title: A suspension-feeding anomalocarid from the Early Cambrian.
abstract: Large, actively swimming suspension feeders evolved several times in Earth's history, arising independently from groups as diverse as sharks, rays and stem teleost fishes, and in mysticete whales. However, animals occupying this niche have not been identified from the early Palaeozoic era. Anomalocarids, a group of stem arthropods that were the largest nektonic animals of the Cambrian and Ordovician periods, are generally thought to have been apex predators. Here we describe new material from Tamisiocaris borealis, an anomalocarid from the Early Cambrian (Series 2) Sirius Passet Fauna of North Greenland, and propose that its frontal appendage is specialized for suspension feeding. The appendage bears long, slender and equally spaced ventral spines furnished with dense rows of long and fine auxiliary spines. This suggests that T. borealis was a microphagous suspension feeder, using its appendages for sweep-net capture of food items down to 0.5 mm, within the size range of mesozooplankton such as copepods. Our observations demonstrate that large, nektonic suspension feeders first evolved during the Cambrian explosion, as part of an adaptive radiation of anomalocarids. The presence of nektonic suspension feeders in the Early Cambrian, together with evidence for a diverse pelagic community containing phytoplankton and mesozooplankton, indicate the existence of a complex pelagic ecosystem supported by high primary productivity and nutrient flux. Cambrian pelagic ecosystems seem to have been more modern than previously believed.
authors.affiliation: Schools of Earth Sciences and Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UG, UK.
authors.forename: Jakob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vinther
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen University, Universitetsparken 15, 2100 , Denmark.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
authors.forename: Nicholas R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Longrich
authors.affiliation: Palaeoecosystems Group, Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK.
authors.forename: David A T
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Harper
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001181:Arthropods / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017753:Ecosystem; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005580:Fossils; D006116:Greenland; D010802:Phylogeny; D010839:Phytoplankton; D015048:Zooplankton