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
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