The Fossil Record of Drilling Predation on Bivalves and Gastropods

Abstract

The fossil record of drilling predation has been studied in detail for a few major invertebrate groups (bivalves, gastropods, brachiopods, and echinoids), while other prey (e.g., scaphopods, serpulids, decapods, and barnacles) have been largely neglected. Herein, we report on drilling predation using an extensive collection of Cretaceous-Quaternary barnacles (>. 50,000 specimens). In total, 312 drill holes of predatory origin were found in Eocene-Holocene wall and opercular plates of balanomorph and scalpellomorph barnacles. The drilled specimens originated from localities in the USA, Jamaica, Panama, The Netherlands, Belgium, Antarctica, South Africa, Chile, and Venezuela, suggesting that drilling predation on barnacles was a worldwide phenomenon during the Cenozoic. Muricid gastropods are the inferred producers of the majority of the drill holes; two drill holes were likely caused by octopods. Drilling frequencies lack major temporal trends and appear low (