2005/06/16 by Michał Kowalewski, Alan P. Hoffmeister, Tomasz K. Baumiller +1 · 81 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Marine Biology and Ecology Research #Isotope Analysis in Ecology #Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils #Paleozoic #Predation #Trophic level #Ecology #Paleontology #Taxon #Biology #Geology
paper · doi:10.1126/science.1113408
published in Science 308(5729), 1774-1777 (American Association for the Advancement of Science)
openalex publication_date 2005/06/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
The fossil record of predation indicates that attacks on Paleozoic brachiopods were very rare, especially compared to those on post-Paleozoic mollusks, yet stratigraphically and geographically widespread. Drilling frequencies were very low in the early Paleozoic (<<1%) and went up slightly in the mid-to-late Paleozoic. Present-day brachiopods revealed frequencies only slightly higher. The persistent rarity of drilling suggests that brachiopods were the secondary casualties of mistaken or opportunistic attacks by the enemies of other taxa. Such sporadic attacks became slightly more frequent as trophic systems escalated and predators diversified. Some evolutionarily persistent biotic interactions may be incidental rather than coevolutionary or escalatory in nature.