Scientists from the University of New England in Australia were able to find out what the ancient trilobites had eaten. This was done through the study of the preserved appendages of two types of inhabitants of deep subsoils of the ocean - Redlichia Rex and Olenoides Serratus.
Hundreds of millions of years ago, trilobites filled the ancient seas. Now their iconic fossils are collected from shale formation to fill the museum shelves and Ebay stores. Despite the popularity of trilobites after disappearance, still much about their life remains a mystery. A new study helps to explain how some ancient species hunted and fed and emphasize the ability of one large trilobite to destroy the shells. Using well-preserved appendages, biologists decided to compare them with the appendages of a horseshoe crab in order to find out how these ancient inhabitants of water depths hunted and fed.
As reported in the article by Proceedings of the Royal Society B, horseshoe crabs before eating mollusks use the appendages located around the mouth for grinding shells. Trilobites looked like a horsesholic crab and maybe moved as well as he believed Russell Bicnell lead author of the article and an employee of the University of New England.
A specialist, together with his colleagues, after analyzing two very different types of trilobits, determined that Redlichia Rex - the first one was one of the largest trilobites of the Cambrian period. This spokesman for marine arthropods was the "walking tank" "big bad Zverem" noted the author of the work. Trilobit's appendages were stupid had wedge-shaped protrusions like a metal nutcracker. As for the Olenoides Serratus, it was smaller with spikes on the sides and back. Its small rounded appendages were covered with long spikes like a needle.
To find out how these trilobites could use their kits for food tools Dr. Bicnell and his team turned to the analysis of the final elements by the method of virtual modeling of physical systems. Initially intended for engineers, it is becoming increasingly popular in the sciences of life as researchers use it for a better understanding of the anatomy of the past and present. Biologists have analyzed digital reconstructions of appendages to find out with what load they can cope. For comparison, they made the same with other ancient arthropod sidneyia unepectans - a famous "crushing" of shells - as well as with a horseshoe crab. Then they compared the results.
O. Serratus could not penetrate the creatures with a shell - his long spikes could break. Instead, he probably used spikes for grinding of daddy and soft mining such as worms. However, R. REX was clearly created to crush. According to the analysis of his appendages could withstand more power than a horseshoe crab. According to Dr. Bicnell, he could specialize in eating purified mining including other trilobites and even other Redlichium.
The use of this type of virtual experiments makes it possible to better explore the "functions of the anatomical parts that cannot be checked in another way," said Karen Moreno Paleontologist from the Australian University Chile did not participate in the study. At the same time, certain data, such as the position of the muscles of the ancient articraft or the properties of its exoskeleton, are unknown and should be approximately defined by the exact and final conclusions could not be noted the expert.