Early parasitic drilling in a rhynchonelliform brachiopod Rongatrypa xichuanensis from the Katian (Upper Ordovician) of central China

Autor: Yu-Chen (张雨晨) Zhang, Xiao-Cong (栾晓聪) Luan, Colin D. Sproat, Bing (黄冰) Huang, Renbin (詹仁斌) Zhan
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Paleontology. 94:467-474
ISSN: 1937-2337
0022-3360
DOI: 10.1017/jpa.2019.102
Popis: An example of parasitic drilling in a rhynchonelliform brachiopod is described from the Shiyanhe Formation (Katian, Upper Ordovician) of Henan, central China. The boring extends into the shell almost perpendicular to the surface. The shell has been serially sectioned, and the trace (including boring and bioclaustration) has been modeled in three dimensions. Healing of the shell evident in serial sections supports a long-term relationship between the brachiopod and borer that we interpret as parasitic. Platyceratid gastropods, found at the same locality as these brachiopods, are the most likely drilling organism. Previous reports of Paleozoic brachiopod parasitic traces can be classified into two main groups, constructive association and destructive association, depending on whether parasites damage brachiopod shells. The example in this study belongs to the second type as the brachiopod shell has been partly damaged by the borer.
Databáze: OpenAIRE