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Did Shell-Crushing Crabs Trigger An Escalatory Arms Race In The Aftermath Of A Late Neogene Regional Mass Extinction Event? An Experimental Test, Lisa B. Whitenack, Gregory S. Herbert
Did Shell-Crushing Crabs Trigger An Escalatory Arms Race In The Aftermath Of A Late Neogene Regional Mass Extinction Event? An Experimental Test, Lisa B. Whitenack, Gregory S. Herbert
School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications
A regional mass extinction event in the late Neogene western Atlantic is widely thought to have generated evolutionary opportunities for survivors, including enemy-related adaptation (escalation). The Strombus alatus species complex is one potential example of this phenomenon. Strombid gastropods are abundant in the Plio-Pleistocene fossil record and Recent in subtropical Florida, and the percentage of these shells bearing a row of short spines on the last whorl increased from nearly zero to almost 100% over this time. As shell ornamentation is one of the most frequently cited defenses against both peeling and crushing predators, we exposed live spined and spineless …