Functional morphology of chonetidine (Brachiopoda) spines: biomechanical tests of a potential key innovation

Authors: Mills, Brandon¹; Leighton, Lindsey²

Source: Historical Biology: A Journal of Paleobiology, Volume 20, Number 3, September 2008 , pp. 213-221(9)

Publisher: Taylor and Francis Ltd

Abstract:

Chonetidine brachiopods were a significant component of Paleozoic marine life; chonetidines experienced a major adaptive radiation during the Late Silurian and Early Devonian. The Chonetidina clade is united by the presence of spines on the hingeline but the function of these spines has not been clearly demonstrated. The present study performs a biomechanical experiment, using specimens of Neochonetes granulifera with and without artificial spines in a recirculating flume, to test if the spines may have inhibited entrainment in higher energy settings. Specimens with spines were less likely to be overturned or transported than those without spines, and were overturned or transported at significantly higher velocities than specimens without spines. Performance improved with the addition of another pair of spines. In addition, spinose specimens reoriented such that their commissures faced upstream. The results suggest that chonetidines could have survived in higher-energy environments, even if the brachiopods were not physically attached to the substrate. As such, it is functionally plausible that the evolution of hinge-spines may have possibly facilitated the adaptive radiation of the clade by enabling chonetidines to inhabit previously unoccupied habitats.

Keywords: autecology; biomechanics; Chonetidina; brachiopods; adaptive radiation

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08912960802583174

Affiliations: 1: Department of Geological Sciences and Allison Center for Marine Research, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA 2: Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

Publication date: 2008-09-01

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