American Museum of Natural History, New York City, NY, United States of America.
School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia.
PeerJ. 2023 Oct 26;11:e16326. doi: 10.7717/peerj.16326. eCollection 2023.
Injured trilobites present insight into how a completely extinct group of arthropods responded to traumatic experiences, such as failed predation and moulting complications. These specimens are therefore important for more thoroughly understanding the Paleozoic predator-prey systems that involved trilobites. To expand the record of injured trilobites, we present new examples of injured and from the Campsite Cliff Shale Member of the Burgess Shale Formation (Cambrian, Miaolingian, Wuliuan), () from the Jince Formation (Cambrian, Miaolingian, Drumian), from the Llanfawr Mudstones Formation (Middle-Late Ordovician, Darriwilian-Sandbian), and from the Meadowtown Formation, (Middle-Late Ordovician, Darriwilian-Sandbian). We consider the possible origins of these malformations and conclude that most injuries reflect failed predation. Within this framework, possible predators are presented, and we uncover a marked shift in the diversity of animals that targeted trilobites in the Ordovician. We also collate other records of injured and and , highlighting that these species are targets for further understanding patterns and records of trilobite injuries.
受伤的三叶虫为我们深入了解完全灭绝的节肢动物群体如何应对创伤性经历(如捕食失败和蜕皮并发症)提供了线索。因此,这些标本对于更全面地了解涉及三叶虫的古生代捕食者-猎物系统非常重要。为了扩大受伤三叶虫的记录,我们展示了来自伯吉斯页岩组坎普斯崖页岩段(寒武纪,苗岭纪,武里安期)的新的受伤和标本,来自金兹组(寒武纪,苗岭纪,德鲁里安期)的标本,来自拉恩法尔泥岩段(中-晚奥陶世,达瑞威尔期-桑比期)的标本,以及来自梅多镇组(中-晚奥陶世,达瑞威尔期-桑比期)的标本。我们考虑了这些畸形的可能起源,并得出结论,大多数损伤反映了捕食失败。在这个框架内,提出了可能的捕食者,并揭示了奥陶纪以三叶虫为目标的动物多样性的明显转变。我们还整理了其他受伤的和的记录,并强调了这些物种是进一步了解三叶虫损伤模式和记录的目标。