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Paper No. 12-1
Presentation Time: 1:30 PM

TRACES OF NON-LETHAL PREDATION IN FOSSIL SAND DOLLARS FROM FLORIDA


TENNAKOON, Shamindri1, GRUN, Tobias B.2, JAMAL, Fatemah2, PORTELL, Roger W.2, KOWALEWSKI, Michal2, PETSIOS, Elizabeth3 and TYLER, Carrie L.4, (1)Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, 1659 Museum Road, Gainesville, FL 32611; Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, (2)Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, 1659 Museum Road, Gainesville, FL 32611, (3)Department of Geosciences, Baylor University, One Bear Place, Waco, TX 76798, (4)Department of Geology and Environmental Earth Science, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056

In present-day habitats, non-lethal predatory attacks by crustaceans and fish on clypeasteroid echinoids often result in damage around the ambitus. Marginal traces with similar morphology have been observed in fossil clypeasteroid echinoids. Here, we anticipate that the characteristics of marginal traces on fossil echinoid specimens are not significantly different from those observed in Recent echinoids. All examined fossil specimens (n=240) are from the Pliocene portion of the Tamiami Formation in Florida and are reposited in the Invertebrate Paleontology Division at the Florida Museum. The fossil specimens examined for marginal traces include Encope tamiamiensis, Clypeaster sunnilandensis, and Mellita aclinensis. The specimens and traces were screened using a protocol developed to characterize non-lethal marginal traces in Recent live-collected echinoids. Fossil specimens represent congeneric species of the live-collected specimens. Traces identified on fossil specimens resembled the cuspate shaped, healed traces observed in live-collected specimens.

Analyses of both Recent and fossil specimens show that healed marginal traces are restricted to the outer part of the ambitus and never extend into the petals. The location of traces on the test, and the species-specific trace frequencies are comparable to the non-lethal marginal traces observed in live-collected echinoids from Recent environments. The results suggest that characteristics of non-lethal predation traces can be recognized in fossil specimens using observations from present-day echinoid populations of close living relatives.

Session No. 12

T64. Future Leaders in Paleontology
Monday, 26 October 2020: 1:30 PM-5:30 PM
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol 52, No. 6
doi: 10.1130/abs/2020AM-359461
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