Paleoecology of naticid–molluscan prey interaction during the Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) in Kutch, India: evolutionary implications

Abstract

We document and quantify one of the oldest predator–prey interactions between naticid gastropods and molluscan prey, on the basis of drill holes in shells, from the Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) beds of Kutch, western India. Previously, many workers recorded naticid-like drill holes on prey taxa from the Triassic and the Jurassic, but in the absence of associated naticid body fossils, they remained equivocal. The present gastropod community is dominated by turritellines (98% of the sample) that form the turritelline-dominated assemblage, and the naticid drilling predation is restricted almost entirely to turritellines among gastropods. Confamilial naticid predation takes place occasionally. Within the bivalve community, corbulids and nuculids are most abundant and are drilled more often than other taxa. These observations indicate that prey selection was opportunistic and based solely on availability. Drilling intensities at both assemblage and lower taxon levels are low. Behavioral stereotypy of naticid predation in some cases is moderately high. Turritellines are often the preferred prey of naticid gastropods since the late Early Cretaceous. These two groups form a recurrent association reflecting prey–predator interaction. Here we suggest that both turritellines and naticids evolved during the Jurassic, and the prey–predator interaction between them was established shortly thereafter. Among bivalves, corbulids also became important prey of naticids in the same spatiotemporal framework. Corbulids are older than naticids and first appeared during the Middle Jurassic. After their first encounter with naticids, corbulids evolved conchiolin layers within the valves to resist predation.

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“…For example, the abundant Indocorbula sp. (Bardhan et al, 2021, figs. 1–9) is a corbulid but not Indocorbula .…”

“…Cenozoic character of the associated gastropods and bivalves.- Bardhan et al (2021) discussed the composition of the molluscan assemblage in some detail and, in their supplementary table 1, provided a comprehensive faunal list with the number of specimens of each taxon and the number of drilled specimens. Apart from the turritellinids and naticids, the remaining gastropod genera listed (e.g., Murex, Scala, Cypraeorbis, Volutilithes, and Pachycymbiola) are clearly Cenozoic and have not been recorded from the Jurassic anywhere.…”

“…Finally, Bardhan et al (2021) published an elaborate ecological study on naticid-molluscan prey interaction during the Late Jurassic based on the bulk samples obtained from the pond locality. Gastropods account for ∼90% and bivalves for 9% of the molluscan assemblage.…”

“…The less abundant bivalves also are represented by 19 species and dominated by nuculids and corbulids. Bardhan et al (2021) suggested that turritellines and naticids both evolved during the Jurassic and that a predator-prey relationship became established soon thereafter.…”

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“…2014; Sproat & Zhan 2019; Jacobs & Carlucci 2019; Stock & Burry‐Stock 2020; Bardhan et al . 2021; Conceição et al . 2023).…”