Bioerosion on brachiopod shells – a Cenozoic perspective

Ruggiero, Emma Taddei; Bitner, Maria Aleksandra

doi:10.1017/s1755691007080371

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(7 reference statements)

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“…We did not quantify the percentage of Terebratula shells affected by pedicle attachment traces ( P. obliquus ), but this trace is rare. This matches previous reports on several species of Terebratula , in which 1% or less were affected by P. obliquus (Taddei Ruggiero and Bitner 2008). Other members of Terebratulinae are known to facultatively form clusters, such as Pliothyrina (Bell and Bell 1872; Rudwick 1961) and Liothyrella (Foster 1974; Richardson 1981; Peck et al 1997).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

The environmental factors limiting the distribution of shallow-water terebratulid brachiopods

García‐Ramos¹,

Ćorić²,

Joachimski³

et al. 2020

Paleobiology

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The Cenozoic genus Terebratula seems to be an exception to the post-Permian trend in brachiopod retreat to offshore habitats, because it was species rich and numerically abundant in warm-temperate shallow-water environments in the Mediterranean and the Paratethys realms. This was so despite the general dominance of bivalves and the pervasive bioturbation and predation pressure during the Neogene. Terebratula, however, went extinct in the Calabrian (Pleistocene). The optimal environmental conditions for Terebratula during its prime are poorly known. The Águilas Basin (SE Spain) is an ideal study area to investigate the habitat of Terebratula, because shell beds of this brachiopod occur there cyclically in early Pliocene deposits. We evaluate the paleoecological boundary conditions controlling the distribution of Terebratula by estimating its environmental tolerances using benthic and planktic foraminiferal and nannoplanktic assemblages and oxygen isotopes of the secondary layer brachiopod calcite. Our results suggest that Terebratula in the Águilas Basin favored oligotrophic to mesotrophic, well-oxygenated environments at water depths of 60–90 m. Planktic foraminiferal assemblages and oxygen isotopes point to sea-surface temperatures between ~16°C and 22°C, and bottom-water temperatures between 17°C and 24°C. The analyzed proxies indicate that Terebratula tolerated local variations in water depth, bottom temperature, oxygenation, productivity, and organic enrichment. Terebratula was probably excluded by grazing pressure from well-lit environments and preferentially occupied sediment-starved, current-swept upper offshore habitats where coralline red algae were absent. Narrow temperature ranges of Terebratula species might have been a disadvantage during the high-amplitude seawater temperature fluctuations that started about 1 Ma, when the genus went extinct.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

The environmental factors limiting the distribution of shallow-water terebratulid brachiopods

García‐Ramos¹,

Ćorić²,

Joachimski³

et al. 2020

Paleobiology

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“…Although disintegration half‐life of the smaller specimens is shorter than the half‐life for larger shells, juveniles also disintegrate at a slow (multi‐centennial) rate and are durable enough to accrue bioerosion, encrustation, discolouration or staining. The cohort‐level taphonomic clock and multivariate analyses indicate that even sediment‐filled shells eventually disarticulate and disintegrate by sponge bioerosion (with Entobia contributing to bioerosion observed in other brachiopods, Taddei Ruggiero & Bitner 2007; Bromley et al . 2008; Taddei Ruggiero & Raia 2010), wear related to exhumation, and/or by collapse of the secondary layer along the anterior margins (Gaspard 1989; Emig 1990) when residence time of specimens in the TAZ increases beyond a few millennia and both small and large specimens progress towards more worn and stained states.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How long does a brachiopod shell last on a seafloor? Modern mid‐bathyal environments as taphonomic analogues of continental shelves prior to the Mesozoic Marine Revolution

