crop first evolved in the Cambrian in groups like olenelloids and (later) paradoxidoids. Using ichnological evidence, we hypothesize that the emergence of olenelloids yields evidence for the evolution of predatory inclinations in a group of arthropods originally dominated by surface‐deposit‐feeders. By allowing the exploitation of a rapidly developing food source, infaunal animals, the diversification of feeding strategies in trilobites might partially explain their unparalleled evolutionary success.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Gut evolution in early Cambrian trilobites and the origin of predation on infaunal macroinvertebrates: evidence from muscle scars inMesolenellus

Lerosey‐Aubril

Peel

2018

Palaeontology

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“…2012; Selly et al . 2016). Therefore, early feeding habits in trilobites (microphagous and macrophagous feeding, see Fortey & Owens 1999) involved a burrowing or furrowing activity.…”

Section: Figmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cephalic biomechanics underpins the evolutionary success of trilobites

et al. 2021

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Arthropods (i.e. insects, spiders, crustaceans, myriapods and others), are the most successful Phanerozoic animals. The group is characterized by the possession of a segmented body, jointed limbs and a hard cuticle that is episodically moulted. One highly successful but now extinct group of arthropods is the trilobites. Trilobites underwent episodic moulting (ecdysis), and most trilobites possess facial sutures, lines of weakness in the cephalon, via which the exuviae is shed and the animal emerges. However, zones of weakness appear to represent a structural trade‐off or constraint, particularly during burrowing; sacrificing a consolidated head region useful in burrowing for the ability to moult. Here we reconcile this trade‐off by using biomechanical modelling to demonstrate that facial sutures exist in regions of low stress during the application of burrowing loads. Furthermore, facial sutures and the structure of the cephalon enable sutured trilobites to withstand greater stresses than their non‐suture counterparts. We suggest that this ability to withstand greater burrowing loads enabled trilobites to successfully invade bioturbated and more consolidated sediments of the Cambrian Sediment Revolution, thus facilitating their diversification in the Cambrian and Ordovician and contributing to the evolutionary success of this iconic arthropod group.

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“…The factors controlling intensity and nature of predation along depth gradients are complex, as indicated by the contradictory evidence that has been compiled in studies of predation and water depth. Godwin, 1998;Joyce, 2000;Zatoń and Rakociński, 2014), as it does for benthic predator-prey systems (Selly et al, 2016).…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predation in the marine fossil record: Studies, data, recognition, environmental factors, and behavior

Klompmaker

Kelley

Chattopadhyay

et al. 2019

Earth-Science Reviews

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The fossil record is the primary source of data used to study predator-prey interactions in deep time and to evaluate key questions regarding the evolutionary and ecological importance of predation. Here, we review the types of paleontological data used to infer predation in the marine fossil record, discuss strengths and limitations of paleontological lines of evidence used to recognize and evaluate predatory activity, assess the influence of environmental gradients on predation patterns, and review fossil evidence for predator behavior and prey defense. We assembled a predation database from the literature that documents a steady increase in the number of papers on predation since the 1960s. These studies have become increasingly quantitative and have expanded in focus from reporting cases of predation documented by fossils to using the fossil record of predation to test ecological and evolutionary hypotheses. The data on the fossil record of predation amassed so far in the literature primarily come from trace fossils, mostly drill holes and, to a lesser extent, repair scars, derived predominantly from the Cenozoic of Europe and North America. Mollusks are the clade most often studied as prey and inferred predators. We discuss how to distinguish biotic from abiotic damage and predatory from parasitic traces, and how to recognize failed predation. Our data show that identifying the predator is easiest when predator and prey are preserved in the act of predation or when predators were fossilized with their gut contents preserved. However, determining the culprits responsible for bite traces, drill holes, and other types of predation traces can be more problematic.Taphonomic and other factors can distort patterns of predation, but their potential effects can be minimized by careful study design. With the correct identification and quantification of fossilized traces of predation, ecological trends in predator-prey interactions may be discerned along environmental gradients in water depth, habitat, and oxygen and nutrient availability.However, so far, these trends have not been explored adequately for the fossil record. We also

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Ichnofossil record of selective predation by Cambrian trilobites

Cited by 16 publications

References 48 publications

Gut evolution in early Cambrian trilobites and the origin of predation on infaunal macroinvertebrates: evidence from muscle scars inMesolenellus

Gut evolution in early Cambrian trilobites and the origin of predation on infaunal macroinvertebrates: evidence from muscle scars inMesolenellus

Cephalic biomechanics underpins the evolutionary success of trilobites

Predation in the marine fossil record: Studies, data, recognition, environmental factors, and behavior

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