Late Cretaceous coprolite from the Opole area (southern Poland) as evidence for a variable diet in shell-crushing shark Ptychodus (Elasmobranchii: Ptychodontidae)

Coprolites, ., fossilized faeces, are an important source of knowledge on the diet and food processing mechanisms in the fossil record. Direct and indirect evidences for the dietary preferences of extinct sharks are rare in the fossil record. The first coprolite attributable to containing prey remai...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PeerJ (San Francisco, CA) CA), 2023-12, Vol.11, p.e16598, Article e16598
Main Authors: Mazurek, Dawid, Antczak, Mateusz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Animals
Chondrichthyes
Computed tomography
Coprolite
Cretaceous
CT imaging
Diet
Ecology
Evolutionary Studies
Food processing
Fossil
Invertebrates
Marine Biology
Palaeoecology
Paleontology
Poland
Prey
Ptychodus
Shark
Sharks
Shells
Teeth
X-Ray Microtomography
Zoology
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Summary:Coprolites, ., fossilized faeces, are an important source of knowledge on the diet and food processing mechanisms in the fossil record. Direct and indirect evidences for the dietary preferences of extinct sharks are rare in the fossil record. The first coprolite attributable to containing prey remains from the European Cretaceous is documented here. A coprolite from the Late Cretaceous of Opole (southern Poland) was scanned using micro-computed tomography to show the arrangement of the inclusions. In addition, the cross-section was examined under the SEM/EDS to analyse the microstructure and chemical composition of the inclusions. Brachiopod shell fragments and foraminiferan shells are recognized and identified among the variously shaped inclusions detected through the performed analysis. The extinct shell-crushing shark has been identified as the likely producer of the examined coprolite. The presence of brachiopod shell fragments indicates that at least some species of this durophagous predatory shark may have preyed on small benthic elements on the sea bottom.
ISSN:2167-8359
2167-8359
DOI:10.7717/peerj.16598