Uniquely preserved gut contents illuminate trilobite palaeophysiology

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11310%2F23%3A10475542" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11310/23:10475542 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/49777513:23420/23:43969592 RIV/00025798:_____/23:10168772

Result on the web

<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=GPwxCU1cx0" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=GPwxCU1cx0</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06567-7" target="_blank" >10.1038/s41586-023-06567-7</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Uniquely preserved gut contents illuminate trilobite palaeophysiology

Original language description

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 described3,4. Here we present the complete and fully itemized gut contents of an Ordovician trilobite, Bohemolichas incola, preserved three-dimensionally in a siliceous nodule and visualized by synchrotron microtomography. The tightly packed, almost continuous gut fill comprises partly fragmented calcareous shells indicating high feeding intensity. The lack of dissolution of the shells implies a neutral or alkaline environment along the entire length of the intestine supporting digestive enzymes comparable to those in modern crustaceans or chelicerates. Scavengers burrowing into the trilobite carcase targeted soft tissues below the glabella but avoided the gut, suggesting noxious conditions and possibly ongoing enzymatic activity. Fossilized gut contents of an Ordovician trilobite shed light on the feeding habits of one of the most common and well-known extinct arthropods.

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10505 - Geology

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA18-05935S" target="_blank" >GA18-05935S: From past to present: fossil vs. recent marine shelled organisms as a substrate for colonization and bioerosion</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2023

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Nature

ISSN

0028-0836

e-ISSN

1476-4687

Volume of the periodical

622

Issue of the periodical within the volume

7983

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

7

Pages from-to

545-551

UT code for WoS article

001080913200022

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85172665425