BobWill Posted September 22, 2015 Posted September 22, 2015 (edited) Could this be signs of predation on this Cretaceous oyster? There are also many bore-holes on the outside that don 't go very deep but I've never seen this kind of marking on the inside of a bivalve. It looks like something was scraping the meat off of the shell. If so, what might be the predator? The shell is150mm across. Edited September 22, 2015 by BobWill
Auspex Posted September 22, 2015 Posted September 22, 2015 Could be, but I don't know what might have done it. Might also be a pathology. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease!
BobWill Posted September 22, 2015 Author Posted September 22, 2015 Here's a better picture of the whole scratched up area.
DPS Ammonite Posted September 22, 2015 Posted September 22, 2015 Bob, It sort of looks like teeth marks to me especially since the marks form arcs. Send the photos to geology professor David K. Elliott at Northern Arizona University. He has published articles about shark predation on brachiopods. John My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere.
BobWill Posted September 22, 2015 Author Posted September 22, 2015 Thanks John. I'll try that. Should I drop your name?
Auspex Posted September 25, 2015 Posted September 25, 2015 Do the marks have raised edges, or is that an optical illusion? "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease!
BobWill Posted September 25, 2015 Author Posted September 25, 2015 I can see that in the photo now that you mention it but all marks are below the surface of the last layer of shell material laid down with nothing protruding upward. Some scratches are shallow and others deep and the gouged-out holes have scratch marks in them too.
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