Healed predation scar on a Cambrian apex predator
Predation is considered a key driver of the rapid diversification of animals during the Cambrian explosion. While the fossil record documents a plethora of evidence of successful and failed predation on biomineralized invertebrates at low trophic levels, no previous evidence of predation on larger, often soft-bodied, animals at higher trophic levels has been reported. This means that the modeled…
A recent discovery in the Cambrian fossil record sheds new light on the complex web of predator-prey relationships during the era known as the Ediacaran-Cambrian Transition. The fossil in question belongs to the radiodont apex predator Amplectobelua symbrachiata, one of the largest creatures that roamed the Cambrian oceans. What makes this find particularly significant is the presence of a healed injury on the creature's swimming flap, a shape that remarkably resembles a W and possesses a smooth, healed margin.
This detail incontrovertibly points to the injury being inflicted by a predator, likely another large radiodont, possibly of the same species, or the giant lobopodian Omnidens. This evidence of predation on a high-trophic-level animal offers a rare glimpse into the intricate dynamics of Cambrian food webs, providing empirical support for the existence of top-down feeding loops similar to those seen in modern marine ecosystems.
Written by urgent.news from bioRxiv's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
