PaleobiologyPub Date : 2023-04-11DOI: 10.1017/pab.2023.6
Baran Karapunar, Winfried Werner, Sönke Simonsen, Manfred Bade, Markus Lücke, Thomas Rebbe, S. Schubert, Alexis Rojas
{"title":"Drilling predation on Early Jurassic bivalves and behavioral patterns of the presumed gastropod predator—evidence from Pliensbachian soft-bottom deposits of northern Germany","authors":"Baran Karapunar, Winfried Werner, Sönke Simonsen, Manfred Bade, Markus Lücke, Thomas Rebbe, S. Schubert, Alexis Rojas","doi":"10.1017/pab.2023.6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2023.6","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Drilling predation is a common reason for mortality of benthic mollusks but did not become common until the late Mesozoic. The scarcity of drill holes in the early Mesozoic fossil record limits our understanding of the evolution of drilling behavior and its role on shaping early Mesozoic marine communities. Here, we use drilling traces on several bivalve taxa from the Lower Jurassic (Pliensbachian) marine soft-bottom deposits in northern Germany to explore behavioral patterns of the predator (e.g., site selectivity, change in site-selective behavior with age). Although none of the known drilling gastropod groups existed in the Pliensbachian, including the studied localities, the drill-hole morphology suggests that the predator was probably a gastropod. The ecology and identity of the target prey changes from a diverse array of epifaunal to infaunal taxa in older deposits to focus on a single, large, deep infaunal taxon, Gresslya intermedia, in younger deposits, suggesting a potential trend in prey selectivity over time. Spatial point pattern analysis of traces (SPPAT) reveals an aggregated pattern of drill holes on Gresslya, suggesting strong selectivity in drill-hole location. Drilling on a single large infaunal taxon and site selectivity are common patterns also inferred previously from the drilled deep infaunal Eothyasira from the Pliensbachian of southern Germany. In addition to the scarcity of predators, the highly specialized behavior of the early drilling predators, including strong prey selectivity in terms of prey identity and life habit, can partly explain the rarity of the early Mesozoic drill holes.","PeriodicalId":54646,"journal":{"name":"Paleobiology","volume":"49 1","pages":"642 - 664"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2023-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46429949","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PaleobiologyPub Date : 2023-04-11DOI: 10.1017/pab.2023.12
L. L. Delsett, N. Pyenson, Feiko Miedema, Ø. Hammer
{"title":"Is the hyoid a constraint on innovation? A study in convergence driving feeding in fish-shaped marine tetrapods","authors":"L. L. Delsett, N. Pyenson, Feiko Miedema, Ø. Hammer","doi":"10.1017/pab.2023.12","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2023.12","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The hyoid apparatus is essential for underwater feeding in marine tetrapods, but it is unclear whether this complex has evolved as convergently as other traits, such as dentition or locomotion. Here we compare the ossified hyoid elements in ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs and odontocete cetaceans, two groups with an overall similar body shape, to understand whether the hyoid elements show any signs of convergence in the context of feeding. We examined three types of data (size, morphology, and internal bone microstructure) in ophthalmosaurid and odontocete taxa in which these elements are preserved. Our data show that ichthyosaurs never experienced a shift in feeding mode, which might indicate that their hyoid apparatus never adapted to suction feeding. Also, the internal microstructure of the two animal groups differs; where the odontocetes have an overall less compact structure, ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs have cancellous inner cones in an outer, more compact sheath. These differences are likely explained as biomechanical adaptations to different feeding modes. Thus, the hyoid changed less and acted more as a constraint for feeding innovation in ichthyosaurs compared with cetaceans, and through a much longer time span (more than 150 Myr).","PeriodicalId":54646,"journal":{"name":"Paleobiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2023-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44127342","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PaleobiologyPub Date : 2023-03-20DOI: 10.1017/pab.2023.7
Carlie Pietsch, Michael Gigliotti, Brendan M. Anderson, Warren D. Allmon
