Paleontology: What did trilobites eat? | Nature | Nature wallet

This week’s paper reports the discovery of a 465-million-year-old trilobite fossil containing preserved digestive contents.naturePublished in Trilobites are among the most common and best-known fossil arthropods, and newly discovered fossils provide clues to their feeding habits and lifestyle.

Over 270 million years of history, from the early Cambrian to the end of the Permian (about 541 million to 252 million years ago), there were more than 20,000 species of trilobites. Although many fossil specimens of trilobites exist, their feeding habits have only been inferred indirectly. This is because no fossil specimens containing digestive contents have been reported.

Here, Peter Kraft and Per E. Ahlberg and colleagues report on a fossil trilobite (Bohemolichas incola) discovered in Middle Ordovician strata (dating approximately 465 million years ago) in what is now the Czech Republic. The digestive system of fossil trilobites was filled with fragments of shells from marine organisms such as clams, heliotes, bivalves, and stylophorans. The authors suggest that B. incola was an opportunistic scavenger. Trilobites feed on dead or living animals, chewing animals that can be easily crushed and swallowing small animals whole.

When the trilobites died, they became food for other animals. The fossil specimens mentioned here also show evidence of vertical movement by this second scavenger. The scavenger dug into the trilobite’s carcass, targeting the soft tissue while avoiding the digestive tract. This suggests that the interior of the trilobite’s digestive system may have been in a toxic state, allowing enzyme activity to continue.

doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06567-7

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