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Article: Periodic shell decollation as an ecology‐driven strategy in the early Cambrian Cupitheca

Palaeontology - Vol. 63 Part 3 - Cover Image
Publication: Palaeontology
Volume: 63
Part: 3
Publication Date: May 2020
Page(s): 431 442
Author(s): Haijing Sun, Zongjun Yin, Guoxiang Li, Fangchen Zhao, Han Zeng, and Maoyan Zhu
Addition Information

How to Cite

SUN, H., YIN, Z., LI, G., ZHAO, F., ZENG, H., ZHU, M. 2020. . Palaeontology, 63, 3, 431-442. DOI: /doi/10.1111/pala.12463

Author Information

  • Haijing Sun - State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology & Stratigraphy Nanjing Institute of Geology & Palaeontology & Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing 210008 China
  • Haijing Sun - National Maritime Museum of China Tianjin 300467 China
  • Zongjun Yin - State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology & Stratigraphy Nanjing Institute of Geology & Palaeontology & Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing 210008 China
  • Guoxiang Li - State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology & Stratigraphy Nanjing Institute of Geology & Palaeontology & Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing 210008 China
  • Fangchen Zhao - State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology & Stratigraphy Nanjing Institute of Geology & Palaeontology & Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing 210008 China
  • Han Zeng - State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology & Stratigraphy Nanjing Institute of Geology & Palaeontology & Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing 210008 China
  • Maoyan Zhu - State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology & Stratigraphy Nanjing Institute of Geology & Palaeontology & Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing 210008 China
  • Maoyan Zhu - College of Earth & Planetary Sciences University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100049 China

Publication History

  • Issue published online: 29 April 2020
  • Manuscript Accepted: 04 October 2019
  • Manuscript Received: 03 April 2019

Funded By

Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Grant Numbers: XDB18000000, XDB26000000
the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Grant Number: 2017360
National Natural Science Foundation of China
NSFC‐RCUK_NERC joint. Grant Number: 41661134048
the State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy (NIGPAS, CAS). Grant Number: 193125

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Abstract

Shell decollation is a growth strategy that has been adopted by a number of invertebrate taxa to offset the metabolic and ecological disadvantages of shell growth. However, little is known about the origin and evolution of this process. We here describe well‐preserved specimens of the hyolith Cupitheca decollata sp. nov. preserving the decollation process, from the early Cambrian Yu'anshan Formation (c. 518 Ma) of South China. Based on a large number of specimens collectively representing different developmental stages, we use high‐resolution X‐ray microtomography and scanning electronic microscopy to reconstruct the process of decollation in this taxon. Cupitheca is among the earliest known small shelly fossils, and thus our discovery confirms that periodic decollation had evolved by the onset of the Cambrian explosion, reflecting the high intensity of the predator–prey arms race in early Cambrian ecosystems. A comparison between the decollation processes of Cupitheca and other shelly invertebrates suggests that periodic decollation and the associated molecular mechanisms of calcium dissolution, uptake, allocation and deposition may have had multiple independent origins.

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