Failed predation, commensalism and parasitism on lower Cambrian linguliformean brachiopods

Peel, J.S., 14.11.2014. Failed predation, commensalism and parasitism on lower Cambrian linguliformean brachiopods. Alcheringa 39, 000-000. ISSN 0311-5518 Disarticulated valves of the linguliformean brachiopod Botsfordia from the early Cambrian (Cambrian Series 2, Stage 4) Kap Troedsson Formation of North Greenland preserve repaired injuries resulting from failed predatory attacks. Durophagous strategies include peeling and crushing of the shells; rare borings also occur. Premortem commensal epibionts etched circular attachment scars on the shell exterior near the margins. Parasitic epibionts attached inside the commissure produced globose callosities and V-shaped invaginations in the growing margin. Comparison with epibiont-bearing assemblages of the brachiopod Diandongia from the Chengjiang and Guanshan Lagerstatten of China promotes recognition of a widely distributed Botsfordiid Community in soft-bottom environments during the early Cambrian. John S. Peel [john.peel@pal.uu.se], Department of Earth Sciences (Palaeobiology), Uppsala University, Villavagen 16, SE-752 36, Uppsala, Sweden.