An encrusting kleptoparasite-host interaction from the early Cambrian

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Abstract

Parasite–host systems are pervasive in nature but are extremely difficult to convincingly identify in the fossil record. Here we report quantitative evidence of parasitism in the form of a unique, enduring life association between tube-dwelling organisms encrusted to densely clustered shells of a monospecific organophosphatic brachiopod assemblage from the lower Cambrian (Stage 4) of South China. Brachiopods with encrusting tubes have decreased biomass (indicating reduced fitness) compared to individuals without tubes. The encrusting tubes orient tightly in vectors matching the laminar feeding currents of the host, suggesting kleptoparasitism. With no convincing parasite–host interactions known from the Ediacaran, this widespread sessile association reveals intimate parasite–host animal systems arose in early Cambrian benthic communities and their emergence may have played a key role in driving the evolutionary and ecological innovations associated with the Cambrian radiation.

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Bayesian estimation supersedes the t test.

John K. Kruschke (2013)

Bayesian estimation for 2 groups provides complete distributions of credible values for the effect size, group means and their difference, standard deviations and their difference, and the normality of the data. The method handles outliers. The decision rule can accept the null value (unlike traditional t tests) when certainty in the estimate is high (unlike Bayesian model comparison using Bayes factors). The method also yields precise estimates of statistical power for various research goals. The software and programs are free and run on Macintosh, Windows, and Linux platforms. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

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Host-parasite 'Red Queen' dynamics archived in pond sediment.

Ellen Decaestecker, Sabrina Gaba, Joost A M Raeymaekers … (2007)

Antagonistic interactions between hosts and parasites are a key structuring force in natural populations, driving coevolution. However, direct empirical evidence of long-term host-parasite coevolution, in particular 'Red Queen' dynamics--in which antagonistic biotic interactions such as host-parasite interactions can lead to reciprocal evolutionary dynamics--is rare, and current data, although consistent with theories of antagonistic coevolution, do not reveal the temporal dynamics of the process. Dormant stages of both the water flea Daphnia and its microparasites are conserved in lake sediments, providing an archive of past gene pools. Here we use this fact to reconstruct rapid coevolutionary dynamics in a natural setting and show that the parasite rapidly adapts to its host over a period of only a few years. A coevolutionary model based on negative frequency-dependent selection, and designed to mimic essential aspects of our host-parasite system, corroborated these experimental results. In line with the idea of continuing host-parasite coevolution, temporal variation in parasite infectivity changed little over time. In contrast, from the moment the parasite was first found in the sediments, we observed a steady increase in virulence over time, associated with higher fitness of the parasite.