An asynchronous Mesozoic marine revolution: the Cenozoic intensification of predation on echinoids.

ABSTRACT: Predation traces found on fossilized prey remains can be used to quantify the evolutionary history of biotic interactions. Fossil mollusc shells bearing these types of traces provided key evidence for the rise of predation during the Mesozoic marine revolution (MMR), an event thought to have reorganized global marine ecosystems. However, predation pressure on prey groups other than molluscs has not been explored adequately. Consequently, the ubiquity, tempo and synchronicity of the MMR cannot be thoroughly assessed. Here, we expand the evolutionary record of biotic interactions by compiling and analysing a new comprehensively collected database on drilling predation in Meso-Cenozoic echinoids. Trends in drilling frequency reveal an Eocene rise in drilling predation that postdated echinoid

SUBMITTER: Petsios E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8059962 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature