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Article: The giants of the phylum Brachiopoda: a matter of diet?

Palaeontology - Vol. 62 Part 6 - Cover Image
Publication: Palaeontology
Volume: 62
Part: 6
Publication Date: November 2019
Page(s): 889 917
Author(s): Lucia Angiolini, Gaia Crippa, Karem Azmy, Giancarlo Capitani, Giorgia Confalonieri, Giovanna Della Porta, Erika Griesshaber, David A. T. Harper, Melanie J. Leng, Leah Nolan, Marco Orlandi, Renato Posenato, Wolfgang W. Schmahl, Vanessa J. Banks, and Michael H. Stephenson
Addition Information

How to Cite

ANGIOLINI, L., CRIPPA, G., AZMY, K., CAPITANI, G., CONFALONIERI, G., PORTA, G.D., GRIESSHABER, E., HARPER, D.A.T., LENG, M.J., NOLAN, L., ORLANDI, M., POSENATO, R., SCHMAHL, W.W., BANKS, V.J., STEPHENSON, M.H. 2019. . Palaeontology, 62, 6, 889-917. DOI: /doi/10.1111/pala.12433

Author Information

  • Lucia Angiolini - Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra ‘A. Desio’ Via Mangiagalli 34 20133 Milano Italy
  • Gaia Crippa - Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra ‘A. Desio’ Via Mangiagalli 34 20133 Milano Italy
  • Karem Azmy - Department of Earth Sciences Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John's NL A1B 3X5 Canada
  • Giancarlo Capitani - Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Ambiente e della Terra Piazza della Scienza 4, 20126 Milano Italy
  • Giorgia Confalonieri - Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra Università degli Studi di Torino Torino Italy
  • Giovanna Della Porta - Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra ‘A. Desio’ Via Mangiagalli 34 20133 Milano Italy
  • Erika Griesshaber - Department für Geo‐ und Umweltwissenschaften Ludwig‐Maximilians Universität München Munich Germany
  • David A. T. Harper - Department of Earth Sciences Durham University Durham DH1 3LE UK
  • Melanie J. Leng - NERC Isotope Geosciences Facilities British Geological Survey Keyworth Nottingham NG12 5GG UK
  • Melanie J. Leng - British Geological Survey Keyworth Nottingham NG12 5GG UK
  • Leah Nolan - Department of Geology University of Leicester University Road Leicester LE1 7RH UK
  • Marco Orlandi - Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Ambiente e della Terra Piazza della Scienza 4, 20126 Milano Italy
  • Renato Posenato - Dipartimento di Fisica e Scienze della Terra Via Saragat, 1 44121 Ferrara Italy
  • Wolfgang W. Schmahl - Department für Geo‐ und Umweltwissenschaften Ludwig‐Maximilians Universität München Munich Germany
  • Vanessa J. Banks - British Geological Survey Keyworth Nottingham NG12 5GG UK
  • Michael H. Stephenson - British Geological Survey Keyworth Nottingham NG12 5GG UK

Publication History

  • Issue published online: 18 October 2019
  • Manuscript Accepted: 19 February 2019
  • Manuscript Received: 09 January 2019

Funded By

Leverhulme Trust

Online Version Hosted By

Wiley Online Library
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Abstract

The species of the brachiopod Gigantoproductus are giants within the Palaeozoic sedentary benthos. This presents a dilemma as living brachiopods have low‐energy lifestyles. Although brachiopod metabolic rates were probably higher during the Palaeozoic than today, the massive size reached by species of Gigantoproductus is nevertheless unusual. By examining the diet of Gigantoproductus species from the Visean (Mississippian, Carboniferous) of Derbyshire (UK), we seek to understand the mechanisms that enabled those low‐metabolism brachiopod species to become giants. Were they suspension feeders, similar to all other brachiopods, or did endosymbiosis provide a lifestyle that allowed them to have higher metabolic rates and become giants? We suggest that the answer to this conundrum may be solved by the identification of the biogeochemical signatures of symbionts, through combined analyses of the carbon and nitrogen‐isotopic compositions of the occluded organic matrix within their calcite shells. The shells are formed of substructured columnar units that are remarkably long and a few hundreds of microns wide, deemed to be mostly pristine based on multiple analyses (petrography, cathodoluminescence (CL), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM)); they contain occluded organic fractions detected by TEM, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) analyses. We conclude that the gigantic size reached by the species of Gigantoproductus is probably the result of a mixotroph lifestyle, by which they could rely on the energy and nutrients derived both from photosymbiotic microbes and from filtered particulate food.

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