[News] Did trilobites hide from nautiloids?

[Phil]

Here's details of an interesting find from Ordovician Sweden, trilobites contained within fossilised tunnels they had dug. Were they hiding from nautiloid predators or is there another explanation?

Food for thought.

Notification

 

[Tintenfisch]

And thoughts of food

 

[Phil]

My thought is "yes they did".

(Isn't science great?)

 

[cuttlegirl]

I wonder what else shared the trilobites burrows...

(and yes, science is great!)

 

[Architeuthoceras]

Nautiloid thoughts:

• Trilobite dinner
• How do I get into that tunnel
• Why dont trilobites just stay on the surface

Trilobite thoughts:

• Ha ha, cant get me now
• Where is that big worm that really lives in here?

Food for thought
thoughts of food
thoughts of being food

 

[OB]

Think giant bristleworms (rekindling nightmares), think Permian extinction...

 

[spartacus]

Could be waiting for exoskeleton to harden after shedding ref; "Trilobite" by Mr. Fortey

Keef

 

[Tornoceras]

How about: "Did trilobites hide from nautiloids inside of nautiloids?"

Here are photos of a Devonian fossil I found last summer - a trilobite inside an orthocone nautiloid. Apparently the association is known; it's thought that the trilobites hid inside to molt.
Internal mold of Michelinoceras? with trilobite Eldredgeops (Phacops). The length of the nautiloid fossil is 190mm.

 

[cuttlegirl]

Cool fossil, thanks for sharing it with us. Do you have any more fossils to share?

 

[Animal Mother]

Think giant bristleworms (rekindling nightmares), think Permian extinction...

I have a coral book that contains a photograph of a giant bristleworm species removed from a persons reef tank. It was 5 feet long... looked like a giant centipede. I can see one of those making dinner out of a trilobite. Shoot... I can see one of those making dinner out of a nautilus. Nightmare material for sure. I wouldn't be hiding in it's hole!

 

[Architeuthoceras]

Thanks for posting that picture Tornoceras.

It had me totally freaked out for a while... how could a trilobite get inside the phragmocone of a nautiloid? The same way the sediment that is filling the chambers did, the shell and/or the septa were broken so the trilobite could climb in and hide or molt, then the sediment filled the shell trapping the trilobite or its molt inside the shell. A very nice find, telling a cool story.

 

[OB]

OMG Animal Mother, any possibility of a scan?

 

[Animal Mother]

OMG Animal Mother, any possibility of a scan?

I'll try to get a photo of it when I get home later.

 

[DWhatley]

Mote had a bristleworm display (living) that contained critters I would not want to find growing in my tank (they were at least an inch wide).

 

[monty]

didn't Mote also have an exhibit of "fireworms" or something like that which had some nasty sting? I've only SCUBA'ed in the Pacific, but I flagged those as something to learn to recognize if I dive in the Atlantic (particularly considering my propensity to flip over rocks to find the interesting invertebrates) yup, google confirms they are a type of bristleworm: http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=292