http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12128/3823
Title: | The first direct evidence of a Late Devonian coelacanth fish feeding on conodont animals |
Authors: | Zatoń, Michał Broda, Krzysztof Qvarnstrom, Martin Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz Ahlberg, Per Erik |
Keywords: | Coelacanth; Conodonts; Coprolite; Devonian; Gut content |
Issue Date: | 2017 |
Citation: | Science of Nature, Vol. 104, iss. 3-4 (2017), art. 26, s. 1-5 |
Abstract: | We describe the first known occurrence of a Devonian coelacanth specimen from the lower Famennian of the Holy Cross Mountains, Poland, with a conodont element preserved in its digestive tract. A small spiral and phosphatic coprolite (fossil excrement) containing numerous conodont elements and other unrecognized remains was also found in the same deposits. The coprolite is tentatively attributed to the coelacanth. Although it is unclear whether the Late Devonian coelacanth from Poland was an active predator or a scavenger, these finds provide the first direct evidence of feeding on conodont animals by early coelacanth fish, and one of the few evidences of feeding on these animals known to date. It also expands our knowledge about the diet and trophic relations between the Paleozoic marine animals in general. |
Description: | Acknowledgments This work was supported by the NCN grant 2015/19/N/ST10/01527 (for K.B.). G.N. is currently funded by a Wallenberg Scholarship grant awarded to P.E. Ahlberg (Uppsala University). M.Q. is funded by a grant from the Swedish Research Council awarded to Živilė Žigaitė (Uppsala University). The scans were performed at the ESRF (Grenoble, France) as a part of the project ES145. Many thanks to Paul Tafforeau at the ESRF for extensive help with imaging and reconstructions of the scanned data. |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12128/3823 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s00114-017-1455-7 |
ISSN: | 0028-1042 |
Appears in Collections: | Artykuły (WNP) |
File | Description | Size | Format | |
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Zaton_The_first_direct_evidence_of_a_Late_Devonian_coelacanth_fish.pdf | 3,54 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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