Cambrian 'sap-sucking' molluscan radulae among small carbonaceous fossils (SCFs)

Molluscs have produced an extensive fossil record, owing to the prevalence of robust biomineralized shells among this clade. By contrast, most other components of molluscan anatomy are seldom preserved. Importantly, little is known of the evolutionary history of the unique molluscan feeding apparatus-the radula. A scarcity of fossil radulae has hampered our understanding of the ancestral condition, and of the dietary ecology of early molluscs. The handful of known fossil radulae all point to early molluscs as simple deposit feeders that obtained food via rasping or scraping. This study reports microscopic radulae preserved as 'small carbonaceous fossils' (SCFs) from Cambrian (Stage 4-Wuliuan, approximately 514-504.5 Ma) strata of Sweden. These rare fossil radulae offer novel insights into the feeding anatomy and ecology of early molluscs. Each radula comprises a uniseriate arc of (<= 10) blade-shaped teeth, fringed by a slicing keel. This distinctive morphology is strikingly convergent with the radulae of extant sacoglossan heterobranch gastropods-such radulae are specially adapted for piercing the cell walls of green algal tissues to enable suctorial feeding on the cytoplasm contents. Discovery of analogous Cambrian radulae demonstrates this specialized form of herbivory had already evolved among molluscs more than half a billion years ago.

Automated summary

Molluscs have a rich fossil record, but little is known about their feeding apparatus, the radula. Fossil radulae are scarce, hindering our understanding of early mollusc diets. However, microscopic radulae preserved as carbonaceous fossils from Cambrian strata in Sweden provide new insights into early molluscan feeding anatomy and ecology. These radulae resemble those of extant sacoglossan heterobranch gastropods, indicating the evolution of specialized herbivory in molluscs over half a billion years ago.