Journal ArticleDOI
Functional morphology and palaeontological significance of the conchiolin layers in corbulid pelecypods
Zeev Lewy,Christian Samtleben +1 more
TLDR
The conchiolin layers act as a barrier preventing all chemically boring organisms from penetrating into the bivalve shell, or shell dissolution by sea water undersaturated with respect to calcium carbonate as discussed by the authors.Abstract:
The Corbulidae, which today are slow, cumbersome, very shallow burrowers, developed special morphological features by which they obtained an outstanding capability to withstand the physical and biological stresses characteristic of their preferred habitat. These features are: an inequivalve, globose shape, thick shells, and conchiolin layers (at least one) embedded within their valves in a unique way. These features enable the corbulids to close their valves tightly during the unfavourable environmental conditions (e.g. low salinity, low oxygen content) which may prevail in the marginal marine regions inhabited by several corbulid species. The conchiolin layers act as a barrier preventing all chemically boring organisms from penetrating into the bivalve shell, or shell dissolution by sea water undersaturated with respect to calcium carbonate. The layered conchiolin weakens the shell mechanically, however, especially during fossilization, when the conchiolin is decomposed. The valve splits apart into two shells so completely different in appearance that they may be attributed to different taxa. The conchiolin layers are therefore of great ecological and palaeontological significance. The nature of these conchiolin layers in Corbula (Varicorbula) gibba (Olivi) is described and illustrated and their functional significance discussed in relation to other living and fossil corbulid species.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Patterns and processes of shell fragmentation in modern and ancient marine environments
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors define a fragment as being a piece of shell having less than 90% of its original form and outline the potential characteristics, pathways, and fates that shells and their fragments can have.
Journal ArticleDOI
Investigating the Bivalve Tree of Life -- an exemplar-based approach combining molecular and novel morphological characters.
Rüdiger Bieler,Paula M. Mikkelsen,Timothy M. Collins,Emily A. Glover,Vanessa L. González,Daniel L. Graf,Elizabeth M. Harper,John M. Healy,John M. Healy,Gisele Y. Kawauchi,Prashant P. Sharma,Sid Staubach,Ellen E. Strong,John D. Taylor,Ilya Tëmkin,Ilya Tëmkin,John D. Zardus,Stephanie Clark,Alejandra Guzmán,Alejandra Guzmán,Erin McIntyre,Paul Sharp,Gonzalo Giribet +22 more
TL;DR: An analysis of the informativeness of morphological characters showed that sperm ultrastructure characters are among the best morphological features to diagnose bivalve clades, followed by characters of the shell, including its microstructure.
Book ChapterDOI
The Mesozoic Marine Revolution
TL;DR: The modern oceans teem with animals which kill others to live, from killer whales that form pods of several individuals in co-ordinated attacks on their quarry to the drilling activities of tiny predatory foraminifers as discussed by the authors.
Journal ArticleDOI
Predation by miocene gastropods of the Chesapeake group: stereotyped and predictable
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors determined whether predation by Miocene naticid gastropods of the Chesapeake Group was stereotyped and predictable by the Kitchell et al. (1981) model.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
The Fossil Record of Shell Boring by Snails
TL;DR: Borings in Paleozoic brachiopod shells (230–550 million years old) that have previously been attributed to gastropod predation are herein attributed to other but unknown boring organisms.
Journal ArticleDOI
Stratigraphic distribution and ecology of European Jurassic bivalves
TL;DR: In this paper, bivalve diversity and species diversity and times of first and last appearance through successive Jurassic stages in Europe, together with data on turnover and changes in taxonomic and ecological composition of the faunas, indicate an approximation to the establishment of an equilibrium fauna by early Middle Jurassic times.
Paleoecology and paleontology of the Lower Cretaceous Kiowa Formation, Kansas
TL;DR: Kiowa fossil assemblages as discussed by the authors have been found in the state of Iowa and are associated with a variety of fossil associations, including the following: 1.5 Interspecific relationships 2.5 Predation 5 Predation 49 Location and geologic setting 5 Competition 50 Previous work 7 Commensalism 50 Approaches and study objectives 7 DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENT and Vertebrate paleontology 8 PALEOECOLOGIC SYNTHESIS 50 Paleobotany 8 Climate and paleogeography 50 Stratigraphy and correlation
Journal ArticleDOI
On the habits and adaptations of Aloidis (Corbula) gibba.
TL;DR: Aloidis (Corbula) gibba is a eulamellibranch specialized for life in muddy gravel substrata to depths of up to about 80 fathoms and is adapted for dealing with large amounts of sediment by means of specialized terminal, guarding and cirrus-like cilia.
Journal ArticleDOI
Penetration of Calcium Carbonate Substrates by the Boring Sponge, Cliona
TL;DR: Preliminary studies revealed that these excavations are produced as small fragments of calcareous material are removed by a special type of amoebocyte which exhibits an etching activity.