1987/01/01 by Richard B. Aronson · 71 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Biology #Echinoderm biology and ecology #Ecology #Fossil Record #Marine Biology and Ecology Research #Marine and coastal plant biology #Mesozoic #Paleontology #Paleozoic #Population #Predation #Starfish
paper · doi:10.1017/s0094837300008733
published in Paleobiology 13(2), 187-192 (Cambridge University Press)
openalex publication_date 1987/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The frequency of sublethal damage was examined in two ophiuroid species, Palaeocoma milleri and ? Ophioderma tenuibrachiata (Ophiodermatidae), from a shallow-water Jurassic “starfish bed.” None of 60 specimens was regenerating arms, a result that agrees with four previous studies of Paleozoic and early Mesozoic ophiuroids. By contrast, 66.1 percent of a living Ophioderma brevispinum population from Belize were regenerating one or more arms. For living populations of Ophiothrix oerstedi , the natural injury frequency was high at sites where the field mortality of tethered individuals was high. All predators that have been observed feeding on ophiuroids cause sublethal injuries, which would appear as regenerating arms in the fossil record. These results support the hypothesis that predation pressure on ancient ophiuroid populations was low and increased after the Jurassic.