Traces of predation in the Cambrian

Abstract

Series two marks a revolution in Cambrian predation when new predators and new predation methods appeared, which led to general increase in predation intensities and in the diversity of prey groups. The number of bored taxa and taxa with the predation scars is similar in the Cambrian. Most of the borings are associated with brachiopods and most of the scars with trilobites. Brachiopods, arthropods, molluscs, cnidarians and echinoderms were the most common prey in the Cambrian. The Cambrian record of predation is dominated by damage inflicted on brachiopods and trilobites. The fossils with predation signs are known from a majority of paleocontinents and all the Cambrian series.

Keywords:

• Predation
• borings
• shell repair
• invertebrates
• brachiopods
• trilobites
• Cambrian

Acknowledgements

This paper is a contribution to IGCP 653 ‘The onset of the Great Ordovician Biodiversity Event’. I am grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. I am also grateful to Mark A. Wilson from The College of Wooster for improvements to the manuscript.