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SHELTERED GREGARIOUS BEHAVIOR OF MIDDLE ORDOVICIAN HARPETID TRILOBITES
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Journal Article
SHELTERED GREGARIOUS BEHAVIOR OF MIDDLE ORDOVICIAN HARPETID TRILOBITES
2014
Overview
The presence of six articulated exoskeletons of late holaspid specimens of the rare harpetid Eoharpes benignensis entombed under a pygidial shield of the large asaphid trilobite Nobiliasaphus repulsus from the Middle Ordovician Dobrotivá Formation of the Prague Basin, Czech Republic is interpreted as a unimodal monotaxic trilobite cluster. The sheltered preservation of the trilobites may be explained as; (1) hiding behavior associated with predation pressure; (2) storm disturbance; or (3) molting associated with feeding. It is herein suggested that these Middle Ordovician holaspid trilobites deliberately entered the restricted space under a large isolated asaphid trilobite pygidial shield to find a refuge and shared the space within restricted shelters with conspecifics. The completeness of all specimens of the rare taxon Eoharpes, combined with the presence of more than one individual in this restricted space, excludes the possibility of transportation by bottom currents. This exceptional find represents an example of “frozen behavior” and provides a new insight in the life strategy of Middle Ordovician benthic trilobites. Attack abatement, e.g., avoidance and dilution effects, is for the first time proposed as a possible explanation for this example of sheltered gregarious behavior in trilobites.
