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Pates S, Xue Y. Hydrodynamic performance of Ordovician archaeostracan carapaces. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0304559. [PMID: 38820465 PMCID: PMC11142683 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304559] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 05/15/2024] [Indexed: 06/02/2024] Open
Abstract
The diversification of macroscopic pelagic arthropods such as caryocaridid archaeostracans was a crucial aspect of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event, and the plankton revolution. A pelagic mode of life has been inferred for caryocaridids from their common presence in black graptolitic shales alongside carapace morphologies that appear streamlined. However, the hydrodynamic performance within the group and comparisons with other archaeostracans were lacking. Here we use a computational fluid dynamics approach to quantify the hydrodynamic performance of caryocaridids, and other early Palaeozoic archaeostracans including Arenosicaris inflata and Ordovician ceratiocaridids. We show that streamlining of the carapace was an important factor facilitating a pelagic mode of life in caryocaridids, in reducing the drag coefficient and facilitating a broader range of lift coefficients at different angles of attack. However, comparable hydrodynamic performance is also recovered for some ceratiocaridids. This suggests that alongside carapace streamlining, adaptations to appendages and thinning of the carapace were also important for a pelagic mode of life in Ordovician caryocaridids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Pates
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Homerton College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Yuan Xue
- Homerton College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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Nanglu K, Waskom ME, Richards JC, Ortega-Hernández J. Rhabdopleurid epibionts from the Ordovician Fezouata Shale biota and the longevity of cross-phylum interactions. Commun Biol 2023; 6:1002. [PMID: 37821659 PMCID: PMC10567727 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05377-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Evidence of interspecific interactions in the fossil record is rare but offers valuable insights into ancient ecologies. Exceptional fossiliferous sites can preserve complex ecological interactions involving non-biomineralized organisms, but most of these examples are restricted to Cambrian Lagerstätten. Here we report an exceptionally preserved cross-phylum interspecific interaction from the Tremadocian-aged Lower Fezouata Shale Formation of Morocco, which consists of the phragmocone of an orthocone cephalopod that has been extensively populated post-mortem by tubicolous epibionts. Well-preserved transverse bands in a zig-zag pattern and crenulations along the margin of the unbranched tubes indicate that they correspond to pterobranch hemichordates, with a close morphological similarity to rhabdopleurids based on the bush-like growth of the dense tubarium. The discovery of rhabdopleurid epibionts in the Fezouata Shale highlights the paucity of benthic graptolites, which also includes the rooted dendroids Didymograptus and Dictyonema, relative to the substantially more diverse and abundant planktic forms known from this biota. We propose that the rarity of Paleozoic rhabdopleurid epibionts is likely a consequence of their ecological requirement for hard substrates for initial settlement and growth. The Fezouata rhabdopleurid also reveals a 480-million-year-old association of pterobranchs as epibionts of molluscs that persist to the present day.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karma Nanglu
- Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
| | - Madeleine E Waskom
- Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Jared C Richards
- Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Javier Ortega-Hernández
- Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
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Pates S, Zamora S. Large euarthropod carapaces from a high latitude Cambrian (Drumian) deposit in Spain. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:230935. [PMID: 37885986 PMCID: PMC10598445 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
Deposits preserving non-biomineralized tissues and animals provide an unrivalled opportunity to study the evolution and radiation of early animal life. Numerous sites of Cambrian age are known from North America (Laurentia) and South China (East Gondwana), which provide a high resolution picture of the fauna at low latitudes. By contrast, our knowledge of Cambrian animals from higher latitudes is relatively poor. This patchiness in our knowledge of animal life during the radiation of animals in the Cambrian period limits our ability to understand and detect palaeogeographic trends and does not provide a full appreciation of animal diversity at this time. Here we report a new middle Cambrian (Drumian) site preserving lightly sclerotized euarthropod carapaces, sponges and palaeoscolecids near the village of Mesones de Isuela in the Iberian Chains (Spain). We describe three bivalved euarthropod carapace morphs, two comparable to those described from the only other high latitude Drumian deposit, the Jince Formation (Czechia), and one distinct from previous discoveries. These new findings highlight the importance of high latitude Gondwana Konservat Lagerstatten for understanding the palaeogeographical aspect of the radiation of early animals and suggest that bivalved euarthropods at high latitudes were larger than those at lower latitudes during the Cambrian.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Pates
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - Samuel Zamora
- Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME-CSIC), 50006, Zaragoza, Spain
- Grupo Aragosaurus-IUCA, Área de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
