Evolutionary History of Prey: 600 million years of Predator-Prey Interactions in Earth's Oceans

Abstract

Predation is not only one of the key ecological process shaping modern ecosystems, but may have also played an important role throughout the evolutionary history of animals. However, assessing biotic interactions in the fossil record is challenging. Fortuitously, in the marine fossil record, direct records of predatory attacks are provided by trace fossils (e.g., repair scars, bite marks, drill holes) left by predators on skeletons of their prey. A compilation of trace fossil data reveals long-term changes in the intensity and nature of predator-prey interactions in marine ecosystems. Despite numerous interpretative challenges, trace fossils indicate that intensity of predation and predator-prey body size relationships may have changed in a non-monotonic fashion throughout the evolutionary history of aquatic animals. These changes parallel long-term shifts in global biodiversity, faunal composition, and morphology of marine animals pointing to potential causative links between predation and long-term evolutionary and ecological changes in Earth’s oceans.