Bengtson & Zhao, 1992
| Author(s): | Bengtson, S., Zhao, Y. |
|---|---|
| Year: | 1992 |
| Title: | Predatorial Borings in Late Precambrian Mineralized Exoskeletons |
| Journal: | Science |
| Volume: | 257 |
| Number: | 5068 |
| Pages: | 367-369 |
| Abstract | The late Precambrian tube-forming Cloudina, the earliest known animal to produce a mineralized exoskeleton, shows evidence of having been attacked by shell-boring organisms. Of more than 500 tubes from Shaanxi Province, China, 2.7% have rounded holes 40 to 400 micrometers in diameter. The relation between the size of the holes and the width of the bored tubes suggests that the attacking organism was a predator, selecting its prey for size. If true, this would be the oldest case of predation in the fossil record and would support the hypothesis that selection pressures from predation was a significant factor in the evolution of animal skeletons around the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary. |
| Keywords: | Bioerosion, China, Ediacara, Ediacara fauna, Ediacaran trace fossils, Microbioerosion, Paleontology, Precambrian, Trace fossils |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1126/science.257.5068.367 |
| SARV-WB: | edit record |