et al. 2022

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Carbonate skeletal remains are altered and disintegrate at yearly to decadal scales in present-day shallowmarine environments with intense bioerosion and dissolution. Present-day brachiopod death assemblages are invariably characterized by poor preservation on continental shelves, and abundant articulated shells of brachiopods with complete brachidia are thus not expected to be preserved if not rapidly buried. However, such preservation is paradoxically observed in shallow-water Palaeozoic and Mesozoic brachiopod assemblages. Here, we show that a bathyal death assemblage time-averaged to several millennia (Adriatic Sea) consists of sediment-filled articulated shells of Gryphus vitreus with complete brachidia. Post-mortem age distributions indicate that disintegration half-lives exceed several centuries (c. 500-1700 years). The high frequency of articulated but centuries-old shells (>50%) and the fitting of taphonomic models to post-mortem ages indicate that disarticulation half-life is unusually long (c. 200 years). Rapid sediment filling of shells: (1) inhibited disarticulation, loop fragmentation and colonization by coelobites; and (2) induced precipitation of ferromanganese oxides at redox fronts within shells. Sediment-filled articulated shells, however, still resided at the sediment-water interface as indicated by encrusters and sponges that infested them after death. Sediment-filled shells disintegrated through bioerosion and physical wear when residence in the taphonomically active zone exceeded c. 2000 years. We suggest that the articulation paradox is driven by the Mesozoic Marine Revolution (MMR) that escalated predation, bioturbation and organic matter recycling, all intensifying shell disintegration. A scenario with slow disarticulation in bathyal environments may have lead to preservation of articulated shells in shallow-water assemblages prior to the MMR.

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“…However, similar shaped and sized damages are known on brachiopod shells (Ruggiero and Raia 2014) from shallow marine Pleistocene sediments in Italy. These kind of epibiont injuries are concentrated either shallow marine or mud-dwelling brachiopods as Taddei- Ruggiero and Bitner (2008) discussed for Cenozoic brachiopods. Therefore, this is also unlikely.…”

Section: Palaeopathological Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oxfordian brachiopods from the ammonitico rosso-type Fonyászó Limestone formation at Zengővárkony, Mecsek Mountains, Hungary and their palaeoecological, palaeobiogeographical and palaeopathological significance

Bujtor

Albrecht²

2021

PalZ

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Recent discovery of a previously unknown outcrop in the vicinity of the Zengővárkony lime-kilns (Mecsek Mountains, Hungary) provided a few identifiable upper Oxfordian brachiopods that exhibit a truly Mediterranean (Tethyan) character. Dating of the outcrop is based on a rich ammonite fauna: Benetticeras benettii; Trimarginites ex gr. trimarginatus; Orthosphinctes (Orthosphinctes) ex gr. tiziani clearly indicate the Late Oxfordian. The brachiopod fauna indicates a deep-water marine environment and well-oxygenated sea floor. Nucleata bouei and Pygope catulloi are recorded for the first time from the Mecsek Mountains. A pathologic specimen of Pygope catulloi is also recognized. Its ventral valve was injured in an early developmental stage that caused deformation of the left side, which was overgrown by the healthy right side and created an asymmetric adult shell shape. Cause of the injury is unclear but it provides further evidence for subsequent healing of brachiopods after being injured. This is the first description and illustration of Oxfordian brachiopods from the Mecsek Mountains, Hungary. The occurrence of Tethyan originating pygopid brachiopods in the Oxfordian strengthens earlier observations that from the Bathonian/Callovian Tethyan influence became overwhelming in the Mecsek Mountains fauna. Pygope catulloi strengthens records from Algeria that pygopid brachiopods may have occurred very early on the periphery of the Western Tethys.

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Bioerosion on brachiopod shells – a Cenozoic perspective

Cited by 15 publications

References 16 publications

The environmental factors limiting the distribution of shallow-water terebratulid brachiopods

The environmental factors limiting the distribution of shallow-water terebratulid brachiopods

How long does a brachiopod shell last on a seafloor? Modern mid‐bathyal environments as taphonomic analogues of continental shelves prior to the Mesozoic Marine Revolution

Oxfordian brachiopods from the ammonitico rosso-type Fonyászó Limestone formation at Zengővárkony, Mecsek Mountains, Hungary and their palaeoecological, palaeobiogeographical and palaeopathological significance

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