{"title":"Patterns and processes in the history of body size in turritelline gastropods, Jurassic to Recent","authors":"Carlie Pietsch, Michael Gigliotti, Brendan M. Anderson, Warren D. Allmon","doi":"10.1017/pab.2023.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2023.7","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Body size is an important trait with implications for energy use and ecology as well as generation time and evolutionary rates. Turritelline gastropods are widely distributed through geologic time and space, making them an excellent group for evaluating macroevolutionary patterns. To evaluate the pattern of body-size change in turritelline gastropods, we compiled a dataset of shell lengths of 316 species of turritelline gastropods spanning the Jurassic to Recent. Type specimens were almost always significantly larger than specimen distributions from the same species. We found that turritelline gastropod size was inversely correlated with latitude, a trend likely driven by the Neogene–Recent diversification of small-bodied Southern Hemisphere taxa. A time series model was applied to distinguish among three possible macroevolutionary patterns: unbiased random walk (no directional trend), biased random walk (directional trend), and stasis (no net change). We determined that turritelline gastropods have experienced stasis in body size throughout their evolutionary history, adding to the growing literature documenting directionless body-size trends in marine invertebrate clades. Stasis of geographically widespread clades may be the result of ecological variability across the environmental range occupied by the group or differential diversification into opposing environments. Turritelline life-history patterns, especially their reproductive strategy that combines a short life span and decline in growth rate around 1 year of age to reallocate energy to reproduction, might circumvent selection for longevity and larger size, while further decrease in minimum size is likely limited by feeding efficiency and anti-predatory defense. The expectation that species or clades should continue to evolve to occupy larger size classes conflicts with the evolutionary advantages of small size, which in turritelline gastropods include high generational turnover and larger population sizes that yield opportunities for genetic variance.","PeriodicalId":54646,"journal":{"name":"Paleobiology","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135034770","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PaleobiologyPub Date : 2023-03-13DOI: 10.1017/pab.2023.8
Valentin Kelz, Pauline Guenser, Manuel Rigo, Emilia Jarochowska
{"title":"Growth allometry and dental topography in Upper Triassic conodonts support trophic differentiation and molar-like element function","authors":"Valentin Kelz, Pauline Guenser, Manuel Rigo, Emilia Jarochowska","doi":"10.1017/pab.2023.8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2023.8","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Conodont elements have high rates of morphological evolution, but the drivers of this disparity are debated. Positive allometric relationships between dimensions of food-processing surfaces and entire P 1 elements have been used to argue that these elements performed mechanical digestion. If involved in food processing, the surface of the element should grow at a rate proportional to the increase in energy requirements of the animal. This inference of function relies on the assumption that the energy requirements of the animal grew faster (≅ mass 0.75 ) than the tooth area (≅ mass 0.67 ). We reevaluate this assumption based on metabolic rates across animals and calculate the allometry in platform-bearing P 1 elements of Late Triassic co-occurring taxa, Metapolygnathus communisti and Epigondolella rigoi , using 3D models of ontogenetic series. Positive allometry is found in platform and element dimensions in both species, supporting a grasping-tooth hypothesis, based on the assumption that metabolic rate in conodonts scaled with body mass similarly to that in fish and ectotherms. We also calculate the curvature of the P 1 platform surface using the Dirichlet normal energy (DNE) as a proxy for diet. DNE values increase with body mass, supporting the assumption that conodont metabolic rates increased faster than mass 0.67 . We finally find that adults in both taxa differ in their food bases, which supports trophic diversification as an important driver of the remarkable disparity of conodont elements.","PeriodicalId":54646,"journal":{"name":"Paleobiology","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135905355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PaleobiologyPub Date : 2023-03-13DOI: 10.1017/pab.2023.9
P. Boan, S. Evans, C. Hall, M. Droser
{"title":"Spatial distributions of Tribrachidium, Rugoconites, and Obamus from the Ediacara Member (Rawnsley Quartzite), South Australia","authors":"P. Boan, S. Evans, C. Hall, M. Droser","doi":"10.1017/pab.2023.9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2023.9","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The spatial distribution of in situ sessile organisms, including those from the fossil record, provides information about life histories, such as possible dispersal and/or settlement mechanisms, and how taxa interact with one another and their local environments. At Nilpena Ediacara National Park (NENP), South Australia, the exquisite preservation and excavation of 33 fossiliferous bedding planes from the Ediacara Member of the Rawnsley Quartzite reveals in situ communities of the Ediacara Biota. Here, the spatial distributions of three relatively common taxa, Tribrachidium, Rugoconites, and