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Life histories and population structure of Pennsylvanian brachiopods from north-central Texas as determined from size-frequency analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

A. S. Cate  and
I. Evans
A. S. Cate
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204-5503
I. Evans
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204-5503
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Abstract

Paleoecological analysis of three attached spiriferid species (Punctospirifer kentuckyensis, Crurithyris planoconvexa, and Hustedia mormoni) and six free-living chonetid brachiopod species (Chonetinella flemingi, Chonetinella verneuiliana, Lissochonetes geinitzianus, Mesolobus mesolobus, Neochonetes fragilis, and Quadrochonetes geronticus) from Middle and Upper Pennsylvanian strata of north-central Texas has been undertaken using, in part, population dynamics information derived initially from size-frequency distributions. The brachiopod populations in this study are believed to represent in situ assemblages formed by noncatastrophic mortality. Spiriferid species occurred in large populations characterized by positively skewed size-frequency distributions in which few individuals attained the maximum potential size reported for a given species. Chonetid species, in contrast, occurred in smaller numbers characterized by negatively to low positively skewed size-frequency distributions in which greater numbers of individuals attained maximum potential size.

The differences observed in the population structure of these two groups can best be explained as reflecting different adaptive lifestyle strategies that are shared at the ordinal level. Morphological features common to chonetid species enabled individuals to live freely at the sediment-water interface and perhaps reorient their position if disturbed. Based on size-frequency analysis, low-density populations of chonetids appear to produce relatively larger numbers of survivors in the adult and maximum size classes. Spiriferids were constrained to attachment surfaces occupied at the time of larval settlement, and individuals presumably had no mechanism to regain life position if overturned or if this surface became unstable. These physical limitations seem to be reflected in a population structure in which higher density populations were required to overcome the high mortality rates incurred by individuals. This appears to be a case in which size-frequency distributions have not been significantly altered by taphonomic overprint and in which size-frequency analysis can be used to detect differences in the life histories and population structure of brachiopod species.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 66 , Issue 6 , November 1992 , pp. 868 - 880
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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