Brachiopod shell thickness links environment and evolution

Balthasar, Uwe; Jin, Jisuo; Hints, Linda; Cusack, Maggie

doi:10.1111/pala.12450

Cited by 6 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Balthasar et al . (2020) have shown that the Strophomenata included both thick‐ and thin‐shelled species and had the largest variety of shell thicknesses, which is consistent with the observations above.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…The shell thickness of Ordovician and Silurian brachiopods has been proven to reflect environmental conditions, but also to be under phylogenetic control (Balthasar et al . 2020) and impose functional constraints on the organisms (Leighton 1998). Flow‐channel experiments also indicate that there is a strong relationship between the shell shape and hydrodynamic energy (Shiino 2010; Shiino & Suzuki 2011, 2015; Shiino & Angiolini 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2017; Garbelli 2017; Balthasar et al . 2020), because the metabolic cost of calcium carbonate deposition is about 5% of that required for the proteinaceous organic fraction (Palmer, 1992). The amount of costly organic component in a shell depends on its fabric, and on the size of the structural units (Garbelli 2015; Garbelli et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If the metabolic cost of shell secretion for recent taxa with fibrous fabric is between 3% and 14% (Watson 2009; Balthasar et al . 2020), it should have been higher in taxa with laminar fabric (Garbelli et al . 2014, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As predictor variables, beyond the shell microstructure, we included shell thickness, shell size, and aspect ratio (width/length) since these characters are connected to morpho‐functional, ecological, and phylogenetic aspects of brachiopods (Leighton 1998; Balthasar et al . 2020) and they can be assessed in a consistent way on the studied material. For the shell microstructure, we included the thickness of its basic structural units, since it is promptly and consistently measurable in most of the analysed specimens.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The shell fabric of Palaeozoic brachiopods: patterns and trends

Garbelli

Shen

et al. 2021

LET

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The varied microstructures of brachiopod biominerals represent a robust archive to understand the evolution and adaptations of marine calcifiers in time. Therefore, a detailed study of the shell microstructure of Cambrian to Devonian brachiopods from Iran is here presented. The shell of 38 brachiopod species, representatives of 22 families and nine orders, has been analysed using scanning electron microscope (SEM), and a database has been built, including macro‐ and micro‐morphological features used to characterize the two‐ or three‐layered brachiopod shells. Two main microstructural variants of the secondary layer have been analysed: fibrous and laminar fabrics. The fibrous layer has a fabric comparable to that of recent brachiopods, whereas the laminar fabric is more complex in its structural organization and has no recent analogue. In cross‐section, the laminae are thinner than the fibres, and much less variable in size. There is evidence that taxa with laminar microstructure have diverged from the Billingsellida and then followed a trend implying a decrease in thickness of the laminae. Our linear discriminant analysis (LDA) shows that shell fabric and shell thickness are powerful predictors of shell shapes, which in turn approximate the brachiopod lifestyles and ecological strategies. Taxa with a fibrous fabric are mostly biconvex, whereas the groups with a laminar secondary layer are associated to a variety of shell shapes and lifestyles. Even if the relations between shell fabric and shell thickness remain enigmatic, as well as the metabolic cost they imply, shell fabrics, and the possible structural and mechanical advantages conferred, could have played a role in the evolutionary success of the Strophomenata during the Palaeozoic.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The shell fabric of Palaeozoic brachiopods: patterns and trends

Garbelli

Shen

et al. 2021

LET

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The architecture of Recent brachiopod shells: diversity of biocrystal and biopolymer assemblages in rhynchonellide, terebratulide, thecideide and craniide shells

et al. 2021

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Biological hard tissues are a rich source of design concepts for the generation of advanced materials. They represent the most important library of information on the evolution of life and its environmental conditions. Organisms produce soft and hard tissues in a bottom-up process, a construction principle that is intrinsic to biologically secreted materials. This process emerged early on in the geological record, with the onset of biological mineralization. The phylum Brachiopoda is a marine animal group that has an excellent and continuous fossil record from the early Cambrian to the Recent. Throughout this time interval, the Brachiopoda secreted phosphate and carbonate shells and populated many and highly diverse marine habitats. This required great flexibility in the adaptation of soft and hard tissues to the different marine environments and living conditions. This review presents, juxtaposes and discusses the main modes of mineral and biopolymer organization in Recent, carbonate shell-producing, brachiopods. We describe shell tissue characteristics for taxa of the orders Rhynchonellida, Terebratulida, Thecideida and Craniida. We highlight modes of calcite and organic matrix assembly at the macro-, micro-, and nano-scales based on results obtained by Electron Backscatter Diffraction, Atomic Force Microscopy, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy and Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy. We show variation in composite hard tissue organization for taxa with different lifestyles, visualize nanometer-scale calcite assemblies for rhynchonellide and terebratulide fibers, highlight thecideide shell microstructure, texture and chemistry characteristics, and discuss the feasibility to use thecideide shells as archives of proxies for paleoenvironment and paleoclimate reconstructions.

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Gigantoproductid shell spiral and microstructure of tertiary layer: evaluation as taxonomical characters

MATEOS-CARRALAFUENTE

Coronado²,

Cózar³

et al. 2022

Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

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Brachiopod taxonomy is based on descriptions of shell morphology and key characters, but diagenesis generally modifies or erases some of them, hindering brachiopod identification. Brachiopods that are taxonomically related usually present shells with similar appearance but can differ in size (i.e., Rhynchonellata). Some aspects of morphology – for example the angular measurement of the curvature of the shell or details of shell microstructure – could aid taxonomic identification. Gigantoproductids, which lack a robust taxonomy, have the largest shells among brachiopods and are ideal for this kind of study because of their gigantic size and morphological variability. Furthermore, they have a great abundance and worldwide distribution during the mid-Carboniferous. More than 700 samples have been collected from Sierra Morena (Spain), Montagne Noire (France) and Adarouch (Morocco) identifying up to six gigantoproductid genera: Globosoproductus, Semiplanus, Kansuella?, Latiproductus, Gigantoproductus and Datangia. Microstructural features from 170 thin sections belonging to gigantoproductid ventral valves have been studied, and six crystal morphologies have been distinguished within the tertiary layer: subhorizontal, imbricated, crenulated, acicular, short and long columnar morphologies. Moreover, 23 complete shells from all genera have been selected to investigate shell size and curvature. Results from this study emphasise that shell size, curvature and crystal shape are taxa-related. Finally, a remarkable morphological change in the gigantoproductid populations from the western Palaeo-Tethys occurred during the Viséan–Serpukhovian, from thin-shelled genera with subhorizontal morphology (Viséan) to thick-shelled genera with a tertiary layer consisting of long columnar crystals (Serpukhovian). This study proves that microstructure, maximum thickness and shell spiral characterisation are robust characters when applied to gigantoproductid taxonomy, but also have great potential in other brachiopod groups.

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Brachiopod shell thickness links environment and evolution

Cited by 6 publications

References 58 publications

The shell fabric of Palaeozoic brachiopods: patterns and trends

The shell fabric of Palaeozoic brachiopods: patterns and trends

The architecture of Recent brachiopod shells: diversity of biocrystal and biopolymer assemblages in rhynchonellide, terebratulide, thecideide and craniide shells

Gigantoproductid shell spiral and microstructure of tertiary layer: evaluation as taxonomical characters

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