Pathologies of non-marine bivalve shells from the Late Triassic of Poland

Abstract

Gorzelak, P., Niedźwiedzki, G. & Skawina, A. 2010: Pathologies of non‐marine bivalve shells from the Late Triassic of Poland. Lethaia, Vol. 43, pp. 285–289. Shells of Late Triassic non‐marine bivalves from Lisowice (Lipie Śląskie clay pit, southern Poland), which co‐occur with remains of several vertebrate taxa (mammal‐like reptiles, carnivorous dinosaurs, pterosaurs, temnospondyl amphibians, hybodont sharks, dipnoan and ganoid fish), bear evidence of pathologies. Distribution, dimension and shape of some of these injuries (radiate tooth marks) closely match the dental morphology of lungfish (here probably represented by the genus Ceratodus). Thus, we interpret these pathologies as evidence of unsuccessful predatory attack on bivalves by this fish. This interpretation is also consistent with modern examples of such behaviour among lungfish. The feasibility that other culprits caused other pathologies (shell scarring and wedges) on the bivalves analysed is also discussed. Discovery of these traces constitutes important evidence of predator–prey interaction, which provides ‘fingerprints’ of trophic structure within this Late Triassic freshwater ecosystem. □Freshwater bivalves, lungfish, pathologies, predation, Triassic.

Bite traces on dicynodont bones and the early evolution of large terrestrial predators

“…1 in Gorzelak et al 2010). Well-preserved vertebrate bones occur in a lenticular body of grey mudstone and claystone in the northern part of the Lipie Śląskie clay-pit, mostly covered with calcareous and pyritic crust or preserved within limestone concretions.…”

Evidence of predation in Early Cretaceous unionoid bivalves from freshwater sediments in the Cameros Basin, Spain

“…Kauffman & Kesling 1960; Hewitt & Westermann 1990; Kauffman 2004). As pointed by Gorzelak et al. (2010), data of predation on non‐marine fossil molluscs are almost completely lacking, with significant studies limited to those of Kear & Godthelp (2008), Bermúdez‐Rochas et al.…”

“…(2010), data of predation on non‐marine fossil molluscs are almost completely lacking, with significant studies limited to those of Kear & Godthelp (2008), Bermúdez‐Rochas et al. (2009) and Gorzelak et al. (2010) (see below).…”

“…We interpret these linear depressions as having been produced by the dragging of a predator’s tooth (or teeth) against the shell (Tsujita & Westermann 2001). The term ‘shell scarring’, as used by Gorzelak et al. (2010) may be regarded equivalent to the ‘linear depressions’ we describe above.…”

Palynostratigraphy of dinosaur footprint-bearing deposits from the Triassic–Jurassic boundary interval of Sweden

“…Large predators were represented in the Late Triassic of Central Europe, contributing to a rich community that included dicynodonts and small dinosauromorphs (Gorzelak et al 2010;Niedźwiedzki et al 2012), but only the tracks remain of these in the Tr -J strata in Sweden (Vajda & Wigforss-Lange 2009). Dinosaur tracks have long been recognized as important sources of palaeontological information in Mesozoic sedimentary deposits globally (e.g.…”