First report of sublethal breakage-induced predation on Devonian bivalves

Nagel-Myers, Judith; Dietl, Gregory P.; Brett, Carlton E.

doi:10.2110/palo.2008.p08-136r

Cited by 17 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Similarity in shape and position of repair scars (Fig. 3; [36]) on the shells of bivalve prey supports this assumption, but is not direct evidence of taxonomic stability in the composition of the shell-crushing predator functional group. At present, only lists of possible predators are available [35], [36].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Co-occurring with this functional group of bivalves was a moderate diversity of sessile, epifaunal suspension-feeding brachiopods, bryozoans, and crinoids, endobenthic scavengers, such as trilobites and gastropods, and deposit feeders, including nuculid bivalves, with moderate bioturbation [34]. The presence of benthic, durophagous (shell-crushing) predators, such as phyllocarid crustaceans and gnathostome fishes [35], [36] is preserved in the rich trace fossil record of their attacks on bivalve prey (Fig. 3; [36]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The presence of benthic, durophagous (shell-crushing) predators, such as phyllocarid crustaceans and gnathostome fishes [35], [36] is preserved in the rich trace fossil record of their attacks on bivalve prey (Fig. 3; [36]). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Abundance Is Not Enough: The Need for Multiple Lines of Evidence in Testing for Ecological Stability in the Fossil Record

et al. 2013

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The fossil record is the only source of information on the long-term dynamics of species assemblages. Here we assess the degree of ecological stability of the epifaunal pterioid bivalve assemblage (EPBA), which is part of the Middle Devonian Hamilton fauna of New York—the type example of the pattern of coordinated stasis, in which long intervals of faunal persistence are terminated by turnover events induced by environmental change. Previous studies have used changes in abundance structure within specific biofacies as evidence for a lack of ecological stability of the Hamilton fauna. By comparing data on relative abundance, body size, and predation, indexed as the frequency of unsuccessful shell-crushing attacks, of the EPBA, we show that abundance structure varied through time, but body-size structure and predation pressure remained relatively stable. We suggest that the energetic set-up of the Hamilton fauna's food web was able to accommodate changes in species attributes, such as fluctuating prey abundances. Ecological redundancy in prey resources, adaptive foraging of shell-crushing predators (arising from predator behavioral or adaptive switching in prey selection in response to changing prey abundances), and allometric scaling of predator-prey interactions are discussed as potential stabilizing factors contributing to the persistence of the Hamilton fauna's EPBA. Our study underscores the value and importance of multiple lines of evidence in tests of ecological stability in the fossil record.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Abundance Is Not Enough: The Need for Multiple Lines of Evidence in Testing for Ecological Stability in the Fossil Record

et al. 2013

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“…Paleoecologists and ecologists use the occurrence of predation traces, such as drillholes and crushing repair scars, to examine not only mortality patterns in gastropod populations but also patterns of prey preference and attack technique among the predator population(s) and evolutionary trends among prey lineages (e.g., Vermeij et al, 1981;Allmon et al, 1990;Kelley, 1991;Hansen and Kelley, 1995;Kelley and Hansen, 1996;Cad ee et al, 1997;Dietl and Alexander, 2000;Kowalewski et al, 2000;Alexander and Dietl, 2001;Zlotnik, 2001;Zlotnik and Ceranka, 2001;Harries and Schopf, 2003;Grey et al, 2006;Donovan and Harper, 2007;Simões et al, 2007;Skovsted et al, 2007;Dietl and Alexander, 2009;Nagel-Myers et al, 2009;Leighton et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Caedichnus, a New Ichnogenus Representing Predatory Attack on the Gastropod Shell Aperture

Stafford

Dietl

Gingras

et al. 2015

Ichnos

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Predatory traces, in which the tracemaker has damaged the prey animal's skeleton to kill and consume it, have a deep fossil history and have received much scientific attention. Several types of predatory traces have been assigned to ichnotaxa, but one of the most studied predatory traces, the wedge-shaped excision produced as a result of attacks mainly by crustaceans on the apertures of gastropod shells, has yet to be described as an ichnotaxon. We propose the ichnogenus Caedichnus to describe the shell damage produced by aperture peeling behavior. Caedichnus is produced by predators that are unable to crush their prey's shells outright. Depending on the predator's peeling ability and the prey's withdrawal depth within the shell, the trace can extend through several whorls of the shell. Aperture peel attacks may fail, allowing such damage to be repaired by surviving gastropods. Thus, the types of attacks that produce Caedichnus may exert selective pressure on prey to evolve betterdefended shells (in the case of gastropods) or to inhabit betterdefended shells (in the case of hermit crabs). The identification of these trace fossils will enhance our understanding of how predation influences the morphological, and even behavioral, evolution of prey organisms.

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“…An earlier radiation of predators during the mid-late Paleozoic era also led to shifts in predator and prey morphology and life habit (Signor & Brett, 1984;Aronson, 1991;Leighton, 2001;Brett & Walker, 2002;Kowalewski, 2002;Brett, 2003;Nagel-Myers, Dietl & Brett, 2009;Bush & Bambach, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macroecology and evolution of a crab ‘super predator’,Menippe mercenaria(Menippidae), and its gastropod prey

Kosloski

Allmon

2015

Biol. J. Linn. Soc.

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It is widely accepted that the fossil record shows both the evolution of more powerful durophagous marine predators through time and, in response, major shifts in life mode and morphology for many prey taxa. Few fossil studies, however, have successfully identified particular predator species with respect to causing evolutionary change in particular prey species. We present evidence that the evolutionary appearance in the western Atlantic of the stone crab, Menippe mercenaria, an extraordinarily powerful durophagous predator, contributed to the appearance of sinistrality, which is very rare, in two genera of marine gastropods (Conus and Sinistrofulgur) during the Pliocene. Based on this conclusion, we suggest that modern fishing pressure on stone crabs may lead to evolutionary changes in their present day prey.

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First report of sublethal breakage-induced predation on Devonian bivalves

Cited by 17 publications

References 39 publications

Abundance Is Not Enough: The Need for Multiple Lines of Evidence in Testing for Ecological Stability in the Fossil Record

Abundance Is Not Enough: The Need for Multiple Lines of Evidence in Testing for Ecological Stability in the Fossil Record

Caedichnus, a New Ichnogenus Representing Predatory Attack on the Gastropod Shell Aperture

Macroecology and evolution of a crab ‘super predator’,Menippe mercenaria(Menippidae), and its gastropod prey

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