Obamus, occurring on excavated surfaces were analyzed using spatial point pattern analysis. Tribrachidium have a variable spatial distribution, implying that settlement or post-settlement conditions/preferences had an effect on populations. Rugoconites display aggregation, possibly related to their reproductive methods in combination with settlement location availability at the time of dispersal and/or settlement. Additionally, post-settlement environmental controls could have affected Rugoconites on other surfaces, resulting in lower populations and densities. Both Tribrachidium and Rugoconites also commonly occur as individuals or in low numbers on a number of beds, thus constraining possible reproductive strategies and environmental/substrate preferences. The distribution of Obamus is consistent with selective settlement, aggregating near conspecifics and on substrates of mature microbial mat. This dispersal process is the first example of substrate-selective dispersal among the Ediacara Biota, thus making Obamus similar to numerous modern sessile invertebrates with similar dispersal and settlement strategies.","PeriodicalId":54646,"journal":{"name":"Paleobiology","volume":"49 1","pages":"601 - 620"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2023-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49021820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PaleobiologyPub Date : 2023-02-23DOI: 10.1017/pab.2023.2
D. Pérez-Pinedo, Jenna M. Neville, G. Pasinetti, C. McKean, Rod Stephen Taylor, D. McIlroy
{"title":"Frond orientations with independent current indicators demonstrate the reclining rheotropic mode of life of several Ediacaran rangeomorph taxa","authors":"D. Pérez-Pinedo, Jenna M. Neville, G. Pasinetti, C. McKean, Rod Stephen Taylor, D. McIlroy","doi":"10.1017/pab.2023.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2023.2","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract.— Fossils from the deep-sea Ediacaran biotas of Newfoundland are among the oldest architecturally complex soft-bodied macroorganisms on Earth. Most organisms in the Mistaken Point–type biotas of Avalonia—particularly the fractal-branching frondose Rangeomorpha— have been traditionally interpreted as living erect within the water column during life. However, due to the scarcity of documented physical sedimentological proxies associated with fossiliferous beds, Ediacaran paleocurrents have been inferred in some instances from the preferential orientation of fronds. This calls into question the relationship between frond orientation and paleocurrents. In this study, we present an integrated approach from a newly described fossiliferous surface (the “Melrose Surface” in the Fermeuse Formation at Melrose, on the southern portion of the Catalina Dome in the Discovery UNESCO Global Geopark) combining: (1) physical sedimentological evidence for paleocurrent direction in the form of climbing ripple cross-lamination and (2) a series of statistical analyses based on modified polythetic and monothetic clustering techniques reflecting the circular nature of the recorded orientation of Fractofusus misrai specimens. This study demonstrates the reclining rheotropic mode of life of the Ediacaran rangeomorph taxon Fractofusus misrai and presents preliminary inferences suggesting a similar mode of life for Bradgatia sp. and Pectinifrons abyssalis based on qualitative evidence. These results advocate for the consideration of an alternative conceptual hypothesis for position of life of Ediacaran organisms in which they are interpreted as having lived reclined on the seafloor, in the position that they are preserved.","PeriodicalId":54646,"journal":{"name":"Paleobiology","volume":"49 1","pages":"471 - 492"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2023-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41660623","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PaleobiologyPub Date : 2023-02-20DOI: 10.1017/pab.2022.48
Pe´ter Kiss, N. Hudáčková, J. Titschack, M. Siccha, Z. Hermanova, Lóránd Silye, Andrej Ruman, S. Rybár, M. Kučera
{"title":"Convergent evolution of spherical shells in Miocene planktonic foraminifera documents the parallel emergence of a complex character in response to environmental forcing","authors":"Pe´ter Kiss, N. Hudáčková, J. Titschack, M. Siccha, Z. Hermanova, Lóránd Silye, Andrej Ruman, S. Rybár, M. Kučera","doi":"10.1017/pab.2022.48","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2022.48","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The spherical encompassing final chamber of the planktonic foraminifera Orbulina universa is a prime example of a complex character whose evolution has been documented by a sequence of intermediate forms. However, the mechanism that induced evolution of the spherical chamber remain unclear. Here we show that shortly after the emergence of Orbulina, documented throughout the oceans, a convergent evolutionary transition occurred in the semi-isolated Paratethys, leading to the emergence of the endemic Velapertina, which occupied a similar niche to Orbulina in the surface waters. Using X-ray computed tomography