Uniquely preserved gut contents illuminate trilobite palaeophysiology.

ABSTRACT: Trilobites are among the most iconic of fossils and formed a prominent component of marine ecosystems during most of their 270-million-year-long history from the early Cambrian period to the end Permian period¹. More than 20,000 species have been described to date, with presumed lifestyles ranging from infaunal burrowing to a planktonic life in the water column². Inferred trophic roles range from detritivores to predators, but all are based on indirect evidence such as body and gut morphology, modes of preservation and attributed feeding traces; no trilobite specimen with internal gut contents has been described^3,4. Here we present the complete and fully itemized gut contents of an Ordovician trilobite, Bohemolichas incola, preserved three-dimensionally in

SUBMITTER: Kraft P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10584673 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature