fossilzz Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 I recently found this trilobite tail with a piece missing out of it on both positive and negative sides. Could it be a bite mark? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilzz Posted September 18, 2019 Author Share Posted September 18, 2019 The green area has yet to be uncovered, the red is where I think there may be a bite mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilNerd Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 I think it would be hard to say for sure if this is a bite mark or not. The missing piece could have been bitten off by something while the trilobite was alive/recently dead, but it more likely could have been lost during the fossilization/lithification process, or lost to time. It is hundreds of millions of years old after all. A lot can happen. The trouble with possible predatory/scavenger marks is that you need evidence to prove that they are such. Teeth marks and the like. Even teeth marks need to be proved that they are teeth marks and not just scratches from something. They would have to match up to a known fossilized tooth from a known animal that has the potentially to leave such marks. It’s very hard, if not impossible, to find such evidence on something like a trilobite. 2 The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. -Neil deGrasse Tyson Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 The vast majority of disarticulated pygidii are exuviae (shed during molting). I guess something could still eat them, but it would seem to lessen the odds. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 In many confirmed cases of predation, there is usually evidence of some kind of healing after the traumatic event, if not also some distortion. Anomalies and malformation that are not simply the result of post-mortem geologic processes would have one of three causes: pathology, mutation, or predation. In this case, I am not seeing enough diagnostic detail to be confident in declaring that this is anything more than simply an artifact of post-mortem process. Some light reference reading on trilobite injuries, etc: Babcock, L. E., and Robison, R. A. (1989). Asymmetry of predation on trilobites. 28th International Geological Congress, Abstracts, 1:66 Babcock, L. E (1993). Trilobite malformations and the fossil record of behavioral asymmetry. Journal of Paleontology, 67(2), 217-229 Conway Morris, S., and Jenkins, R. J. F. (1985). Healed injuries in Early Cambrian trilobites from South Australia. Alcheringa, 9:167–177 Rudkin, D.M. (1985) Exoskeletal abnormalities in four trilobites. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 22(3): 479-483 LINK Ludvigsen, R. (1977). Rapid repair of traumatic injury by an Ordovician trilobite. Lethaia, 10:205–207 3 ...How to Philosophize with a Hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilzz Posted September 19, 2019 Author Share Posted September 19, 2019 Ok, well thanks for the input. I was curious, as I had never seen such a malformation on a trilobite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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