Gastropoda

Ecology

Biology

Statistics

Predation

Fauna

Muricidae

Preference

Mathematics

Zoology

Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology

Boreholes produced by naticids and muricids can be recognized in molluscan prey from the Ameki Formation (Eocene) in southeastern Nigeria. Possible predators are four species of Naticacea and three species of Muricacea. A quantitative assessment of the occurrence and type (naticids or muricids) of borings in 1409 fossil shells belonging to seventeen species shows that there is a pronounced differential proneness to attack among the species. The most common prey species of naticids were the infaunal, feebly ornamented bivalve Tivelina newtoni and the infaunal, smooth gastropod Natica amekiensis. The principal prey of muricids was the epifaunal, strongly ornamented gastropod Bonellitia (A.) amekiensis.

Gastropod predators and their dietary preference in an eocene molluscan fauna from Nigeria