A botanical novelty on land offered new opportunities in the marine realm during the Paleogene: the link between bamboo and hermit crabs

摘要

Xylopagurids constitute an enigmatic group of marine paguroid anomurans that comprises both extinct and extant genera, such as the middle Eocene (Lutetian) Lessinipagurus BESCHIN, DE ANGELI, CHECCHI & ZARANTONELLO, 2012 and Orbispagurus DE ANGELI & CAPORIONDO, 2017 from southern Europe and the extant genera Xylopagurus A. MILNE-EDWARDS, 1880 and Prexylopagurus GASPARIC FRAAIJE, ROBIN & DE ANGELI, 2016 from the western Atlantic, eastern Pacifi and Indo-West Pacifi oceans. The f rst appearance and subsequent radiation of xylopagurids during the middle and late Eocene parallels the origin and rapid global expansion of larger grasses such as reed and bamboo. The functional morphology of xylopagurid chelae as adaptation to inhabiting empty bamboo shoots is discussed. This is the f rst documented example of a link between terrestrial plants and marine decapod crustaceans, illustrating that a novelty on land could have had a significan impact on ecological opportunities in the marine domain.