The Earliest Giant Osprioneides Borings from the Sandbian (Late Ordovician) of Estonia

Olev Vinn,Mark A Wilson,Mari-Ann Mõtus,Andrew A Farke

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0099455

Olev Vinn, Mark A Wilson + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0099455

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Abstract

The earliest Osprioneides kampto borings were found in bryozoan colonies of Sandbian age from northern Estonia (Baltica). The Ordovician was a time of great increase in the quantities of hard substrate removed by single trace makers. Increased predation pressure was most likely the driving force behind the infaunalization of larger invertebrates such as the Osprioneides trace makers in the Ordovician. It is possible that the Osprioneides borer originated in Baltica or in other paleocontinents outside of North America.

Highlights

The oldest macroborings in the world are the small simple holes of Trypanites reported in Early Cambrian archaeocyathid reefs in Labrador [1,2]
There was a great increase in bioerosion intensity and diversity in the Ordovician, termed the Ordovician Bioerosion Revolution [7]
Ordovician bioerosion trace fossils include bivalve borings (Petroxestes), bryozoan etchings (Ropalonaria), sponge borings (Cicatricula), Sanctum and Gastrochaenolites [8,9]

Summary

Introduction

The oldest macroborings in the world are the small simple holes of Trypanites reported in Early Cambrian archaeocyathid reefs in Labrador [1,2]. The oldest macroborings are found in carbonate hardgrounds of Early Ordovician age [3,4,5,6]. In the Middle and Late Ordovician, shells and hardgrounds are often thoroughly riddled with holes, most of them attributable to Trypanites and Palaeosabella [8]. Bioerosion was very common in the Middle Paleozoic, especially in the Devonian [10]. Later in the Mesozoic bioerosion intensity and diversity further increased [6,9,11,12], and deep, large borings became especially common [13]

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