Shell injuries in the early Devonian rynchonellid brachiopod Lanceomyonia borealiformis (Semiradzki, 1906) from Podillia, western Ukraine

This article presents a description of the shell injuries in the Early Devonian brachiopods Lanceomyonia borealiformis (Siemiradzki, 1906) from western Ukraine. Approximately eight percent of the shells (8 out of 101 specimens) exhibit shell injuries, which are classified into three morphological types: (a) rounded and ellipsoidal pits, measuring approximately 2–5 mm in diameter, located on the anterior margin and lateral slopes of the valves; (b) longitudinal, sublongitudinal, and transversal thin straight or sinuous furrows, measuring approximately 5–6 mm long and 0.5–1.5 mm wide; (c) irregularly shaped concave zones on the lateral area of the valve. The majority of the shell injuries can likely be attributed to evidence of unsuccessful predator attacks and traces of an attachment point of an epizoan organism. The potential agents responsible for the predatory injuries include cephalopods, arthropods and fishes. The frequency of injured shells among the studied brachiopods is within the range observed in other Palaeozoic-aged brachiopod assemblages.