Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/55822
Title: Raptorial appendages of the Cambrian apex predator Anomalocaris canadensis are built for soft prey and speed
Contributor(s): Bicknell, Russell D C  (author)orcid ; Schmidt, Michel (author); Rahman, Imran A (author); Edgecombe, Gregory D (author); Gutarra, Susana (author); Daley, Allison C (author); Melzer, Roland R (author); Wroe, Stephen  (author)orcid ; Paterson, John R  (author)orcid 
Publication Date: 2023-07-12
Early Online Version: 2023-07-05
Open Access: Yes
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0638
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/55822
Abstract: 

The stem-group euarthropod Anomalocaris canadensis is one of the largest Cambrian animals and is often considered the quintessential apex predator of its time. This radiodont is commonly interpreted as a demersal hunter, responsible for inflicting injuries seen in benthic trilobites. However, controversy surrounds the ability of A. canadensis to use its spinose frontal appendages to masticate or even manipulate biomineralized prey. Here, we apply a new integrative computational approach, combining threedimensional digital modelling, kinematics, finite-element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to rigorously analyse an A. canadensis feeding appendage and test its morphofunctional limits. These models corroborate a raptorial function, but expose inconsistencies with a capacity for durophagy. In particular, FEA results show that certain parts of the appendage would have experienced high degrees of plastic deformation, especially at the endites, the points of impact with prey. The CFD results demonstrate that outstretched appendages produced low drag and hence represented the optimal orientation for speed, permitting acceleration bursts to capture prey. These data, when combined with evidence regarding the functional morphology of its oral cone, eyes, body flaps and tail fan, suggest that A. canadensis was an agile nektonic predator that fed on soft-bodied animals swimming in a well-lit water column above the benthos. The lifestyle of A. canadensis and that of other radiodonts, including plausible durophages, suggests that niche partitioning across this clade influenced the dynamics of Cambrian food webs, impacting on a diverse array of organisms at different sizes, tiers and trophic levels.

Publication Type: Journal Article
Grant Details: ARC/DP200102005
Source of Publication: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 290(2002), p. 1-19
Publisher: The Royal Society Publishing
Place of Publication: United Kingdom
ISSN: 1471-2954
0962-8452
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 370506 Palaeontology (incl. palynology)
310405 Evolutionary ecology
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 280107 Expanding knowledge in the earth sciences
280102 Expanding knowledge in the biological sciences
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article
School of Environmental and Rural Science

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