Nature Communications (Jun 2020)

An encrusting kleptoparasite-host interaction from the early Cambrian

  • Zhifei Zhang,
  • Luke C. Strotz,
  • Timothy P. Topper,
  • Feiyang Chen,
  • Yanlong Chen,
  • Yue Liang,
  • Zhiliang Zhang,
  • Christian B. Skovsted,
  • Glenn A. Brock

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16332-3
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 7

Abstract

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Parasitic interactions are difficult to document in the fossil record. Here, Zhang et al. analyze a large population of a Cambrian brachiopod and show it was frequently encrusted by tubes aligned to its feeding currents and that encrustation was associated with reduced biomass, suggesting a fitness cost.