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Zhang C, Liu Y, Ortega-Hernández J, Wolfe JM, Jin C, Mai H, Hou X, Guo J, Zhai D. Three-dimensional morphology of the biramous appendages in Isoxys from the early Cambrian of South China, and its implications for early euarthropod evolution. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230335. [PMID: 37072042 PMCID: PMC10113025 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Early euarthropod evolution involved a major transition from lobopodian-like taxa to organisms featuring a segmented, well-sclerotized trunk (arthrodization) and limbs (arthropodization). However, the precise origin of a completely arthrodized trunk and arthropodized ventral biramous appendages remain controversial, as well as the early onset of anterior-posterior limb differentiation in stem-group euarthropods. New fossil material and micro-computed tomography inform the detailed morphology of the arthropodized biramous appendages in the carapace-bearing euarthropod Isoxys curvirostratus from the early Cambrian Chengjiang biota. In addition to well-developed grasping frontal appendages, I. curvirostratus possesses two batches of morphologically and functionally distinct biramous limbs. The first batch consists of four pairs of short cephalic appendages with robust endites with a feeding function, whereas the second batch has more elongate trunk appendages for locomotion. Critically, our new material shows that the trunk of I. curvirostratus was not arthrodized. The results of our phylogenetic analyses recover isoxyids as some of the earliest branching sclerotized euarthropods, and strengthens the hypothesis that arthropodized biramous appendages evolved before full body arthrodization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caixia Zhang
- Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, People's Republic of China
- MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Waihuan South Road, Chenggong District, Kunming 650500, People's Republic of China
| | - Yu Liu
- Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, People's Republic of China
- MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Waihuan South Road, Chenggong District, Kunming 650500, People's Republic of China
- Management Committee of the Chengjiang Fossil Site World Heritage, Chengjiang 652599, People's Republic of China
| | - Javier Ortega-Hernández
- Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Joanna M Wolfe
- Museum of Comparative Zoology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Changfei Jin
- Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, People's Republic of China
- MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Waihuan South Road, Chenggong District, Kunming 650500, People's Republic of China
| | - Huijuan Mai
- Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, People's Republic of China
- MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Waihuan South Road, Chenggong District, Kunming 650500, People's Republic of China
| | - Xianguang Hou
- Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, People's Republic of China
- MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Waihuan South Road, Chenggong District, Kunming 650500, People's Republic of China
| | - Jin Guo
- Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, People's Republic of China
- MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Waihuan South Road, Chenggong District, Kunming 650500, People's Republic of China
- Management Committee of the Chengjiang Fossil Site World Heritage, Chengjiang 652599, People's Republic of China
| | - Dayou Zhai
- Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, People's Republic of China
- MEC International Joint Laboratory for Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment, Yunnan University, Waihuan South Road, Chenggong District, Kunming 650500, People's Republic of China
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Izquierdo-López A, Caron JB. The problematic Cambrian arthropod Tuzoia and the origin of mandibulates revisited. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:220933. [PMID: 36483757 PMCID: PMC9727825 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220933] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2022] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The origin of mandibulates, the hyperdiverse arthropod group that includes pancrustaceans and myriapods, dates back to the Cambrian. Bivalved arthropod groups such as hymenocarines have been argued to be early mandibulates, but many species are still poorly known, and their affinities remain uncertain. One of the most common and globally distributed Cambrian bivalved arthropods is Tuzoia. Originally described in 1912 from the Burgess Shale based on isolated carapaces, its full anatomy has remained largely unknown. Here, we describe new specimens of Tuzoia from the Canadian Burgess Shale (Wuliuan, Cambrian) showcasing exceptionally preserved soft tissues, allowing for the first comprehensive reconstruction of its anatomy, ecology and evolutionary affinities. The head bears antennae and differentiated cephalic appendages. The body is divided into a cephalothorax, a homonomous trunk bearing ca 10 pairs of legs with heptopodomerous endopods and enlarged basipods, and a tail fan with two pairs of caudal rami. These traits suggest that Tuzoia swam along the seafloor and used its spinose legs for predation or scavenging. Tuzoia is retrieved by a Bayesian phylogenetic analysis as an early mandibulate hymenocarine lineage, exemplifying the rapid diversification of this group in open marine environments during the Cambrian Explosion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Izquierdo-López
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 3B2
- Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 2C6
| | - Jean-Bernard Caron
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 3B2
- Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 3B2
- Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 2C6
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Izquierdo-López A, Caron JB. Extreme multisegmentation in a giant bivalved arthropod from the Cambrian Burgess Shale. iScience 2022; 25:104675. [PMID: 35845166 PMCID: PMC9283658 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2022] [Revised: 04/13/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The origin of mandibulate arthropods can be traced back to the Cambrian period to several carapace-bearing arthropod groups, but their morphological diversity is still not well characterized. Here, we describe Balhuticaris voltae, a bivalved arthropod from the 506-million-year-old Burgess Shale (Marble Canyon, British Columbia, Canada). This species has an extremely elongated and multisegmented body bearing ca. 110 pairs of homonomous biramous limbs, the highest number among Cambrian arthropods, and, at 245 mm, it represents one of the largest Cambrian arthropods known. Its unusual carapace resembles an arch; it covers only the frontalmost section of the body but extends ventrally beyond the legs. Balhuticaris had a complex sensory system and was probably an active swimmer thanks to its powerful paddle-shaped exopods and a long and flexible body. Balhuticaris increases the ecological and functional diversity of bivalved arthropods and suggests that cases of gigantism occurred in more arthropod groups than previously recognized. Balhuticaris voltae; a bivalved arthropod from the Cambrian Burgess Shale It is the largest bivalved arthropod and one of the largest Cambrian arthropods It was an agile nektobenthic swimmer with an extremely multisegmented body This species increases the ecological and functional disparity of bivalved arthropods
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