The sediment occupied by recent lingulid brachiopods and some paleoecological implications

Abstract

Samples of the sediment occupied by Glottidia albida and G. pyramidata and Lingula unguis, L. murphiana and L. reevii have been analyzed for three particle size categories: larger than sand, sand, and smaller than sand. These data have been supplemented by literature information on one other species ( L. parva) and by records from subtidal habitats. The results suggest that: (1) when living in the intertidal, all Recent lingulid species inhabit sediments predominately composed of sand-sized particles; (2) Lingula may inhabit slightly finer sediments than Glottidia in the intertidal; (3) for both genera the sediment becomes finer with increasing depth; and (4) lingulids do not appear to inhabit gravel bottoms at any depths. Inferences drawn about the sediments occupied by Paleozoic Lingula spp., based on in situ preservation, indicate that fossil species lived in muddy environments with a greater frequency than would have been predicted from examination of Recent material. This difference in the occupied habitat is discussed in light of recent research on lingulid physiology.