bs_bs_bannerJournal of Zoology Journal of Zoology. Print ISSN 0952-8369 Pelagic palaeoecology: the importance of recent constraints on ammonoid palaeobiology and life history K. A. Ritterbush1, R. Hoffmann2, A. Lukeneder3 & K. De Baets4 1 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA 2 Institute for Geology, Mineralogy und Geophysics, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany 3 Department for Geology and Palaeontology, Museum of Natural History Vienna, Vienna, Austria 4 Geozentrum Nordbayern, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany Keywords Abstract palaeoecology; isotope analysis; reproductive strategy; predator–prey A review of fossil evidence supports a pelagic mode of life (in the water column) relationships; habitat; anatomy. of ammonoids, but they may have spent their life close to the seabottom (demersal), planktonically, or nektonically depending upon the ontogenetic stage Correspondence and taxon. There are good indications for a planktonic mode of life of ammonoid Kenneth De Baets, Geozentrum hatchlings, but a broad range of reproductive strategies might have existed (egg- Nordbayern, Section Palaeoenvironmental laying, fecundity). Isotope and biogeographical studies indicate that some forms Research, Friedrich Alexander University migrated or swam for considerable distances, whereas others may have been Erlangen Nuremberg, Loewenichstr. 28, primarily transported by oceanic currents during early and/or late ontogeny. 91054 Erlangen, Germany. Diverse ammonoid habitats are also supported by evidence from predator–prey Email:
[email protected] relationships derived from characteristic injuries and exceptional fossil finds, which indicate chiefly predatory or scavenging lifestyles. Sublethal injuries pre- Editor: David Hone served in some ammonoid shells, as well as rare stomach and coprolite contents, provide evidence of predation by other cephalopods, arthropods and various Received 7 July 2013; revised 3 November jawed vertebrates.