Fossil isopods associated with a fish skeleton from the Lower Cretaceous of Queensland, Australia - direct evidence of a scavenging lifestyle in Mesozoic Cymothoida

Title
Fossil isopods associated with a fish skeleton from the Lower Cretaceous of Queensland, Australia - direct evidence of a scavenging lifestyle in Mesozoic Cymothoida
Publication Date
2011
Author(s)
Wilson, GDF
Paterson, John R
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2947-3912
Email: jpater20@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:jpater20
Kear, BP
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Place of publication
United Kingdom
DOI
10.1111/j.1475-4983.2011.01095.x
UNE publication id
une:9719
Abstract
A dense assemblage of fossil isopod crustaceans ('Brunnaega tomhurleyi' Wilson, sp. nov.) from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Toolebuc Formation of Queensland, Australia, has been found within the carcass of a large actinopterygian fish, 'Pachyrhizodus marathonensis' (Etheridge). Preservation of fine anatomical details supports referral to the genus 'Brunnaega' Polz, which is herein reassigned to the family Cirolanidae. Furthermore, placement of this taxon within the cirolanid subfamily Conilerinae Kensley and Schotte is significant because the group includes modern species that are well known as voracious scavengers. This isopod-fish association represents the oldest unequivocal evidence of scavenging by Mesozoic cymothoidean isopods on a large vertebrate carcass.
Link
Citation
Palaeontology, 54(5), p. 1053-1068
ISSN
1475-4983
0031-0239
Start page
1053
End page
1068

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