Evolution of the naticid gastropod predator-prey system; an evaluation of the hypothesis of escalation

Previous work has suggested that escalation may have characterized the history of the naticid gastropod predator-prey system, based on apparent increases in drilling frequencies and the occurrence of antipredatory aptations among prey. We evaluate this hypothesis based on a comprehensive survey (ove...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Palaios 1993-08, Vol.8 (4), p.358-375
Main Authors: Kelley, Patricia H, Hansen, Thor A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alabama
assemblages
biologic evolution
Bivalvia
borings
Cenozoic
concepts
Cretaceous
data handling
Drilling
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
escalation hypothesis
Exact sciences and technology
Fauna
Fossils
Gastropoda
Geology
Georgia
Invertebrata
invertebrate
Invertebrate paleontology
Louisiana
marine environment
Maryland
Mesozoic
Mississippi
Mollusca
Mollusks
Naticidae
Paleontology
Phanerozoic
Predation
Predators
prey
Research Reports
sed rocks, sediments
Sedimentary petrology
shelf environment
shells
species diversity
Specimens
statistical analysis
Stereotypies
Stratigraphy
Taxa
Tertiary
Texas
United States
Upper Cretaceous
Virginia
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Summary:Previous work has suggested that escalation may have characterized the history of the naticid gastropod predator-prey system, based on apparent increases in drilling frequencies and the occurrence of antipredatory aptations among prey. We evaluate this hypothesis based on a comprehensive survey (over 40,000 specimens) of predation on molluscs from the Upper Cretaceous through lower Oligocene formations within the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain. Patterns in drilling of both bivalve and gastropod prey are complex. Drilling frequencies were relatively low in the Cretaceous but increased sharply above the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, remaining high until the late Eocene. Following a significant decline near the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, drilling frequencies increased to a moderate level in the Oligocene. Contrary to our prediction based on the hypothesis of escalation, no temporal trend of increasing stereotypy of drillhole site occurred. However, significant increases in prey effectiveness (indicated by the incidence of incomplete drillholes and multiply bored shells) occurred between the Cretaceous and Oligocene. This pattern characterizes entire faunas as well as individual prey taxa that were consistently heavily drilled (turritellid gastropods and corbulid bivalves).
ISSN:0883-1351
1938-5323
DOI:10.2307/3515266