scanning, we show that the evolution of the encompassing final chamber involved the same sequence of steps in both lineages, combining a progressively spherical shell shape with changes in the position, number, and sizes of apertures. The similarity in the sequence of character acquisitions suggests structural determinism in the way foraminiferal shells are constructed and the presence of natural selection favoring a spherical morphology. Collectively, the emergence of spherical chambers in the two lineages at a similar time suggests that the evolution of this spectacular complex character occurred in response to a singular environmental driver.","PeriodicalId":54646,"journal":{"name":"Paleobiology","volume":"49 1","pages":"454 - 470"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2023-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47095428","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PaleobiologyPub Date : 2023-02-20DOI: 10.1017/pab.2023.4
A. Brum, L. H. S. Eleutério, T. Simões, M. Whitney, Geovane A. Souza, J. Sayão, A. Kellner
{"title":"Ankylosaurian body armor function and evolution with insights from osteohistology and morphometrics of new specimens from the Late Cretaceous of Antarctica","authors":"A. Brum, L. H. S. Eleutério, T. Simões, M. Whitney, Geovane A. Souza, J. Sayão, A. Kellner","doi":"10.1017/pab.2023.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2023.4","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The body armor of ankylosaurians is a unique morphological feature among dinosaurs. While ankylosaurian body armor has been studied for decades, paleohistological analyses have only started to uncover the details of its function. Yet there has been an overall bias toward sampling ankylosaurian remains from the Northern Hemisphere, with limited quantitative studies on the morphological and functional evolution of the osteoderms composing their body armor. Here, we describe new ankylosaurian materials recovered from the Late Cretaceous of Antarctica that, in combination with data compiled from the literature, reveal new insights into the evolution of the ankylosaurian body armor. Based on histological microstructure and phylogenetic results, the new Antarctic material can be assigned to Nodosauridae. This group shares the absence/poor development of their osteodermal basal cortex and highly ordered sets of orthogonal structural fibers in the superficial cortex. Our morphospace analyses indicate that large morphological diversity is observed among both nodosaurids and ankylosaurids, but osteoderms became more functionally specialized in late-diverging nodosaurids. Besides acting as effective protection against predation, osteoderms also exhibit highly ordered structural fibers in nodosaurids, enabling a decrease in cortical bone thickness (as in titanosaurs), which could have been co-opted for secondary functions, such as calcium remobilization for physiological balance. The latter may have played a key role in nodosaurid colonization of high-latitude environments, such as Antarctica and the Arctic Circle.","PeriodicalId":54646,"journal":{"name":"Paleobiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2023-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42152720","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PaleobiologyPub Date : 2023-02-10DOI: 10.1017/pab.2023.1
B. Allen, M. Clapham, E. Saupe, P. Wignall, D. J. Hill, A. Dunhill
{"title":"Estimating spatial variation in origination and extinction in deep time: a case study using the Permian–Triassic marine invertebrate fossil record","authors":"B. Allen, M. Clapham, E. Saupe, P. Wignall, D. J. Hill, A. Dunhill","doi":"10.1017/pab.2023.1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/pab.2023.1","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Understanding spatial variation in origination and extinction can help to unravel the mechanisms underlying macroevolutionary patterns. Although methods have been developed for estimating global origination and extinction rates from the fossil record, no framework exists for applying these methods to restricted spatial regions. Here, we test the efficacy of three metrics for regional analysis, using simulated fossil occurrences. These metrics are then applied to the marine invertebrate record of the Permian and Triassic to examine variation in extinction and origination rates across latitudes. Extinction and origination rates were generally uniform across latitudes for these time intervals, including during the Capitanian and Permian–Triassic mass extinctions. The small magnitude of this variation, combined with the possibility of its attribution to sampling bias, cautions against linking any observed differences to contrasting evolutionary dynamics. Our results indicate that origination and extinction levels were more variable across clades than across latitudes.","PeriodicalId":54646,"journal":{"name":"Paleobiology","volume":"49 1","pages":"509 - 526"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2023-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45579081","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}